Araporã
Araporã is a Brazilian municipality located in the west of the state of Minas Gerais. Its population as of 2007 was 6,113 people living in a total area of 298 km². The city belongs to the statistical mesoregion of Triângulo Mineiroand Alto Paranaíba and to the microregion of Uberlândia. It became a municipality in 1992. [1]
Guaraciama is located at an elevation of 795 meters in the valley of the Rio Verde Grande, a tributary of the São Francisco River. It is southwest of the regional center Montes Claros. The distance to Uberlândia is 124 km; the distance to Itumbiara is 11 km; and the distance to Belo Horizonte is 700 km. Neighboring municipalities are: Itumbiara (N) and [W] ; Centralina(S); Tupaciguara and Monte Alegre de Minas (E) [2]
The main economic activities are industry, services, and agriculture, especially the growing of sugarcane. The GDP in 2005 was R$1,300,000,000.00, with 102,000,000.00 from services, 938,000,000.00 from industry, and 15,000,000.00 from agriculture. There were 148 rural producers on 24,000 hectares of land. 59 farms had tractors. The main crops were pineapple, sugarcane, beans, and corn. There were 7,500 head of cattle (2006). [3]
In Araporã there is an alcohol and sugar plant, Usina Alvorada. This industry generated R$ 118,000,000.00 in 2007 and employed 1,500 workers. It receives sugarcane from 40 producers. In 1972, when it began, it processed 350,000 tons of sugarcane, while in 2007/2008 the estimate is for 1,500,000 tons. [4]
Its social indicators rank it in the top tier of municipalities in the state.
- Municipal Human Development Index: 0.780 (2000)
- State ranking: 115 out of 853 municipalities as of 2000
- National ranking: 1,055 out of 5,138 municipalities as of 2000
- Literacy rate: 88%
- Life expectancy: 72 (average of males and females)[5]
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.[6]