Teófilo Otoni
Encyclopedia
Téofilo Otoni is a city in northeast Minas Gerais
Minas Gerais
Minas Gerais is one of the 26 states of Brazil, of which it is the second most populous, the third richest, and the fourth largest in area. Minas Gerais is the Brazilian state with the largest number of Presidents of Brazil, the current one, Dilma Rousseff, being one of them. The capital is the...

 state, Brazil. The population of the municipality was 126,895 in 2007 and the area is 3,253.4 km².

Origin of the name

The city is named after Teófilo Benedito Ottoni (Vila do Príncipe, 27 January 1807 - Rio de Janeiro, 17 October 1869), who was a provincial deputy representing Minas Gerais, a national deputy and a senator in the Empire of Brazil from 1864 to 1869 and founder of the city of the same name.

Location

It lies at an elevation of 319 meters on the Todos os Santos River, a tributary of the Mucuri. It is part of the Valley of the Mucuri, a region which includes 27 municipalites. Situated on the Rio-Bahia Interstate Highway BR 116, it is 130 km. north of the regional center, Governador Valadares
Governador Valadares
Governador Valadares is a Brazilian city in the state of Minas Gerais. In 2006, its population was 260,405 inhabitants.It is an economical center of the middle Valley of the Rio Doce, making a significant influence on the east and northeast of Minas Gerais and local authorities of the state of the...

, on the Doce River
Doce River
The Doce River is a river in southeast Brazil, which has an extension of 853 km.It is formed by the junction of the Piranga and the Carmo near the historical city of Ouro Preto, whose sources are located in the foothills of the Mantiqueira and Espinhaço mountain chains at altitudes of about 1,200...

, and 478 km north of the state capital, Belo Horizonte
Belo Horizonte
Belo Horizonte is the capital of and largest city in the state of Minas Gerais, located in the southeastern region of Brazil. It is the third largest metropolitan area in the country...

. It was founded in 1853 by German colonists and given city status in 1878.

Municipal boundaries are with:
  • North: Novo Oriente de Minas
    Novo Oriente de Minas
    Novo Oriente de Minas is a municipality in the northeast of the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais. As of 2007 the population was 10,327 in a total area of 754 km². The elevation is 400 meters. It became a municipality in 1997. The postal code is 39817-000.Novo Oriente de Minas is part of the...

     and Itaipé
    Itaipé
    Itaipé is a Brazilian municipality located in the northeast of the state of Minas Gerais. Its population as of 2007 was estimated to be 11,497 people living in a total area of 483 km². The city belongs to the mesoregion of Vale do Mucuri and to the microregion of Teófilo Otoni. It became a...

  • South: Ouro Verde de Minas
    Ouro Verde de Minas
    Ouro Verde de Minas is a Brazilian municipality located in the northeast of the state of Minas Gerais. Its population as of 2007 was estimated to be 6,832 people living in a total area of 174 km². The city belongs to the mesoregion of Vale do Mucuri and to the micro-region of Teófilo Otoni. ...

    , Ataléia
    Ataléia
    Ataléia This municipality is virtual located in the northeast of the state of Minas Gerais. Its population as of 2007 was estimated to be 15,078 people living in a total area of 1,838.384 km². The city belongs to the mesoregion of Vale do Mucuri and to the microregion of Teófilo Otoni. It became a...

    , Frei Gaspar
    Frei Gaspar
    Frei Gaspar is a Brazilian municipality located in the northeast of the state of Minas Gerais. Its population as of 2007 was estimated to be 6,343 people living in a total area of 628 km². The city belongs to the mesoregion of Vale do Mucuri and to the microregion of Teófilo Otoni. It became a...

     and Itambacuri
    Itambacuri
    Itambacuri is a Brazilian city located in the state of Minas Gerais. As of 2004 its population is estimated to be 23,424. Itambacuri contains its own airport, referred to as the 'Itambacuri airport'.-References:...

  • East: Pavão
    Pavão
    Pavão may refer to:*Pavão, Minas Gerais, a municipality in the state of Minas Gerais*Figueira Pavão, a settlement in the island of Fogo in Cape Verde*Pavão , a Brazilian football player...

     and Carlos Chagas
    Carlos Chagas
    Carlos Justiniano Ribeiro Chagas, or Carlos Chagas , was a Brazilian sanitary physician, scientist and bacteriologist who worked as a clinician and researcher. He discovered Chagas disease, also called American trypanosomiasis in 1909, while working at the Oswaldo Cruz Institute in Rio de Janeiro...

