Cavalcante is a town located in the northern state of

Goiás Goiás () is a Brazilian state located in the Center-West region. Goiás borders the Federal District and the states of (from north clockwise) Tocantins, Bahia, Minas Gerais, Mato Grosso do Sul and Mato Grosso. The state capital is Goiânia. ...

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

. It used to be a big gold producer during the colonial times, but today Cavalcante is more known by its natural beauties, rivers and waterfalls. It is home to a large number of

quilombolas A ''quilombola'' () is an Afro-Brazilian resident of ''quilombo'' settlements first established by escaped slaves in Brazil. They are the descendants of Afro-Brazilian slaves who escaped from slave plantations that existed in Brazil until abo ...

, communities of descendants of African-Brazilians who managed to escape from slavery.

Geography

It is located just north of the

Chapada dos Veadeiros National Park Chapada dos Veadeiros National Park ( pt, Parque Nacional da Chapada dos Veadeiros) is a national park of Brazil located in the state of Goiás, on the top of an ancient plateau with an estimated age of 1.8 billion years. The park was created o ...

and is connected by tarmacked road with

Teresina de Goiás Teresina de Goiás Defect Boys is a municipality in northern Goiás state, Brazil. Location It is part of the region of the statistical micro-region of Chapada dos Veadeiros and is located north of the Federal District and Brasília. It is 67&n ...

. It is part of the

Chapada dos Veadeiros Chapada dos Veadeiros National Park ( pt, Parque Nacional da Chapada dos Veadeiros) is a national park of Brazil located in the state of Goiás, on the top of an ancient plateau with an estimated age of 1.8 billion years. The park was created on ...

micro-region. The distance to the state capital of

Goiânia Goiânia (; ) is the capital and largest city of the Brazilian state of Goiás. With a population of 1,536,097, it is the second-largest city in the Central-West Region and the 10th-largest in the country. Its metropolitan area has a population ...

is 510 km and most residents have greater contact with Brasília than with the state capital. Highway connections from

are made by BR-153 /

Anápolis Anápolis (, ) is a Brazilian city in the State of Goiás. It is located between two capitals, the federal capital Brasília and state capital Goiânia. It is the third most populous city in the state, with 391,772 inhabitants according to an e ...

Alexânia Alexânia is a municipality in central Goiás state, Brazil. Alexânia is known for its alleged extraterrestrial sightings in the late sixties and early seventies. The Areias River passes through the municipality. Location It is located on the ...

/ BR-060 / Planaltina / GO-430 / GO-118 / BR-010 / São João da Aliança /

Alto Paraíso de Goiás Alto Paraíso de Goiás, usually referred to as Alto Paraíso, is a municipality located in the northeastern region of the state of Goiás, Brazil. The city is located in the Chapada dos Veadeiros and, since 2001, in the environmental protection ...

/ GO-241. Neighboring municipalities and states are: *north:

Tocantins Tocantins () is one of the 26 states of Brazil. It is the newest state, formed in 1988 and encompassing what had formerly been the northern two-fifths of the state of Goiás. Tocantins covers and had an estimated population of 1,496,880 in 2 ...

*south:

*west:

Colinas do Sul Colinas do Sul is a municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is sub ...

and Minaçu *east:

History

The first settlers arrived in the region in 1736 looking for gold. Soon gold was discovered near the stream called Lava Pés and the village began to grow taking the name of Cavalcante, after Julião Cavalcante its founder. By 1806 the gold had run out and the population declined accordingly. In 1831 the town was elevated to the status of "vila". In 1953 it became a municipality. In 1957 the district of

broke off to form its own municipality. Likewise, in 1988 the district of

was dismembered.

Economy

The economy is based on cattle raising (60,777 head in 2006) and agriculture. The main crops cultivated are rice and corn, although in modest production. There was one bank—Banco do Brasil S.A. (Agosto/2007) Agricultural data 2006 *Farms: 1,228 *Total area: 331,175 ha. *Area of permanent crops: 10,681 ha. *Area of perennial crops: 32,505 ha. *Area of natural pasture: 186,001 ha. *Area of woodland and forests: 72,521 ha. *Persons dependent on farming: 4,000 *Number of tractors: 703 *Cattle herd: 60,777 *Main crop: corn with 1,500 ha IBGE
/ref>

Tourism

Founded in 1740 with the discovery of gold, Cavalcante still has traces of the colonial architecture of the gold period. Located 330 km. from

Brasília Brasília (; ) is the federal capital of Brazil and seat of government of the Federal District. The city is located at the top of the Brazilian highlands in the country's Central-West region. It was founded by President Juscelino Kubitsche ...

it has waterfalls, streams and trails. Crossing the low mountains one can reach the springs of hot mineral water that gave the name to a now extinct mining town—Água Quente. Cavalcante was once considered in the golden age of mining to be a great producer of gold and other minerals. Now livestock raising is the strong point of the local economy. The town also gets some tourism, which enters the

, 100 km to the south. Many tourists come to visit the more than 150 cataloged waterfalls, most of which can only be visited on foot. On a dirt road that borders the national park there are connections with

and the Serra da Mesa artificial lake.

Kalunga

Nearby there is a community, called the

Kalunga The Kalungas are Brazilians that descend from people who freed themselves from slavery, and lived in remote settlements in Goiás state, Brazil. The Kalungas are one group of Quilombola, or people of African origin who live in hinterland s ...

, who are black descendants of the slaves who escaped into the interior to form communities called quilombos. These runaway slaves lived in isolation, building their own identity and their own culture, with African elements added to European elements, mainly the traditional Catholicism of the rural milieu, and intermingling with the indigenous population. Today the Kalunga (approximately 4,500 people) occupy a territory that takes in part of the municipalities of Cavalcante, Monte Alegre and Teresina de Goiás. In these territories there are four main population centers: the region of Contenda and Vão do Calunga, Vão de Almas, Vão do Moleque and the former Ribeirão dos Negros, later renamed Ribeirão dos Boi

Health and education

*Hospital: 01 with 18 beds *Infant mortality rate in 2000: 30.02 *Literacy rate in 2000: 61.7 (one of the lowest in the state) *MHDI: 0.609 *State ranking: 241 (out of 242 municipalities) *National ranking: 4,509 (out of 5,507 municipalities)

References

Frigoletto

External links

*
Kalunga (in Portuguese)
{{Municipalities of Goiás Municipalities in Goiás