Lavras
| Lavras | |||
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| Nickname(s): Cidade dos Ipês e das Escolas ("City of the Ipês (a tree) and Schools") | |||
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| Coordinates: 21°14′42″S 45°00′00″W / 21.245°S 45°WCoordinates: 21°14′42″S 45°00′00″W / 21.245°S 45°W | |||
| Government | |||
| • Mayor | Jussara Menicucci de Oliveira | ||
| Area | |||
| • Total | 564.495 km2 (218 sq mi) | ||
| Elevation | 919 m (3,015 ft) | ||
| Population (2007)1 | |||
| • Total | 87,421 | ||
| • Density | 156.4/km2 (405.1/sq mi) | ||
| Time zone | UTC-3 (UTC-3) | ||
| • Summer (DST) | UTC-2 (UTC-2) | ||
| Website | Lavras | ||
Lavras is a city and municipality in Southern Minas Gerais state, Brazil. Located at an altitude of 900 m, it has an approximate population of 80,000 inhabitants. The area of the municipality is 566.1 km². The average annual temperature is 19.4°C and the average annual rainfall is 1,529.7 ml.
Located near the Circuit of the Waters—a series of spas in the state of São Paulo and Minas Gerais—and the historical cities of Minas, it is connected by highway to the state capital, Belo Horizonte (230 km.), to São Paulo (370 km.) and Rio de Janeiro (420 km.)
The city is a university center with one of Brazil's top universities in the agricultural area— UFLA - Universidade Federal de Lavras [1]. Founded in 1908 it is well-known in Brazil and abroad for its courses in agronomy and veterinary science. Seventy percent of its 305 teachers have Ph. D. degrees. There are 2,673 undergraduate students and 5,884 graduate students, with 546 doing the M.S. and 374 doing the Ph.D. In a recent study, out of 875 schools analysed UFLA was voted the third best in the country in its courses.
Besides the university, the municipality also bases its economic life on coffee, beans, rice, corn, citrus fruits, and dairy cattle. There are small industries producing clothing, towels, metallurgy and dairy products.
Lavras was a station on the Estrada de Ferro Oeste de Minas, a narrow gauge railway.
