Lagoa da Prata

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Lagoa da Prata
Municipality
Lagoa da Prata Centro.jpg
Flag of Lagoa da Prata
Flag
Official seal of Lagoa da Prata
Seal
Motto(s): 
Work, progress, faith ("Trabalho, progresso, fé" in portuguese)
MinasGerais Municip LagoadaPrata.svg
Lagoa da Prata is located in Brazil
Lagoa da Prata
Lagoa da Prata
Coordinates: 20°01′22″S 45°32′38″W / 20.02278°S 45.54389°W / -20.02278; -45.54389
Country Brazil
RegionSoutheast
State Minas Gerais
Municipal incorporationDecember 27, 1938
Government
 • MayorDi Gianne de Oliveira Nunes (Cidadania)
Area
 • Total439.984 km2 (169.879 sq mi)
Population
 (2020 [1])
 • Total52,711
 • Density118.5/km2 (307/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC-3 (UTC-3)

Lagoa da Prata is a Brazilian municipality in the state of Minas Gerais. In 2020, its population was estimated to be 52,711. The city belongs to the mesoregion of Central Mineira and to the microregion of Bom Despacho.

Early history[]

In the 18th century, Lagoa da Prata ("Silverlake", in English) was a settlement which mined gold around the São Francisco River. It was established as a town in 1789. In 1896, Carlos José Bernardes Sobrinho founded the city. He originally called it "Pântano" ("Quagmire" in English), later changing it to "São Carlos do Pântano" ("Saint Carlos of Quagmire" in English).[2]

In December 1938, Lagoa da Prata became established as a city with its current name.

Modern day[]

The downtown region of Lagoa da Prata is situated on hilly terrain, and at the end of the high road is a church which overlooks the city. Usina Luciânia was a residential neighbourhood situated approximately 6 km away from downtown, but nowadays it is an industrial site owned by Louis Dreyfus Group.

In 1968, a series of beaches were constructed on the border of the lagoon to attract tourists. Today, the beaches remain Lagoa da Prata's main tourist attraction.[3] Other tourist attractions include the Lagô Pirô, Ponte de Ferro ("Bridge of Iron" in English) which is a bridge that crosses the São Francisco River, a cachoeira da Cemiguinha ("The Cemiguinha Waterfall" in English) and a series of painted caves and grottos.

The bus station ("Rodoviária") is called Terminal Rodoviária Pedro Roberto Amorim after the mayor who commissioned its construction.

Geography[]

Lagoa da Prata is located in the Midwest of Minas Gerais, in Alto São Francisco, with an area of 439,984 km², 211 km from Belo Horizonte, the state capital.

The municipality of Lagoa da Prata is located at 658 meters of altitude and its predominant climate is the Tropical Altitude. The annual average temperature is 21.8 °C, and in summer it can pass around 30 °C and in winter it can reach less than 10 °C.

The city have two well-defined seasons: a hot and rainy summer between the months of October and March, and a cold and dry winter between May and September. The average annual precipitation is 1512mm.

The predominant natural vegetation cover is the Cerrado and its variants, but today only small remnants of the natural vegetation are intact, due to the intense deforestation for cultivation of pastures and agricultural activities such as the cultivation of sugar cane.

Demographics[]

According to the IBGE, 52,165 people lived in the municipality of Lagoa da Prata in 2019, 97.7% of whom lived in the urban area and only 2.3% in the rural area.

Ethnicities and migration[]

Lagoa da Prata is a multiracial city, result of migration. As well as the population of Minas Gerais in general, the Lagopratense population was formed by a great diversity of peoples, including amerindians, portugueses and africans.

In the 2010 IBGE Census, in a self-declaration survey, of the 45,984 inhabitants of the city, there were 25,903 Whites (56.33%), 16.221 Pardos (35.28%), 3,776 Blacks (8.21%) and 83 Asians (0.18%).

It is also remarkable the presence of descendants of European peoples who have recently migrated to the city, most of whom are Italian and to a lesser extent, German, Dutch, Spanish, Russian and French. Descendants of Asian peoples are also present, mainly of Japanese, Chinese and Lebanese origins.

Religion[]

According to data from the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE), in 2010 the population of Lagoa da Prata was 37,627 Roman Catholics (81.83%), 7.165 Protestants (15.58%), 330 Jehovah's Witnesses ( 0.72%), 237 Spiritists (0.52%), 47 Indigenous Traditions (0.1%) and 1.258 no-religious (2.73%).

Economy[]

Three large industries are installed in the city, which heat up the local economy and employ a large part of the population: Embaré (food industry); Biosev (agricultural industry) and Pharlab (pharmaceutical industry). In addition to these, trade is very important for the local economy, especially that related to the bicycle and motorcycle industry, such as LM Motos, LM Bike, Athor Bike, Total Maxparts and Gominha Pneus.

Etymology[]

In English, "Lagoa da Prata" means "Silver Lagoon", the name of the lagoon which the city is named after. It is called Silver Lagoon due to the silver sheen the clean water reflects when the sun shines on it. Its striking colour has led to priests and missionaries visiting the city.

Personalities born in Lagoa da Prata[]

Football players[]

  • Gilberto Silva, Brazilian former professional footballer and 2002 FIFA World Cup champion.
  • Núbia Soares, triple jumper athlete and brazilian representant in the 2016 and 2020 Summer Olympic Games.

Photo gallery[]

  • The lake has an artificial beach.

  • Today, the main road is overlooked by a church.

  • The rodoviaria at Lagoa da Prata.

References[]

  1. ^ IBGE 2020
  2. ^ History of Lagoa da Prata Archived 2004-11-13 at the Wayback Machine
  3. ^ History and Tourist Potential of Lagoa da Prata

Coordinates: 20°01′S 45°32′W / 20.017°S 45.533°W / -20.017; -45.533

Retrieved from ""