Itajá is a city in southwest Goiás

Goiás

Goiás is a state of Brazil, located in the central part of the country. The name Goiás comes from the name of an indigenous community...

 state, Brazil

Brazil

Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...

. Itajá is a large producer of beef cattle.

Itajá is part of the Quirinópolis Microregion

Quirinópolis Microregion

The Quirinópolis Microregion is a region in south Goiás state, Brazil. It includes 8 municipalities with a population of 95,094 and a total area of 16,117.60 km². The population density was 5.89 km²...

. It is located eight kilometers north of the Aporá River, which forms the boundary between the states of Goiás

Goiás

Goiás is a state of Brazil, located in the central part of the country. The name Goiás comes from the name of an indigenous community...

 and Mato Grosso do Sul

Mato Grosso do Sul

Mato Grosso do Sul is one of the states of Brazil.Neighboring Brazilian states are Mato Grosso, Goiás, Minas Gerais, São Paulo and Paraná. It also borders the countries of Paraguay and Bolivia to the west. The economy of the state is largely based on agriculture and cattle-raising...

.

Itajá is 408 kilometers from the state capital, Goiânia

Goiânia

-Climate:The city has a tropical wet and dry climate with an average temperature of . There's a wet season, from October to April, and a dry one, from May to September. Annual rainfall is around 1,520 mm....

, and is connected by BR-060 / Abadia de Goiás

Abadia de Goiás

Abadia de Goiás is a small town and municipality in central Goiás state, Brazil, located on the western edge of the Goiânia metropolitan area.-Geographical Data:The distance to Goiânia is 27 km...

 / Guapó

Guapó

Guapó is a small town and municipality in central Goiás state, Brazil. The population was 13,586 and the total area of the municipality was 517.0 km² .Guapó is part of the Goiânia Microregion...

 / Indiara

Indiara

Indiara is a small city and municipality in central-south Goiás state, Brazil. Indiara is a large producer of soybeans and cotton.-Location:Indiara is located in the Vale do Rio dos Bois and has municipal boundaries with:*north: Palmeiras de Goiás...

 / Acreúna

Acreúna

Acreúna is a small city and municipality in western Goiás state, Brazil.-Location:Acreúna is located in the statistical micro-region of Vale do Rio dos Bois, southwest of the state capital, Goiânia, on BR-060, which links Goiânia with Rio Verde...

 / Rio Verde

Rio Verde, Goiás

Rio Verde is a city and municipality in the Brazilian state of Goiás. It is a fast-growing center and is the largest producer of grains in the state.-Location:...

 / GO-174 / GO-422 / Caçu

Caçu

Caçu is a small town and municipality in southwest Goiás state, Brazil.-Location:Caçu is part of the Quirinópolis Microregion. It is located 330 kilometers from the state capital, Goiânia and is crossed by highway GO-206, which links the city with Quirinópolis...

 / GO-206 / Itarumã

Itarumã

Itarumã is a small town and municipality in south Goiás state, Brazil. , it has a population of 6,298. Itarumã is a large producer of cattle with a herd of almost three hundred thousand head.-Location:...

 / GO-178. See Sepin for all the distances.

History

The settlement began in 1947 with the name Fortaleza de São João. By 1953, it had grown so much that it became a district of Jataí

Jataí

Jataí is a municipality in southern Goiás state, Brazil. Its population was 88,048 in a total area of 7,174.2 km². Jataí is a major producer of agricultural products, including soybeans, rice, and corn. It has the largest herd of cattle in the state and is a large producer of poultry and...

 with the name São João. In 1958 it was given municipality status with the name of Itajá, an inversion of the name "Jataí", the municipality from which it had been dismembered.

Geography

The region is rich in water resources, with several important rivers: Paranaíba

Paranaíba River

The Paranaíba River is a Brazilian river whose source lies in the state of Minas Gerais in the Mata da Corda mountains, municipality of Rio Paranaíba, at an altitude of 1,148 meters; on the other face of this mountain chain are the sources of the Abaeté river, tributary of the São Francisco River...

, Aporé and Corrente. There is also a lake with hot water, with a temperature of 42°C. Tourism is considered one of the most important industries. There are still stretches of tropical forest mixed with cerrado

Cerrado

The Cerrado, is a vast tropical savanna ecoregion of Brazil, particularly in the states of Gioas and Minas Gerais...

. Animal life in the region includes giant anteaters, capibara, foxes, armadillos, wolves, jaguars, seriema

Seriema

The seriemas are the sole extant members of the small and ancient family Cariamidae, which is also the sole surviving family of the Cariamae. Once believed to be related to cranes, they have been placed by one recent study near the falcons, parrots and passerines, as well as the extinct terror birds...

, macaws, parrots and others.

Itajá included a village (povoado) called Vila Nossa Senhora Perpétuo Socorro.

Demographics

• Population density in 2007: 2.59 inhab/km²
• Population growth rate 1996/2007: 4.18.%
• Total population in 2007: 5,409
• Total population in 1980: 6,289
• Urban population in 2007: 3,750
• Rural population in 2007: 1,659
• Population change: the population has decreased by about 900 inhabitants since 1980.

Economy

The economy is based on services, small industries, agriculture and cattle raising. There are also three brickworks employing around one thousand people. Cattle raising is one of the major sources of income for the region although it provides relatively few jobs. The total number in 2006 was 176,000 head.

Economic Data (2007)

• Industrial establishments: 18
• Meat packing plant: JERIVÁ - Com. Ind. e Agropecuária Ltda. (22/05/2006)
• Retail establishments in 2007: 49
• Automobiles: 451 (2007)

Main agricultural products in ha.(2006)

• rice: 190
• manioc: 10
• corn: 130
• soybeans: 500

Farm Data (2006)in ha.

• Number of farms: 283
• Total area: 237,327
• Area of permanent crops: not available
• Area of perennial crops: 696
• Area of natural pasture: 177,522
• Persons dependent on farming: 720
• Farms with tractors: 105
• Number of tractors: 173 IBGE

Education and Health

There were 05 schools with 1,590 students (2006) and 01 hospital with 13 beds (2006).

• Literacy Rate: 84.6%
• Infant mortality rate: 22.10 (in 1,000 live births)

Ranking on the 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...

: 0.747

• State ranking: 83 (out of 242 municipalities in 2000)
• National ranking: 1,868 (out of 5,507 municipalities in 2000) For the complete list see Frigoletto

External links

• Official website of Itajá