Lagoa da Prata

Lagoa da Prata
Lagoa da Prata
Municipality
	Flag
	Lagoa da Prata
	Coordinates: 20°01′22″S 45°32′38″W / 20.02278°S 45.54389°W
Country	Brazil
Region	Southeast
State	Minas Gerais
Municipal incorporation	December 27, 1938
Government
• Mayor	Paulinho Despachante
Area
• Total	439.984 km2 (169.879 sq mi)
Population (2019)
• Total	52,165
• Density	118.5/km2 (307/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC-3 (UTC-3)

Lagoa da Prata is a Brazilian municipality in the state of Minas Gerais. In 2019, its population was estimated to be 52,165.^[2] The city belongs to the mesoregion of Central Mineira and to the microregion of Bom Despacho.

Early history

In the 18th century, Lagoa da Prata ("Silverlake", in English) was a settlement which mined gold around the São Francisco River. It was established as a town in 1789. In 1896, Cel. Carlos Jose Bernardes Sobrinho founded the city. He originally called it "Pântano" ("Quagmire" in English), later changing it to "São Carlos do Pântano" ("The Quagmire of Saint Carlos" in English).^[3]

In December 1938, Lagoa da Prata became established as a city.

Modern day

The downtown region of Lagoa da Prata is situated on hilly terrain, and at the end of the high road is a church which overlooks the city. Usina Luciânia was a residential neighbourhood situated approximately 6 km away from downtown, but nowadays it is an industrial site owned by Louis Dreyfus Group.

In 1968, a series of beaches were constructed on the border of the lagoon to attract tourists. Today, the beaches remain Lagoa da Prata's main tourist attraction.^[4] Other tourist attractions include the Lagô Pirô micareta, Ponte de Ferro ("Bridge of Iron" in English) which is a bridge that crosses the São Francisco River, a cachoeira da Cemiguinha ("The Cemiguinha Waterfall" in English) and a series of painted caves and grottos.

The bus station ("Rodoviária") is called Terminal Rodoviária Pedro Roberto Amorim after the mayor who commissioned its construction.

Geography

Lagoa da Prata is located in the Midwest of Minas Gerais, in Alto São Francisco, with an area of 439,984 km², 211 km from Belo Horizonte, the state capital.

The municipality of Lagoa da Prata is located at 658 meters of altitude and its predominant climate is the Tropical Altitude. The annual average temperature is 21.8 ° C, and in summer it can pass around 30 ° C and in winter it can reach less than 10 ° C.

The city have two well-defined seasons: a hot and rainy summer between the months of October and March, and a cold and dry winter between May and September. The average annual precipitation is 1512mm.

The predominant natural vegetation cover is the Cerrado and its variants, but today only small remnants of the natural vegetation are intact, due to the intense deforestation for cultivation of pastures and agricultural activities such as the cultivation of sugar cane.

Demographics

According to the IBGE, 52,165 people lived in the municipality of Lagoa da Prata in 2019, 97.7% of whom lived in the urban area and only 2.3% in the rural area.

Ethnicities and migration

Lagoa da Prata is a multiracial city, result of migration. As well as the population of Minas Gerais in general, the Lagopratense population was formed by a great diversity of peoples, including amerindians, portugueses and africans.

In the 2010 IBGE Census, in a self-declaration survey, of the 45,984 inhabitants of the city, there were 25,903 Whites (56.33%), 16.221 Pardos (35.28%), 3,776 Blacks (8.21%) and 83 Asians (0.18%).

It is also remarkable the presence of descendants of European peoples who have recently migrated to the city, most of whom are Italian and to a lesser extent, German, Spanish, Russian and French. Descendants of Asian peoples are also present, mainly of Japanese, Chinese and Lebanese origins.

Religion

According to data from the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE), in 2010 the population of Lagoa da Prata was 37,627 Roman Catholics (81.83%), 7.165 Protestants (15.58%), 330 Jehovah's Witnesses ( 0.72%), 237 Spiritists (0.52%), 47 Indigenous Traditions (0.1%) and 1.258 no-religious (2.73%).

Economy

Three large industries are installed in the city, which heat up the local economy and employ a large part of the population: Embaré (food industry); Biosev (agricultural industry) and Pharlab (pharmaceutical industry). In addition to these, trade is very important for the local economy, especially that related to the bicycle and motorcycle industry, such as LM Motos, LM Bike, Athor Bike, Total Maxparts and Gominha Pneus.

Etymology

In English, "Lagoa da Prata" means "Silver Lagoon", the name of the lagoon which the city is named after. It is called Silver Lagoon due to the silver sheen the clean water reflects when the sun shines on it. Its striking colour has led to priests and missionaries visiting the city.