Vargem Bonita - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Vargem Bonita is a Brazilian municipality located in the west of the state of 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...

. Its population as of 2007 was 2,098 people living in a total area of 409 km². The city belongs to the meso-region of Oeste de Minas and to the micro-region of Piumhi. It became a municipality in 1953.

Location

The city center of Vargem Bonita is located at an elevation of 768 meters just outside the Serra da Canastra National Park

Serra da Canastra National Park

The Serra da Canastra National Park is located in Minas Gerais state, Brazil, between 20º00’—20º30’ S and 46º15’—47º00’ W.-External links:** *...

. The São Francisco River

São Francisco River

The São Francisco is a river in Brazil. With a length of , it is the longest river that runs entirely in Brazilian territory, and the fourth longest in South America and overall in Brazil...

passes by the town after it descends from the Serra da Canastra. Neighboring municipalities are: São Roque de Minas

São Roque de Minas

São Roque de Minas is a Brazilian municipality located in the west of the state of Minas Gerais. Its population as of 2007 was 6,141 people living in a total area of 2,100 km². The city belongs to the meso-region of Oeste de Minas and to the micro-region of Piumhi...

(N), Piumhi

Piumhi

Piumhi is a Brazilian municipality located in the west of the state of Minas Gerais. Its population as of 2007 was 30,984 people living in a total area of 902 km². The city belongs to the meso-region of Oeste de Minas and Alto Paranaíba and to the micro-region of Piumhi...

and Capitólio

Capitólio

Capitólio is a Brazilian municipality located in the southwest of the state of Minas Gerais. Its population as of 2007 was 7,634 people living in a total area of 522 km². The city belongs to the meso-region of Sul e Sudoeste de Minas and to the micro-region of Passos...

(E), São João Batista do Glória

São João Batista do Glória

São João Batista do Glória is a Brazilian municipality located in the southwest of the state of Minas Gerais. Its population as of 2007 was 6,828 people living in a total area of 553 km². The city belongs to the meso-region of Sul e Sudoeste de Minas and to the micro-region of Passos...

(S), and Delfinópolis

Delfinópolis

Delfinópolis is a Brazilian municipality located in the southwest of the state of Minas Gerais. Its population as of 2007 was 6,698 people living in a total area of 1,375 km². The city belongs to the meso-region of Sul e Sudoeste de Minas and to the micro-region of Passos...

(W).

The distance to 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...

is 322 km. The distance to the closest regional center Passos

Passos

-People:* Cristiano Ávalos dos Passos* John Dos Passos* Márcio Emerson Passos de Albuquerque, a Brazilian footballer* Rosa Passos* Vítor Hugo Gomes Passos, a Portuguese footballer-Brazil:* Passos, Minas Gerais, a municipality in the State of Minas Gerais...

is 80 km. Highway connections are made by BR-146, which was unpaved in 2002.

History and Origin of the Name

The town began with the discovery of diamonds and once had as many as 30,000 inhabitants. When the diamonds ran out the town lost population and has only become more prosperous in recent years with tourism attracted by the Sierra da Canastra National Park. The slogan for the town is "Tourism, the new diamond of Vargem Bonita".

The origin of the name of the town is rather original. According to tradition, there was a ranch called Várzea in the decade of the 1940s. The word "várzea" refers to the banks of the rivers, often flooded, and sought after by farmers for planting rice and corn.

The story goes that this ranch was praised by a friend of the owner who said: "Mas que vargem bonita!", instead of "várzea bonita". In the local dialect "vargem" is a synonym for "várzea". The owner, José Alves Ferreira, liked the word so much that he changed the name of his ranch, which later became the site of the town.

Economic activities

Services and agriculture are the most important economic activities. The GDP in 2005 was approximately R$17 million, 7 million reais from services, one half million reais from industry, and 8 million reais from agriculture. There were 220 rural producers on 22,000 hectares of land. 70 farms had tractors (2006). Approximately 450 persons were involved in agriculture. The main crops are coffee and corn. There were 15,000 head of cattle (2006).

There were no banks (2007) and 192 automobiles (2007), giving a ratio of 10 inhabitants per automobile.

Working population by sector

Transformation industries (7 units): 19 workers
Commerce (26 units): 42 workers

Health and education

In the health sector there were 3 public health clinics (2005). Patients with more serious health conditions are transported to Passos

Passos

. Educational needs of 440 students were met by 3 primary schools, 1 middle school, and 3 pre-primary schools.

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...

: 0.760 (2000)
State ranking: 205 out of 853 municipalities as of 2000
National ranking: 1573 out of 5,138 municipalities as of 2000
Literacy rate: 881%
Life expectancy: 72 (average of males and females)

In 2000 the per capita monthly income of R$210.00 was below the state and national average of R$276.00 and R$297.00 respectively. 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...

had the highest per capita monthly income in 2000 with R$435.00. 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 R$73.00.

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

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.

Location

History and Origin of the Name

Economic activities

Health and education

See also