Itaobim is a municipality in the northeast of the

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 ...

ian 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 ...

. Its population in 2020 was 21,029 inhabitants in a total area of 680 km². The city is part of the

Immediate Geographic Region of Teófilo Otoni The Immediate Geographic Region of Teófilo Otoni is one of the 7 immediate geographic regions in the Intermediate Geographic Region of Teófilo Otoni, one of the 70 immediate geographic regions in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais and one of ...

. The elevation of the municipal seat is 180 meters. It became a municipality in 1962. Neighboring municipalities are

Medina Medina, officially al-Madinah al-Munawwarah (, ), also known as Taybah () and known in pre-Islamic times as Yathrib (), is the capital of Medina Province (Saudi Arabia), Medina Province in the Hejaz region of western Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, ...

Jequitinhonha Jequitinhonha () is a Brazilian municipality located in the northeast of the state of Minas Gerais. Geography The population was estimated to be 25,474 people living in a total area of 3,518 km². The city belongs to the mesoregion of Jequ ...

Ponto dos Volantes Ponto dos Volantes is a Brazilian municipality located in the northeast of the state of Minas Gerais. The city is part of the Immediate Geographic Region of Teófilo Otoni. As of 2020 the population was 12,179 in an area of 1,215 km². The el ...

and

Itinga Itinga is a Brazilian municipality located in the northeast of the state of Minas Gerais in the Jequitinhonha River valley. the population was 15,022 in a total area of 1,641 km2. The city belongs to the mesoregion of Jequitinhonha and to ...

. The distance to the state 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 ...

, is 604 kilometers.

Etymology

The word Itaobim comes from the

Tupi language Old Tupi, Ancient Tupi or Classical Tupi () is a classical Tupian language which was spoken by the indigenous Tupi people of Brazil, mostly those who inhabited coastal regions in South and Southeast Brazil. In the words of Brazilian tupinol ...

and means ''Itá'' (rock) and ''oby'' (green). This toponym was chosen by the inhabitants because there is a mountain range made up of green-toned rocks near the city.

History

In the 1910s, the town of São Roque existed, located between the

Jequitinhonha River The Jequitinhonha River () flows mainly through the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais. Its source lies near Diamantina in the Espinhaço Mountains at an elevation of , after which it flows northward and then east-northeastward across the uplands. ...

and the São Roque stream. The town was formed by people from the Brazilian northeast, mostly from Bahia, who were fleeing the drought. According to reports, the location was chosen because it had fertile and flat land, suitable for agriculture and livestock farming. After a flood that occurred in January 1928, when the Jequitinhonha River overflowed and destroyed the town, the inhabitants sought refuge on a nearby plateau, forming the city of Itaobim. The municipality was officially formed on December 30, 1962.

Geography

According to the regional division in force since 2017, instituted by the IBGE, the municipality belongs to the Intermediate and

. Until then, with the divisions into microregions and mesoregions in force, it was part of the microregion of Pedra Azul, which in turn was included in the mesoregion of Jequitinhonha. Located 620 km from Belo Horizonte, the city, an old route of the

bandeirantes ''Bandeirantes'' (; ; singular: ''bandeirante'') were settlers in colonial Brazil who participated in expeditions to expand the colony's borders and subjugate Indigenous peoples in Brazil, indigenous peoples during the early modern period. T ...

, is at a strategic junction of the

BR-116 The BR-116 is part of the Brazilian Highway System. With at total length of it is the longest highway in the country. It is also the longest highway in the country to be completely paved. The highway connects Fortaleza, Ceará, one of the larg ...

(Rio-Bahia), BR-367 (North of Minas) and BR-327 (South of Bahia) highways.

Economy

The city's

GDP Gross domestic product (GDP) is a monetary measure of the total market value of all the final goods and services produced and rendered in a specific time period by a country or countries. GDP is often used to measure the economic performance o ...

is around R$308.7 million

reais The Brazilian real ( pl. '; sign: R$; code: BRL) is the official currency of Brazil. It is subdivided into 100 centavos. The Central Bank of Brazil is the central bank and the issuing authority. The real replaced the cruzeiro real in 1994. ...

, with 54.8% of the added value coming from services, followed by public administration (36.5%), industry (5.6%) and agriculture (3.1%). The GDP per capita of Itaobim is R$14.7 thousand.

Culture

In the city, the Itaobim Art and Culture Museum has old objects and stuffed animals by Brasiliano Pereira Reis, better known as Mestre Canjira, a

taxidermist Taxidermy is the art of preserving an animal's body by mounting (over an armature) or stuffing, for the purpose of display or study. Animals are often, but not always, portrayed in a lifelike state. The word ''taxidermy'' describes the process ...

who stuffed animals and birds killed in accidents donated by drivers and Forest Police officers. Every year, Itaobim holds the Festa da Manga, a festival that brings together many people from the region and where nationally famous artists perform.

References

External links

Statistics from IBGESocial indicators
1962 establishments in Minas Gerais Municipalities in Minas Gerais {{MinasGerais-geo-stub