Ituiutaba

Ituiutaba is a city and municipality in the western part of Minas Gerais state, Brazil. Elevated to city status in 1901, it had a population in 2007 of 100,316 and a total area in the municipality of 2,694 km². The elevation of the seat of the municipality is 544 mts..

Location

It is located in the west of the economic and geographical region called Triângulo Mineiro and is on BR 365, which begins at Chaveslândia in the west and connects as far as Pirapora in the north. Neighboring municipalties are Gurinhatã, Ipiaçú, Capinópolis, Canápolis, Santa Vitória, Monte Alegre de Minas, Prata, Campina Verde and the state of Goiás. [ [http://www.ituiutaba.mg.gov.br/localizacao.asp Prefeitura Municipal] ]

Distances
*Uberlândia: 135 km
*Uberaba: 237 km
*Itumbiara: 110 km
*Chaveslândia: 135 km
*Belo Horizonte: 685 km

tatistical Microregion

Ituiutaba is also the name of statistical microregion 29 which includes 06 municipalities: Cachoeira Dourada, Capinópolis, Gurinhatã, Ipiaçu, Ituiutaba, and Santa Vitória. The population of this microregion was 135,140 (2000) and the area was 8,748.90 km². The population density in 2000 was 15.45 inhab/km². [ [http://www.citybrazil.com.br/mg/regioes/ituiutaba/ Citybrazil] ]

Climate

Classified as AW hot-humid (according to the Koppen classification), tropical with dry winter, with a well-defined rainy season from October to April and a dry season from May to September. Average temperatures range from 14ºc in June to 31ºc in December. The yearly average is 28ºC. Frost is rare. [ [http://www.ituiutaba.mg.gov.br/localizacao.asp Prefeitura Municipal] ]

Economic Activities

The most important economic activities are cattle raising, industry, commerce, and agriculture. The GDP in 2005 was R$ 972,529,000. Ituiutaba is in the top tier of municipalities in the state with regard to economic and social development. It is the center of a rich agricultural area which receives adequate rainfall and is well watered. As of 2007 there were 08 banking agencies in the town. There were 14,365 automobiles.

In the rural area there were 1,459 establishments occupying about 4,300 workers. 628 of the farms had tractors, a ratio of around one tractor for every two farms. There were 190,000 head of cattle in 2006. The crops with a planted area of more than 1000 hectares were sugarcane, corn and soybeans. There was also production of rubber, coffee, and oranges. [ [http://www.ibge.gov.br/cidadesat/default.php IBGE] ]

Health and Education

Ituiutaba has high quality of life, using Brazilian standards. The population is comparatively well-educated. According to the city government site (no date given) there were 128 doctors, 130 dentists, 13 veterinarians, 18 psychologists, 170 lawyers, 14 architects, and 111 agronomists. [ [http://www.ituiutaba.mg.gov.br/populacao.asp Prefeitura municipal] ]

In the health sector there were 54 total establishments, 23 public and 31 private. Of these there were 06 hospitals with 211 beds. In the educational sector there were 33 pre-schools, 39 primary schools and 05 middle schools. There were 03 institutes of higher education, all private. [ [http://www.ibge.gov.br/cidadesat/default.php IBGE] ]

*Municipal Human Development Index: 0.818 (2000)
*State ranking: 15 out of 853 municipalities as of 2000
*National ranking: 254 out of 5,138 municipalities as of 2000

The highest ranking municipality in Minas Gerais in 2000 was Poços de Caldas with 0.841, while the lowest was Setubinha with 0.568. Nationally the highest was São Caetano do Sul 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 has the lowest rating in the country--0,467--putting it in last place. [ [http://www.frigoletto.com.br/GeoEcon/idhmg.htm Frigoletto] ]

*Literacy rate: 89%
*Life expectancy: 76.0 (average of males and females)
*Urbanization rate: 51.36%
*Percentage of urban houses connected to sewage system: 99 [ [http://www.ituiutaba.mg.gov.br/qualidade.asp Prefeitura municipal] ]

Media

There are two television stations: Rede Integração - affiliated with Rede Globo, and Rede Vitoriosa - affiliated with Sistema Brasileiro de Televisão - SBT. There are five radio stations: Rádio Cancella, Rádio Difusora FM, Rádio Difusora AM, Rádio Interativa FM, and Rádio Platina. There are two newspapers: Jornal do Pontal and Jornal Hoje em Dia. [ [http://www.ituiutaba.mg.gov.br/comunicacao.asp Prefeitura municipal] ]

History

The settlement of the region began in 1820 when Joaquim Antonio de Morais and José da Silva Ramos arrived and expelled the native inhabitants, the Caiapós. The first name was Arraial de São José do Tijuco. In 1890 there were 5,000 inhabitants. In 1901 it became a municipality with the name Vila Platina, later changed in 1917 to Ituiutaba. [ [http://www.ituiutaba.mg.gov.br/historia.asp Prefeitura municipal] ]

References

ee also

* List of municipalities in Minas Gerais