  • West: Poté
    Poté
    Poté is a Brazilian municipality located in the northeast of the state of Minas Gerais. Its population as of 2007 was estimated to be 14,749 people living in a total area of 632 km². The city belongs to the mesoregion of Vale do Mucuri and to the micro-region of Teófilo Otoni. It became a...

     and Ladainha


Distances to important cities:
  • Belo Horizonte
    Belo Horizonte
    Belo Horizonte is the capital of and largest city in the state of Minas Gerais, located in the southeastern region of Brazil. It is the third largest metropolitan area in the country...

    : 450 km
  • Brasília
    Brasília
    Brasília is the capital city of Brazil. The name is commonly spelled Brasilia in English. The city and its District are located in the Central-West region of the country, along a plateau known as Planalto Central. It has a population of about 2,557,000 as of the 2008 IBGE estimate, making it the...

    : 1,162 km
  • Rio de Janeiro
    Rio de Janeiro
    Rio de Janeiro , commonly referred to simply as Rio, is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America, boasting approximately 6.3 million people within the city proper, making it the 6th...

    : 730 km
  • Salvador
    Salvador, Bahia
    Salvador is the largest city on the northeast coast of Brazil and the capital of the Northeastern Brazilian state of Bahia. Salvador is also known as Brazil's capital of happiness due to its easygoing population and countless popular outdoor parties, including its street carnival. The first...

    : 900 km
  • São Paulo
    São Paulo
    São Paulo is the largest city in Brazil, the largest city in the southern hemisphere and South America, and the world's seventh largest city by population. The metropolis is anchor to the São Paulo metropolitan area, ranked as the second-most populous metropolitan area in the Americas and among...

    : 1,050 km
  • Vitória: 550 km

Statistical Microregion

Teófilo Otoni is a statistical microregion including the following municipalities: Ataléia
Ataléia
Ataléia This municipality is virtual located in the northeast of the state of Minas Gerais. Its population as of 2007 was estimated to be 15,078 people living in a total area of 1,838.384 km². The city belongs to the mesoregion of Vale do Mucuri and to the microregion of Teófilo Otoni. It became a...

, Catuji
Catuji
Catuji is a Brazilian municipality located in the northeast of the state of Minas Gerais. Its population as of 2007 was estimated to be 6,597 people living in a total area of 421 km². The city belongs to the mesoregion of Vale do Mucuri and to the microregion of Teófilo Otoni...

, Franciscópolis
Franciscópolis
Franciscopolis is a Brazilian municipality located in the northeast of the state of Minas Gerais. Its population as of 2007 was estimated to be 5,664 people living in a total area of 715 km². The city belongs to the mesoregion of Vale do Mucuri and to the microregion of Teófilo Otoni. It became a...

, Frei Gaspar
Frei Gaspar
Frei Gaspar is a Brazilian municipality located in the northeast of the state of Minas Gerais. Its population as of 2007 was estimated to be 6,343 people living in a total area of 628 km². The city belongs to the mesoregion of Vale do Mucuri and to the microregion of Teófilo Otoni. It became a...

, Itaipé
Itaipé
Itaipé is a Brazilian municipality located in the northeast of the state of Minas Gerais. Its population as of 2007 was estimated to be 11,497 people living in a total area of 483 km². The city belongs to the mesoregion of Vale do Mucuri and to the microregion of Teófilo Otoni. It became a...

, Ladainha
Ladainha, Minas Gerais
Ladainha is a Brazilian municipality located in the northeast of the state of Minas Gerais. Its population as of 2007 was estimated to be 16,479 people living in a total area of 865 km². The city belongs to the mesoregion of Vale do Mucuri and to the microregion of Teófilo Otoni. It became a...

, Malacacheta
Malacacheta
Malacacheta is a Brazilian municipality located in the northeast of the state of Minas Gerais. Its population as of 2007 was estimated to be 17,917 people living in a total area of 719 km². The city belongs to the mesoregion of Vale do Mucuri and to the micro-region of Teófilo Otoni. It became a...

, Novo Oriente de Minas
Novo Oriente de Minas
Novo Oriente de Minas is a municipality in the northeast of the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais. As of 2007 the population was 10,327 in a total area of 754 km². The elevation is 400 meters. It became a municipality in 1997. The postal code is 39817-000.Novo Oriente de Minas is part of the...

, Ouro Verde de Minas
Ouro Verde de Minas
Ouro Verde de Minas is a Brazilian municipality located in the northeast of the state of Minas Gerais. Its population as of 2007 was estimated to be 6,832 people living in a total area of 174 km². The city belongs to the mesoregion of Vale do Mucuri and to the micro-region of Teófilo Otoni. ...

