Location

União de Minas belongs to the statistical micro-region of Frutal

Frutal

Frutal is a municipality in the west of the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais. The population, measured in 2010 by the IBGE, is of 53,468 inhabitants. The city has an area of 2,427 km²...

. It is located at an elevation of 521 meters between the São Domingos River and the Grande River.

Neighboring municipalities are:

• North: Santa Vitória
  Santa Vitória, Minas Gerais
  Santa Vitória is a municipality in the west of the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais. , the population was 18,157. It became a municipality in 1948....
  
  
• West: Limeira do Oeste
  Limeira do Oeste
  Limeira do Oeste is a municipality in the west of the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais. As of 2007 the population was 6,492 in a total area of 1,318 km². It became a municipality in 1993.-Location:...
  
  
• East: Campina Verde
  Campina Verde
  Campina Verde is a municipality in the north of the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais. As of 2007 the population was 18,680 in a total area of 3,663 km². It became a municipality in 1938.-Location:...
  
  
• South: Iturama
  Iturama
  Iturama is a municipality in the west of the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais. As of 2007 the population was 31,495 in a total area of 1,401 km². It became a municipality in 1948.-Location:...
  
  

Economy

The most important economic activities are cattle raising, commerce, and agriculture. The GDP in 2005 was R$ R$59 million of which 36 million came from agriculture. União de Minas is in the top tier of municipalities in the state with regard to economic and social development. As of 2007 there were no banking agencies in the town. There was a small retail infrastructure serving the surrounding area of cattle and agricultural lands. There were 305 automobiles in all of the municipality, about one for every 15 inhabitants.

In the rural area there were 483 establishments occupying 86,000 hectares. About 800 persons were employed in agriculture. 102 of the farms had tractors, a ratio of one in four farms. There were 124,000 head of cattle in 2006, of which 28,000 head were dairy cows. In permanent crops there were 53,000 ha. planted, while in perennial crops 1,000 ha. were planted (2006). The crops with a planted area of more than 1,000 hectares were sugarcane, corn, and soybeans.

Health and education

In the health sector there was 01 health clinic and 01 hospital with 17 beds. In the educational sector there were 03 primary schools and 01 middle school.

• 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...
  
  : 0.716 (2000)
• State ranking: 474 out of 853 municipalities as of 2000
• National ranking: 1,295 out of 5,138 municipalities as of 2000
• Literacy rate: 82%
• Life expectancy: 67 (average of males and females)

The highest ranking municipality in Minas Gerais in 2000 was Poços de Caldas

Poços de Caldas

Poços de Caldas is a city and municipality in south-western Minas Gerais state, Brazil, in the microregion of the same name. Its estimated population in 2009 was 151,449 inhabitants...

 with 0.841, while the lowest was 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...

 with 0.568. Nationally the highest was São Caetano do Sul

São Caetano do Sul

São Caetano do Sul is a city in São Paulo state in Brazil, located in the Greater São Paulo Metropolitan Area. It is the city with the highest per capita income in Brazil and it also has the highest Human Development Index .-Geography:São Caetano do Sul is located on a plateau that is part of the...

 in São Paulo with 0.919, while the lowest was Setubinha. In more recent statistics (considering 5,507 municipalities) Manari in the state of Pernambuco

Pernambuco

Pernambuco is a state of Brazil, located in the Northeast region of the country. To the north are the states of Paraíba and Ceará, to the west is Piauí, to the south are Alagoas and Bahia, and to the east is the Atlantic Ocean. There are about of beaches, some of the most beautiful in the...

has the lowest rating in the country—0,467—putting it in last place.