Minas Gerais

Minas Gerais, large inland estado (state) of southeastern Brazil. It is the country’s storehouse of mineral riches, as indicated by its name, which in Portuguese means “General Mines.” The state is bounded to the north by the states of Goiás and Bahia; to the east by Bahia, Espírito Santo, and Rio de Janeiro; to the south by Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo; and to the west by São Paulo, Mato Grosso do Sul, and Goiás. It is Brazil’s fourth largest state and has the second largest population, exceeded only by that of São Paulo. Minas Gerais’s capital and largest city is Belo Horizonte, located in the south-central part of the state. Area 226,460 square miles (586,528 square km). Pop. (2022) 20,732,660.

Physical and human geography

Minas Gerais lies almost wholly within the geologically ancient, mineral-rich uplands known as the Brazilian Highlands, a much dissected hilly upland reaching an elevation of about 2,600 feet (790 metres) above sea level. Only small sections of the southern and eastern parts are within the zone of the Great Escarpment that forms the eastern margin of the highlands. In the southwest, along the border of São Paulo, is the commanding range known as the Mantiqueira Mountains, whose highest summit, Agulhas Negras Peak (also called Itatiaia Peak), reaches 9,144 feet (2,787 metres). The other principal range is the Espinhaço Mountains, which begin a little south of Belo Horizonte and extend northward into Bahia. It forms the divide between the rivers draining to the São Francisco River and those draining eastward directly to the Atlantic (the Doce, Mucuri, Jequitinhonha). In the southwest Minas Gerais is drained by the Rio Grande, one of the major headwaters of the Paraná River. The whole northwestern part of the state is drained by the São Francisco, which flows northward through a rift valley to the west of the Serra do Espinhaço.

At Belo Horizonte, 2,800 feet (853 metres) above sea level, the average temperature of the warmest month (February) is 72 °F (22 °C), and the average of the coldest month (July) is 62 °F (about 17 °C). The rainfall throughout most parts of the state averages between 40 and 60 inches (1,000 and 1,500 mm).

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The southern and eastern part of the state was originally covered with a dense tropical forest including a few species of trees that shed their leaves in the dry season. On the upper slopes of the Mantiqueira and the Espinhaço Mountains, the forest gives way to upland meadows or to a scrubby growth of deciduous woodland. All of southwestern and western Minas Gerais is covered by a woodland savanna.

The population of Minas Gerais is chiefly of Portuguese origin, with a considerable admixture from other European countries. Persons of African and mixed (African and European or European and Indian) ancestry constitute other important elements. Outside of the cities, there is a dense rural population in the south and east, but the whole northern and western part of the state is still very thinly occupied. The language is Portuguese, and the predominant religion is Roman Catholicism.

Living conditions in general are higher in the urban areas, and health services are more accessible in the cities. Minas Gerais has been one of the leading states in providing for education. The Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, one of the country’s official universities, was founded in 1927, and the Universidade Católica de Minas Gerais was established in 1958; both are in Belo Horizonte. The Escola Nacional de Minas e Metalurgia (founded 1876) is at Ouro Prêto.

The largest source of wealth in Minas Gerais is mining, but the largest source of employment is agriculture, and the greater part of the area is used for pasture of cattle. Minas Gerais has long been known for its wealth of minerals and its mining activities, supplying more than half the mineral production of Brazil. Gold was discovered in 1698 and in 1729 diamonds were discovered. These precious commodities created great wealth in the 18th century, and Ouro Prêto, the former administrative centre of Minas Gerais, became a city of great splendour, with numerous beautifully decorated churches. By 1800, however, the richest gold sources had been used up. Minas Gerais is also widely known for its semiprecious gems, such as aquamarine, amethyst, tourmaline, and topaz, and it is an important source of industrial diamonds and large quartz crystals.

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Of greater importance in modern times, however, are the vast deposits of high-grade iron ore and manganese. In the southern part of the Espinhaço Mountains there is a large reserve of iron ore, containing few impurities and so located that it can be mined with mechanical shovels. By the late 20th century there were three large-scale steel plants using this ore. Brazil now exports about two-thirds of its iron ore, with the majority of the exported ore produced in Minas Gerais. Minas Gerais also supplies bauxite, zirconium, iron pyrite, rutile, graphite, chromite, molybdenum, nickel, tungsten, titanium, beryl, and mica.

Manufacturing and processing industries have developed in and around the cities, especially around Belo Horizonte. In addition to iron and steel, principal industries include food processing, textiles, chemicals, and furniture and other consumer and capital goods.

Slash-and-burn agriculture produces corn (maize), rice, beans, and cassava rotated with pasture grass, chiefly for cattle grazing. This area is the chief source of beef for Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, and other cities. Dairy farming is important in southern Minas Gerais. In only a few spots is the land used for sugarcane or coffee. The state is a leading producer of rice, beans, corn, and cheese.

In the Mantiqueira Mountains and in the southwestern uplands of the state, to the north of these mountains, are a number of resort towns, most of them possessing various hot and curative baths. The mineral waters are bottled and widely dispensed in Brazil.

Minas Gerais is served by railroads, all-weather highways, airports, and by river steamers that descend the São Francisco from Pirapora to Juazeiro in Bahia. The main railroad, Estrada de Ferro Central do Brasil, runs from Rio de Janeiro to Belo Horizonte. Since World War II all-weather motor highways provide easy access to Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, and the capital, Brasília.

As is to be expected, the cultural life of the state is concentrated in its cities and especially in the capital, Belo Horizonte, and in Ouro Prêto, the old colonial capital.

History

Minas Gerais was first explored by Fernão Dias Pais Leme between 1664 and 1677, though he was not the first European to enter the area. The discovery of gold in 1692–95 by bands of adventurers from the São Paulo settlements led to a mad rush for the new mines. Minas Gerais at first formed part of the captaincy of São Paulo, but in 1720 it was established as a separate captaincy general and was brought more directly under the Portuguese crown. Minas Gerais has traditionally played an important role in Brazilian politics, in part because of its central position but also because of the dense population in its southeast. In 1822 it became a province in the Brazilian Empire, and in 1891 a state in the federal republic. In 1897 the old colonial capital of Ouro Prêto, deprived of its administrative function, became a national monument in 1933. The new capital was placed at Belo Horizonte, where a new city, laid out on previously almost unoccupied land, was planned and built.