, Pavão
Pavão, Minas Gerais
Pavão is a Brazilian municipality located in the northeast of the state of Minas Gerais. Its population as of 2007 was estimated to be 8,868 people living in a total area of 599 km². The city belongs to the mesoregion of Vale do Mucuri and to the micro-region of Teófilo Otoni. It became a...

, Poté
Poté
Poté is a Brazilian municipality located in the northeast of the state of Minas Gerais. Its population as of 2007 was estimated to be 14,749 people living in a total area of 632 km². The city belongs to the mesoregion of Vale do Mucuri and to the micro-region of Teófilo Otoni. It became a...

, Setubinha
Setubinha
Setubinha is a municipality in the northeast of the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais. As of 2007 the population was 10,834 in a total area of 536 km². The elevation is 729 metres. It is part of the IBGE statistical microregion of Teófilo Otoni...

, and Teófilo Otoni. The population of this region was 253,679 in 2000 and the area was 11,296.80 km² (roughly the size of The Gambia
The Gambia
The Republic of The Gambia, commonly referred to as The Gambia, or Gambia , is a country in West Africa. Gambia is the smallest country on mainland Africa, surrounded by Senegal except for a short coastline on the Atlantic Ocean in the west....

 and a little larger than Jamaica
Jamaica
Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...

. The population density was 22.46 inhab/km².

The economy

Teófilo Otoni is a trade centre for an agricultural hinterland in which livestock raising is of some importance. The city has small-scale manufacturing and food-processing plants. Poor soils for agriculture and lack of industry have made Teófilo Otoni a major source of immigration to other regions of Brazil and to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. In 2005 the GDP was R$723 million, of which 515 million was from services, 101 was from industry, and 37 million was from agriculture. Industry employed about 2,000 workers, services employed 8,800 workers, and public administration employed 2,300 workers.

Featuring a diverse and bustling commerce, Téofilo Otoni stands in the service sector. The city has several stores segments, and a shopping mall, City Mall. Teófilo Otoni matrix is of some companies, such as Pharmacy Indiana, Stationery Graffite, the store Magda Magazin, Ramos Transport. We also highlight the trade in precious stones, is considered the Capital International Precious Stones, which comprises a good portion of its economy.

The city conceded the FIPP (International Fair of Precious Stones) recognized worldwide.

Agricultural Data

  • Cattle herd: 177,000 (2006)
  • Rural producers: 2,422
  • Agricultural area: 337,062 hectares
  • Planted area: 13,200 ha.
  • Natural pasture land: 125,506 ha.
  • Persons working in agriculture: 7,000
  • Tractors: 149
  • Main crops: bananas, coffee, oranges, tangerines, and sugarcane

Mining

Nationally and internationally Teófilo Otoni rivals Governador Valadares
Governador Valadares
Governador Valadares is a Brazilian city in the state of Minas Gerais. In 2006, its population was 260,405 inhabitants.It is an economical center of the middle Valley of the Rio Doce, making a significant influence on the east and northeast of Minas Gerais and local authorities of the state of the...

 as the gem capital of Brazil. Extensive mining and gem trading for aquamarines, topaz, brazilianite, and various forms of quartz take place there. A Gem and Mineral Show (Feira Internacional de Pedras Preciosas (FIPP), is held here every year, attracting international buyers. The fair provides the opportunity to buy both rough and cut stones directly from local producers, miners and cutters.

Health and education

The population was served by 61 health clinics and 4 hospitals (417 beds in 2005). There were several institutes of higher education: Faculdade de Tecnologia Egídio José da Silva (private), Instituto de Ensino Superior Integrado (private), Instituto de Educação Superior São Francisco de Assis de Teófilo Otoni (private philanthropic), and Faculdades Unificadas Doctum de Teófilo Ottoni (private)

Municipal Human Development Index
Human Development Index
The Human Development Index is a composite statistic used to rank countries by level of "human development" and separate "very high human development", "high human development", "medium human development", and "low human development" countries...

  • MHDI: .742 (2000)
  • State ranking: 343 out of 853 municipalities
  • National ranking: 2,097 out of 5,138 municipalities
  • Life expectancy: 69
  • Literacy rate: 81

See also

  • List of municipalities in Minas Gerais
  • Roman Catholic Diocese of Teófilo Otoni
    Roman Catholic Diocese of Teófilo Otoni
    The Roman Catholic Diocese of Teófilo Otoni is a diocese located in the city of Teófilo Otoni in the Ecclesiastical province of Diamantina in Brazil.-History:* November 27, 1960: Established as Diocese of Teófilo Otoni from the Diocese of Araçuaí...

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