Córrego Danta is a town located in the state of Minas Gerais

Minas Gerais

Minas Gerais is one of the 26 states of Brazil, of which it is the second most populous, the third richest, and the fourth largest in area. Minas Gerais is the Brazilian state with the largest number of Presidents of Brazil, the current one, Dilma Rousseff, being one of them. The capital is the...

, Brazil

Brazil

Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...

.

Córrego Danta was once the district of another city, Luz

Luz, Minas Gerais

Luz is a Brazilian municipality located in the West part of the state of Minas Gerais. Luz is located between the city of Araxa and the capital city of the state of Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte. Its population as of 2007 was 17,173 people living in a total area of 1,171 km²...

, until it became autonomous on January 1, 1949. It is situated in the center-west region of Minas Gerais, in the region called Alto do São Francisco, which means the heights of the São Francisco

São Francisco River

The São Francisco is a river in Brazil. With a length of , it is the longest river that runs entirely in Brazilian territory, and the fourth longest in South America and overall in Brazil...

, in reference to its high altitude and propinquity to the source of this river.

Córrego Danta has approximately 3400 inhabitants, 656,88 km² of area, making it one of the smaller cities in Minas Gerais, along with the cities of Luz, Bambuí

Bambuí

Bambuí is a Brazilian municipality located in the west of the state of Minas Gerais. Its population as of 2007 was 21,850 people living in a total area of 1,455 km². The city belongs to the meso-region of Oeste de Minas and to the micro-region of Piumhi...

, Tapiraí

Tapiraí

Tapiraí is a municipality in the state of São Paulo in Brazil. The population in 2004 was 10,025 and the area is 757 km². The elevation is 875 m. The city is located in a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve...

, Campos Altos

Campos Altos

Campos Altos is a Brazilian municipality located in the west of the state of Minas Gerais. Its population as of 2007 was estimated to be 13,184 people living in a total area of 719 km². The city belongs to the mesoregion of Triângulo Mineiro and Alto Paranaíba and to the micro-region of Araxá. It...

, Santa Rosa da Serra

Santa Rosa da Serra

Santa Rosa da Serra is a Brazilian municipality located in the northwest of the state of Minas Gerais. Its population as of 2007 was 3,261 people living in a total area of 296 km². The city belongs to the mesoregion of Triângulo Mineiro e Alto Paranaíba and to the microregion of Patos de Minas...

, and Estrela do Indaiá

Estrela do Indaiá

Estrela do Indaiá is a Brazilian municipality located in the center of the state of Minas Gerais. Its population as of 2007 was 3,651 people living in a total area of 635 km². The city belongs to the meso-region of Central Mineira and to the micro-region of Bom Despacho...

.

History

In 1868 the small village was elevated to a district of Luz, receiving the name of "São José do Córrego Danta" ("Saint Joseph

Saint Joseph

Saint Joseph is a figure in the Gospels, the husband of the Virgin Mary and the earthly father of Jesus Christ ....

 of Córrego Danta"). It was renamed in 1923 simply as Córrego Danta. Córrego Danta means "Tapir

Tapir

A Tapir is a large browsing mammal, similar in shape to a pig, with a short, prehensile snout. Tapirs inhabit jungle and forest regions of South America, Central America, and Southeast Asia. There are four species of Tapirs: the Brazilian Tapir, the Malayan Tapir, Baird's Tapir and the Mountain...

s' Stream", in reference to the populations of these animals that roamed during the colonial era the edges of the streamlet that passes by the town.

Economy

The main economical activities are based on agriculture

Agriculture

Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...

, with the plantation of coffee

Coffee

Coffee is a brewed beverage with a dark,init brooo acidic flavor prepared from the roasted seeds of the coffee plant, colloquially called coffee beans. The beans are found in coffee cherries, which grow on trees cultivated in over 70 countries, primarily in equatorial Latin America, Southeast Asia,...

, sugar cane, corn

Maize

Maize known in many English-speaking countries as corn or mielie/mealie, is a grain domesticated by indigenous peoples in Mesoamerica in prehistoric times. The leafy stalk produces ears which contain seeds called kernels. Though technically a grain, maize kernels are used in cooking as a vegetable...

, and manioc, and dairy farming

Dairy farming

Dairy farming is a class of agricultural, or an animal husbandry, enterprise, for long-term production of milk, usually from dairy cows but also from goats and sheep, which may be either processed on-site or transported to a dairy factory for processing and eventual retail sale.Most dairy farms...

. The main rivers and streams are Araras

Araras

Araras is a city and county in the State of São Paulo, Brazil. The population in 2010 is 118,898.-Sports:União São João Esporte Clube, founded in 1981, is the most successful football club of the city....

 Stream, Perdição River, Indaiá River

Indaiá River

-See also:* ] map]* Rand McNally, The New International Atlas, 1993....

 and the Córrego Danta. All are connected to the São Francisco basin.

Natural aspects

Córrego Danta also has several natural attractions, such as waterfall

Waterfall

A waterfall is a place where flowing water rapidly drops in elevation as it flows over a steep region or a cliff.-Formation:Waterfalls are commonly formed when a river is young. At these times the channel is often narrow and deep. When the river courses over resistant bedrock, erosion happens...

s and the Bueno Mountain, near the town. Vegetation is composed of what is called locally the cerrado, which resembles a savannah

Savannah

Savannah or savanna is a type of grassland.It can also mean:-People:* Savannah King, a Canadian freestyle swimmer* Savannah Outen, a singer who gained popularity on You Tube...

. Several forest-dwelling animals live in the region, like the lobo-guará (a Brazilian wolf species), tamandua

Tamandua

Tamandua is a genus of anteaters. It has two members: the Southern Tamandua and the Northern Tamandua . They live in forests and grasslands, are semi-arboreal, and possess partially prehensile tails. They mainly eat ants and termites, but they occasionally eat bees, beetles, and insect larvae...

 (another animal native to Brazil) and the onça-pintada, a jaguar

Jaguar

The jaguar is a big cat, a feline in the Panthera genus, and is the only Panthera species found in the Americas. The jaguar is the third-largest feline after the tiger and the lion, and the largest in the Western Hemisphere. The jaguar's present range extends from Southern United States and Mexico...

 species named after its spotted pattern in its skin.

Religiosity and main religious celebrations

Religiosity is intrinsic to its people. Córrego Danta's patron saint

Patron saint

A patron saint is a saint who is regarded as the intercessor and advocate in heaven of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, family, or person...

 is Saint Joseph, but the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary

Our Lady of the Rosary

Our Lady of the Rosary is a title of the Blessed Virgin Mary in relation to the rosary....

 (or Festa do Rosário

Festa do Rosário

The "Festa de Nossa Senhora do Rosário" or simply Festa do Rosário is the main celebration in the Brazilian city of Córrego Danta. It happens in the city during the third weekend of August.-Main religious aspects:...

) which happens in the third weekend of August, during four days, is the main celebration. During this festival, people from almost all over the region to see this celebration, marked by its vendors, who sell every kind of cheap product. It resembles a popular fair, when people have fun and celebrate Our Lady and see its beauties and traditions of congado (a dance that came from slaves in the colonial era, brought from Africa

Africa

Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...

).