Minas Gerais State

By Brazilian Embassy in London

 

Minas Gerais is one of Brazil's largest states and the home of Tiradentes, hero of the Inconfidência Mineira (The Revolution of Minas Gerais), of Aleijadinho, the sculptor; of the composer Milton Nascimento; the writer Guimarães Rosa and of the two Brazilian presidents, Juscelino Kubitschek and Tancredo Neves - among so many other artists, political leaders, musicians, writers and presidents of the Republic. With extremely varied relief and vegetation, its valleys and mountains reveal historic-baroque towns inhabited by warm-hearted and hospitable people. The second state in Brazil in terms of its economy (it loses out only to the state of São Paulo) Minas Gerais is also known for its good and rich culinary art, famous for its tasty dishes like pão-de-queijo and typical dishes such as tutu in the Minas Gerais style and chicken with dark sauce. Minas Gerais not only has a coastline, it also has therapeutic waters that spring from its mineral-rich soil. With its hydro-mineral and thermal resorts it forms the water circuit, an ideal tour for the winter months of June and July.

The occupation of the soil of Minas Gerais by the Portuguese began right after the discovery of Brazil, in the XVI and XVII centuries. The discovery of gold and precious stones attracted many explorers who transformed the state into the Brazilian economic centre of the day. Today, there is no longer an abundance of gold, but unforgettable landscapes remain, with buildings from the period, mountains, woods, pure air, lakes, caves, stories and legends.

Since the colonial era, Minas Gerais has stood out in Brazil because of its culture. Music, architecture, literature and the plastic arts are some of the sectors successfully developed by artists from the state. In the towns of the gold circuit, where the XVIII century music from Minas Gerais grew, buildings of the XVI and XVIII centuries are preserved and express the art of the Minas Gerais' baroque. The most famous of these towns, Ouro Preto, was the stage for the Inconfidência Mineira, the first movement for the independence of Brazil, and today, like Diamantina e the Sanctuary of Bom Jesus de Matosinhos, located in Congonhas do Campo, it has been recognized by the UNESCO as a Cultural Heritage of Mankind.

Minas Gerais also offers the waters of the São Francisco river forming a strategic and fundamental water resource for regional development. The electricity-generating capacity of Minas Gerais is 10,877 MW, corresponding to about 18% of the national capacity. The state consumes 75% of the electricity it produces and exports the balance to other centres of consumption. Companhia Energética de Minas Gerais (Cemig), a mixed-economy organization, is responsible for the largest distribution network in Latin America and is 240,000 kilometres long.

Minas Gerais occupies 588 000 km2 of Brazilian territory, an area greater than that of countries like France (544 000 km2) or Japan (378 000 km2). Despite being the biggest national producer of coffee (10 million bags processed in 1994) and milk (2.7 billion litres annually), farming represents only 14.1% of its GDP. The industrial sector, which is wide and varied, is at present responsible for 26.3% of state production - mining and metallurgy are among the chief activities in the sector, alongside the automobile sector established around Fiat Automóveis. The remaining 59.9% of the GDP is divided among services, commerce and financial institutions, amongst others. The state has forty five industrial estates in operation, thirty four of which located in the interior and eleven in the Belo Horizonte metropolitan region. Altogether they accommodate approximately 1,200 industries.

Belo Horizonte-City

Created to replace Ouro Preto as the capital of the state of Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte is one of the few Brazilian towns that were planned. Situated at an altitude of 858.3 metres, its construction began in 1893 and it was inaugurated four years later with the name Cidade de Minas Gerais. In planning it, the engineers, Aarão Reis and Francisco Bicalho, found their inspiration in the town plan of Washington DC (USA).

Belo Horizonte is the fourth city in the country in population, with 2.3 million inhabitants. Its metropolitan region is formed by 20 municipalities. The capital is also a gateway to historical towns like Ouro Preto and Mariana and to the Lapinha and Maquiné grottoes.

Because it is a city that was actually planned, and also because of its neoclassical and modern architectural features, Belo Horizonte can be regarded as a landmark for town planning and for architecture in the country. Anyone visiting it must not miss the Pampulha centre, the site of the first revolutionary works of Oscar Niemeyer, the best known Brazilian architect. The Pampulha also has works by the artist Cândido Portinari, the landscape architect Burle Marx and the sculptor Ceschiatti and includes the church of São Francisco de Assis, the Belo Horizonte Museum of Art, the Yacht Club, the Dancing Academy, the House of Juscelino Kubitschek, the Headquarters of the Zoo-Botanical Foundation, the monument to Iemanjá and the Mineirão and Mineirinho stadiums, registered as historic heritage.

Another of the important architectural works of Belo Horizonte is the Palace of Liberty, the seat of the State Government. Constructed in the neoclassical style, it is the result of the influence exercised on Brazilian architecture by a French mission that visited the country at the end of last century. Particularly interesting as places to be visited in the capital are the Mineralogy and Historical Museums and the Palace of the Arts, situated in the Municipal Park, with a modern theatre, cinema, craft shop and space for exhibitions of plastic arts.

In the area surrounding Belo Horizonte are parks of great natural richness such as Mangabeiras, located six kilometres from the city in the Serra do Curral. This park provides an astonishing view of the capital with an area of 2.35 million m2, of which 900 000 m2 are native forest. There is also the Mata do Jambeiro nature reserve extending over 912 hectares, with vegetation typical of the Atlantic Forest. In it live more than one hundred species of birds and ten different species of mammals.