Romaria is a Brazilian

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 subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

located in the northwest of the

state State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

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 as of 2020 was 3,520 people living in a total area of 402 km². The city belongs to the mesoregion of Triângulo Mineiro e Alto Paranaiba and to the

microregion Microregion is a designation for territorial entities. Austria Brazil Klaus Roth and Ulf Brunnbauer A microregion is a geographic region of a size between that of a community and that of a district.p. 18, "What's in a Region? Southeast Europ ...

Patrocínio Patrocínio is a Municipalities of Brazil, municipality in the States of Brazil, state of Minas Gerais in Brazil. The population is 91,449 (2020 est.) in an area of 2874 km2. The elevation is 965 m. Geography It is located in the north-cente ...

. It became a municipality in 1962.

Geography

The municipality is located in the region of the Alto Paranaíba, just north of the important federal highway BR-365, which links the state boundary of

Goiás Goiás () is a Brazilian States of Brazil, state located in the Central-West Region, Brazil, Central-West region. Goiás borders the Federal District (Brazil), Federal District and the states of (from north clockwise) Tocantins, Bahia, Minas Ge ...

to Montes Claros. The elevation of the town center is 960 meters. Neighboring municipalities are: Estrela do Sul and Monte Carmelo (N); Iraí de Minas (E); Nova Ponte and Indianópolis (S); Araguari (W).

Distances

* Monte Carmelo: 20 km *

: 75 km *

Uberlândia Uberlândia () is a city and municipality in the state of Minas Gerais, southeastern Brazil. It is the second largest city in the state of Minas Gerais after the state capital Belo Horizonte. Its population in 2020 was 699,097, making it the si ...

: 75 km *

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 ...

: 511 km

History

Água Suja, today Romaria, began as a settlement during the War of Paraguay, when some prospectors found diamonds. The first stone was discovered in 1857 in the Agua Suja stream, a tributary of the Bagagem River. A chapel was built to honor Our Lady of Abadia and an image was brought from Portugal. By 1926 there were already around fifty thousand pilgrims (romeiros) coming to worship the statue of the Virgin and the construction of a sanctuary was begun. The celebration takes place from August 6 to 15 and it attracts thousands of pilgrims who fill the small town.Ferias.tur.br
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Economic activities

The most important economic activities are cattle raising for meat and dairy, commerce, and agriculture, with the main crops being coffee, corn, rice, and citrus fruits. The GDP in 2005 was R$70 million, with 16 million generated by services, 03 million generated by industry, and 48 million generated by agriculture. Romaria is in the middle tier of municipalities in the state with regard to economic and social development. As of 2007 there were no banking agencies in the town. There was a modest retail infrastructure serving the surrounding area of cattle and agricultural lands. There were 391 automobiles in all of the municipality (2007), about one for every 08 inhabitants.IBGE
/ref> Romaria has a small municipal area but had a large agricultural production especially in coffee, corn, and soybeans. In the rural area there were 175 establishments (2006) occupying 27,000 hectares (planted area: 14,000 ha,; natural pasture: 7,000 ha.; and woodland: 5,000 ha.). About 2,000 persons were dependent on agriculture. 68 of the farms had tractors, a ratio of one in 03 farms. There were 7,700 head of cattle in 2006. The main crops were coffee (5,200 hectares), corn (6,500 hectares), cotton, peas, beans, passion fruit, rice, and soybeans (9,500 hectares).

Health and education

In the health sector there were 02 health clinics and 01 hospital with 16 beds. In the educational sector there was 01 pre-primary schools, 02 primary school, and 01 middle school. *Municipal

Human Development Index The Human Development Index (HDI) is a statistical composite index of life expectancy, Education Index, education (mean years of schooling completed and expected years of schooling upon entering the education system), and per capita income i ...

: 0.775 (2000) *State ranking: 139 out of 853 municipalities as of 2000 *National ranking: 1,196 out of 5,138 municipalities as of 2000 *Literacy rate: 90% *Life expectancy: 71 (average of males and females)Frigoletto
/ref> The highest ranking municipality in Minas Gerais in 2000 was

Poços de Caldas Poços de Caldas is a Municipalities of Brazil, municipality in the south of Minas Gerais state, Brazil, in the microregion of the same name. Its estimated population in 2020 was 168,641 inhabitants. The city is known for its hot springs. Histor ...

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 Pernambuco ( , , ) is a States of Brazil, state of Brazil located in the Northeast Region, Brazil, Northeast region of the country. With an estimated population of 9.5 million people as of 2024, it is the List of Brazilian states by population, ...

has the lowest rating in the country—0,467—putting it in last place.

References