Vazante is a municipality in the north of the 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...

ian 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 in 2007 was 19,300 inhabitants in a total area of 1,903 km². It is a large producer of cattle and there is mining of zinc.

Location

Vazante belongs to the Paracatu

Paracatu, Minas Gerais

Paracatu is a town in the western part of the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil having 79,739 inhabitants . Its area is of 8.232 km²...

 statistical microregion. The elevation of the municipal seat is 680 meters. It became a municipality in 1953. This municipality is located north of Patos de Minas

Patos de Minas

Patos de Minas is a city and municipality in the state of Minas Gerais in Brazil, located some 400 km from Belo Horizonte on the Paranaíba River. The city had 133,054 in 2007 while the area of the municipality is 3,189 km²...

 on paved national highway BR-354. It is 27 km. north of Lagamar

Lagamar

Lagamar is a municipality in the north of the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais. Its population in 2007 was 7,636 inhabitants in a total area of . It is a large producer of cattle and grains and there is extraction of phosphates....

 and 39 km. southeast of Guarda-Mor

Guarda-Mor

Guarda-Mor is a municipality in the north of the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais. Its population in 2007 was 6,577 inhabitants in a total area of 2,066 km². It is a large producer of cattle and grains, especially soybeans....

. The distance to the 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...

, is 496 km.

Neighboring municipalities are: Lagoa Grande

Lagoa Grande, Minas Gerais

Lagoa Grande is a municipality in the northeast of the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais. Its population in 2007 was 8,660 inhabitants in a total area of 1,220 km²....

, Coromandel

Coromandel, Minas Gerais

Coromandel is a Brazilian town, located in the southeast region of the country, in the state of Minas Gerais. Its population is over 28,000 people according the 2004 census. The municipality of Coromandel is located 495 km from the state capital Belo Horizonte, and 673 km from São Paulo...

, Guarda-Mor

Guarda-Mor

Guarda-Mor is a municipality in the north of the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais. Its population in 2007 was 6,577 inhabitants in a total area of 2,066 km². It is a large producer of cattle and grains, especially soybeans....

, Lagamar

Lagamar

Lagamar is a municipality in the north of the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais. Its population in 2007 was 7,636 inhabitants in a total area of . It is a large producer of cattle and grains and there is extraction of phosphates....

 and Paracatu

Paracatu

Paracatu may refer to:*Paracatu, Minas Gerais, a city and a municipality in Minas Gerais state, Brazil*Paracatu River, a river near the city of Paracatu...

. There are two districts, besides the municipal seat: Claro de Minas, 12 km. distant, and Vazamor, 32 km. distant.

Climate and Geography

The climate is humid sub-tropical with an average maximum of 35°C; a minimum of 16°C; and an annual average between 21°C and 24°C. The hottest time of the year is between September and October and the coldest in June and July. The year can be divided into a rainy summer, from October to April, and a dry winter, from May to September. The main river is the Rio Claro, which has its source in the Serra de Chapadinha. Another river is the Rio Santa Catarina, which is a tributary of the Paracatu River

Paracatu River

The Paracatu River is located mainly in the state of Minas Gerais in Brazil. It is the longest tributary of the São Francisco, draining a basin of about 45,000 km², including 21 municipalities and the Federal District...

. There are several lakes, the most important being Lagoa do Vermelho.

Economic activities

The main economic activities are cattle raising, mining and farming. The GDP was R$209,137,000 (2003). In agriculture the main products cultivated are mangoes, rice , soybeans, and corn. There are 02 bank branches in the town. In the health sector there were 12 health clinics and 02 hospital with 59 beds (2007).

There is also a large open-pit zinc mine. The Vazante Mine is a property of Votorantim Metais and has reserves of around 2 million tons of zinc. It has the largest Brazilian deposit of zinc ore, with a production of 290,000 tons of silicate concentrate. and

In the rural area there were 712 farms and a total agricultural area of 133,000 hectares, of which 34,000 ha. were planted, 75,000 were in natural pasture, and 44,000 ha. were in woodland or forest. 2,000 people were dependent on farming. 149 of the farms had tractors. In 2006 there were 84,000 head of cattle.

The score 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...

 was 0.757. Vazante was ranked 235 out of 853 municipalities in the state, with 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...

 in first place with 0.841 and 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...

 in last place with 0.568.

History

The settlement of Vazante began on a ranch called Vazante due to an alleged religious vision of the Virgin Mary in a cave. The founding of the town occurred in 1920 when the site of the vision, Lapa, was separated from the ranch. Around a chapel houses were built and soon a small general store appeared. This was the arraial (village) of Vazante, in the district of Guarda-Mor, in the municipality of Paracatu. In 1938 Vazante was raised to the category of district, and in 1952 it became a municipality, despite having only 20 or 25 solid houses, when the law required at least 300 houses.

The most important moment in the economic history of this city was the discovery of zinc in 1933. In 1969 the first load of metal was sent to the factory in Três Marias

Três Marias

Três Marias is a small Brazilian city in northwestern Minas Gerais. In 2007 the population was 26,431 in a total area of 2,763 km².-Climate:...

. Today the zinc is mined and refined by Cia. Mineira de Metais - 6000 T/month and Mineração Areiense 3500 T/month.

Tourism

The most important tourist site is the Gruta da Lapa, or Lapa Velha, located in the city itself, where a vision of the Virgin Mary is alleged to have occurred. Every year, on the 1, 2, and 3 of May, thousands of pilgrims flock to Vazante to pray to the Virgin. Other caves are Lapa Nova and Lapa da Delza or Caçula. The cavern of Lapa Nova is listed as the fourth largest in the country.

External links

• Vazante municipal government--with music and a video