Miraí
Encyclopedia
Miraí is a Brazilian municipality 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...

. The city belongs to the mesoregion of Zona da Mata and to the microregion of Muriaé.
  • Main Rivers: Fubá and Muriaé

History

Brejo was its first name. The agriculture sector is pointed as one of the most successful of the region Zona da Mata.
The city territory is located in a region of easy access due to the presence of Rio-Bahia highway, also called BR-116
Brazilian Highway System
The Brazilian Highway System is the highway system of Brazil, the fourth largest in the World. As of 2010, the system consists of almost 2 million kilometers of roads, of which approximately 200,000 km are paved.As it is in the United States, Canada or most countries in Europe, larger/wider...

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The first village was set up on the margins of the Muriaé River.
Around 1840, attracted by land fertility, the first explorers came to Miraís region.
Finding land and good water, they spread the news and eventually other farmers arrived.
At 1852, a group of farmers acquired part of the land belonging to the farm named Três Barras,
in the place they built a chapel to Santo Antônio and around grew a village called Brejo.
Later, the village became the District of Paz, with the name of Santo Antônio do Muriaé
Muriaé
Muriaé is a city and municipality in southeast Minas Gerais state, Brazil. It is located in the Zona da Mata region and its population in 2009 was approximately 99.628 inhabitants.-Important Facts:*Municipal Limits...

, belonging to Freguesia de Santa Rita de Meia Pataca.
At 1883, the district was turned into Freguesia de Santo Antônio do Camapuã.
The name was changed to Miraí, which means "wet land" in Tupi, by 1895.
The municipality was created in 1923, separating itself from Cataguases
Cataguases
Cataguases is a city located in the southeastern part of the state of Minas Gerais in Brazil. It is mainly an industrial centre with a strong influence of coffee plantation in its early history . The population was estimated at about 62,000 inhabitants in 1996 and is expected to be at about 66,000...

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Attractions

The town presents as natural attractions countless waterfalls.


The Carnival Parade is very traditional, attracting tourist from all over the country.


In September the city host the Festival Samba and Botequim, a cultural event offering good music and regional cousine, by the bus station.

Ataulfo Alves

Ataulfo Alves was the most famous person to be born in Miraí, he is known as one of the best samba
Samba
Samba is a Brazilian dance and musical genre originating in Bahia and with its roots in Brazil and Africa via the West African slave trade and African religious traditions. It is recognized around the world as a symbol of Brazil and the Brazilian Carnival...

 compositor of the second half of the 20th century, there is a museum to his memory in the city.

Disasters

In January 2007, the city was victim of a flooding with catastrofic proportions after the collapse of a barrage belonging to the company Rio Pomba Cataguases,
more than 2 billion liters of water mixed with mud and chemical waste used on the extration of bauxite
Bauxite
Bauxite is an aluminium ore and is the main source of aluminium. This form of rock consists mostly of the minerals gibbsite Al3, boehmite γ-AlO, and diaspore α-AlO, in a mixture with the two iron oxides goethite and hematite, the clay mineral kaolinite, and small amounts of anatase TiO2...

 was dumped in the city causing its destruction and affecting the Muriaé River, hence destroying many cities on its way to the Atlantic Ocean
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...

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This was the second accident to happen in the region caused by this company. The damage to the environment was unmeasurable.

Sources

  • Secretaria da Cultura, em 1 de outubro de 1999
  • Assembléia Legislativa do Estado de Minas Gerais

External links

  • http://www.almg.gov.br/munmg/m42205.asp
  • http://www.portalclick.com.br/cidades/mirai/fotos.html
  • http://www.interminas.com.br
  • http://www.estacoesferroviarias.com.br/efl_ramais_1/mirai.htm
  • http://www.jornalopiniao.net
  • http://www.interminas.com.br/portal/foto/cobertura/page/1 Festival Samba e Botequim pictures

See also

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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