São João da Ponte

São João da Ponte is a municipality in the north of the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais. As of 2007 the population was 26,091 in a total area of 1,849 km². It became a municipality in 1943. [ [http://www.ibge.gov.br/cidadesat/default.php IBGE] ]

The city is part of the IBGE statistical microregion of Montes Claros. The distance to Montes Claros is 107 kilometers. Neighboring municipalities are: Ibiracatu,Varzelândia, Verdelândia, Lontra, Japonvar, Janaúba, Patis, Montes Claros and Capitão Enéas. The elevation is 561 meters.

The main economic activities were cattle raising (109,000 head in 2006) and agriculture, with the main crops being rice, sugarcane, corn, sorghum, and bananas. There are also small transformation industries. The GDP in 2005 was R$ 64,761,000. In the rural area there were 3,405 establishments employing about 11,000 workers. Only 127 of the farms had tractors. There were 466 automobiles in all of the municipality. [ [http://www.ibge.gov.br/cidadesat/default.php IBGE] ]

Health and Education

In the health sector there were 12 clinics and 01 hospital with 58 beds. In the educational sector there were 50 primary schools and 04 middle schools. [ [http://www.ibge.gov.br/cidadesat/default.php IBGE] ]
*MHDI: .626
*State ranking: 795 out of 853 municipalities
*National ranking: 4,203 out of 5,138 municipalities
*Life expectancy: 67
*Literacy rate: 62

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. [ [http://www.frigoletto.com.br/GeoEcon/idhmg.htm Frigoletto] ]

References

ee also

*List of municipalities in Minas Gerais