Diamantina, Minas Gerais

For other uses, see Diamantina (disambiguation).
UNESCO World Heritage Site
Historic Centre of the Town of Diamantina
Name as inscribed on the World Heritage List
Type Cultural
Criteria ii, iv
Reference 890
UNESCO region Latin America and the Caribbean
Inscription history
Inscription 1999 (23rd Session)

Diamantina (Portuguese pronunciation: [dʒiamɐ̃ˈtʃinɐ]) is a Brazilian municipality in the state of Minas Gerais. Its estimated population in 2006 was 44,746 in a total area of 3,870 km².

Arraial do Tijuco (as Diamantina was first called) was built during the colonial era in the early 18th century. As its name suggests, Diamantina was a center of diamond mining in the 18th and 19th centuries. A well-preserved example of Brazilian Baroque architecture, Diamantina is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Other historical cities in Minas Gerais are Ouro Preto, Mariana, Tiradentes, Congonhas and Sabará.

Statistical micro-region

Diamantina is a statistical micro-region that includes the following municipalities: Diamantina, Datas, Felício dos Santos, Gouveia, Presidente Kubitschek, São Gonçalo do Rio Preto, Senador Modestino Gonçalves, and Couto de Magalhães de Minas. The area of this region is 7,348 km² and in 2006 the population was 80,063 inhabitants. The population density (2000) was 11.2 inhab/km².

Location

View of Diamantina

Diamantina is located 292 kilometers almost directly north of the state capital, Belo Horizonte, in a mountainous area. The elevation of the municipal seat is 1,114 meters. The Jequitinhonha River, one of Brazil's most important rivers, flows to the east of the municipal seat. Diamantina is linked to the state capital by federal highway BR-259, by way of Curvelo. Diamantina Airport has regular flights to Belo Horizonte.

The municipality contains the 16,999 hectares (42,010 acres) Biribiri State Park, created in 1998, which contains the historic village of Biribiri.[1]

Neighboring municipalities are: Olhos d'Água and Bocaiúva (N); Carbonita, Senador Modestino Gonçalves, São Gonçalo do Rio Preto, and Couto de Magalhaes de Minas (E); Santo Antônio do Itambé, Datas, Serro and Monjolos (S); Augusto de Lima, Buenópolis, and Engenheiro Navarro (W).

Economic activities

The main economic activities are tourism, services, small industry and agriculture. The GDP in 2005 was R$184 million, with 140 million coming from services, 23 million from industry, and 8 million from agriculture. In 2006 there were 1,248 rural producers on 73,000 hectares of land. Only 24 of the establishments had tractors. There were 14,000 head of cattle.[2]

Health and education

The social indicators rank Diamantina in the top tier of municipalities in the state.

[3]

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.[3]

There were 2 hospitals and 31 health clinics in 2005. Educational needs were met by 30 primary schools and 9 middle schools.[2]

There were 3 institutions of higher learning: Faculdade de Ciências Jurídicas de Diamantina - FCJ (a law school), Faculdade de Filosofia e Letras de Diamantina - FAFIDIA (humanities), and Universidade Federal dos Vales do Jequitinhonha e Mucuri - UFVJM (federal public).[4]

Famous natives of Diamantina

Mining for diamonds near Diamantina. River has been diverted by means of the flume shown in the middle ground, and the dried bed is searched for diamonds

International relations

Twin towns — Sister cities

Diamantina is twinned with:

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Diamantina.

References

  1. ↑ "Parque Estadual do Biribiri", Descubra Minas (in Portuguese), Senac Minas, retrieved 2016-11-30
  2. 1 2 IBGE
  3. 1 2 Frigoletto
  4. ↑ Mundo Vestibular

Coordinates: 18°14′56″S 43°36′00″W / 18.249°S 43.600°W / -18.249; -43.600

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