Contagem () is a city in the center of the state of

Minas Gerais Minas Gerais () is one of the 27 federative units of Brazil, being the fourth largest state by area and the second largest in number of inhabitants with a population of 20,539,989 according to the 2022 Brazilian census, 2022 census. Located in ...

, in

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

. It is only from the capital,

Belo Horizonte Belo Horizonte is the List of largest cities in Brazil, sixth-largest city in Brazil, with a population of around 2.3 million, and the third largest metropolitan area, containing a population of 6 million. It is the List of cities in Sout ...

, and forms part of a metropolitan area with a population of 4.8 million. Over time, the city's geographic boundaries were lost due to its horizontal growth towards the capital, causing intense

conurbation A conurbation is a region consisting of a number of metropolises, cities, large towns, and other urban areas which, through population growth and physical expansion, have merged to form one continuous urban or industrially developed area. In most ...

with Belo Horizonte. Contagem is part of the Greater Belo Horizonte area and is one of the most important cities in this urban agglomeration, mainly due to its large industrial park. Its road system, designed to accommodate an intense flow of vehicles and cargo, is made up of the country's main highways, BR-381 (Fernão Dias - access to

São Paulo São Paulo (; ; Portuguese for 'Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul') is the capital of the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo, as well as the List of cities in Brazil by population, most populous city in Brazil, the List of largest cities in the ...

), BR-262 (access to Vitória and Triângulo Mineiro) and BR-040 (access to

Brasília Brasília ( ; ) is the capital city, capital of Brazil and Federal District (Brazil), Federal District. Located in the Brazilian highlands in the country's Central-West Region, Brazil, Central-West region, it was founded by President Juscelino ...

and

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

Geography

The city belongs to the metropolitan mesoregion and to the microregion of Belo Horizonte, has a territorial extension of , and borders the municipalities of Ribeirão das Neves, Esmeraldas, Betim, Ibirité and Belo Horizonte. The elevation of the city hall is .

Demography

According to estimates from 2020 the municipal population was 668,949 making it the third most populous city in the state of Minas Gerais, after Belo Horizonte and Uberlândia. The population is very young with 86% of the population being less than 50 years old. Education indicators: *adults with up to 10 years of education: 23.67% *young people between 10 and 14 years old attending school: 96.8% *adults with no formal schooling: 5.21% *young people ages between 15 and 17 enrolled in secondary education: 83.7% *adults who have studied some university: 23% *illiteracy rate for adults over 25: 7% ''Source: Census 2010''

Economy

Contagem is primarily a city of

heavy industry Heavy industry is an industry that involves one or more characteristics such as large and heavy products; large and heavy equipment and facilities (such as heavy equipment, large machine tools, huge buildings and large-scale infrastructure); o ...

with a diversified industrial complex; even though minerals processing and chemicals still have a large importance. The municipality is responsible for 5.28% of the state GDP, occupying third place after Belo Horizonte and Betim. Serious problems with water and air pollution exist, and the Pampulha Lake (

) receives large quantities of heavy metals from the city. Contagem was the first industrial district built in Minas Gerais. Inaugurated in 1946, by 1950 it was the largest in the state. The Gafanhoto power plant (on the Pará River) was built by the state government in 1952 to provide for the implementation and development of the district, which is still the largest industrial region in Minas Gerais. Ceasa Minas Greater BH (regional wholesale supply center) is in Contagem. It has a built area of 605,000m², with 535 companies installed, and a public on busy days of 65,000 people. It is the largest in vegetables in all of Brazil.

Sister city

Cienfuegos Carmelo is a sister city in Cuba.

Notable people

* Gilson Bernardo (born 1968), volleyball player * Arlene Xavier (born 1969), volleyball player * Ramon Menezes (born 1972), footballer * Glaydson (born 1979), defensive midfielder * Rafael Pereira (born 1997), athlete * Serginho (born 1986), footballer * Philipe Fidélis dos Santos (born 1989), footballer * Jonathan Reis (born 1990), footballer * Raquel Fernandes (born 1991), footballer * Ricardo Lucarelli (born 1992), volleyball player * Graxa (born 1993), footballer * Kay (born 1999), 2-time UR2D Sunday League World Champion

References

External links

Ceasa Greater BHCity government official site
{{Authority control Municipalities in Minas Gerais