Palmelo
Encyclopedia
Palmelo
State  Goiás
Goiás
Goiás is a state of Brazil, located in the central part of the country. The name Goiás comes from the name of an indigenous community...

Coordinates: 17°19′30"S 48°25′20"W
Area: 58.9 km²
Population: 2,260 (IBGE 2007)
Elevation of municipal seat: 754 m above sea level
Postcode (CEP): 75210-000
Became a city: 1953
Distance to Goiânia
Goiânia
-Climate:The city has a tropical wet and dry climate with an average temperature of . There's a wet season, from October to April, and a dry one, from May to September. Annual rainfall is around 1,520 mm....

:
128 km.
IBGE statistical microregion: Pires do Rio Microregion
Pires do Rio Microregion
The Pires do Rio Microregion is a statistical region of south-central Goiás state, Brazil. The most important city is Pires do Rio. The area includes 10 cities with a population of 90,327 in an area of 9,449.80 km²...

Website: none on 02/04/2008

Palmelo is a small town
Town
A town is a human settlement larger than a village but smaller than a city. The size a settlement must be in order to be called a "town" varies considerably in different parts of the world, so that, for example, many American "small towns" seem to British people to be no more than villages, while...

 in southeast Goiás
Goiás
Goiás is a state of Brazil, located in the central part of the country. The name Goiás comes from the name of an indigenous community...

 state, 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...

. It is the smallest municipality in the state and the only town in Brazil where most of the inhabitants follow the religion called Spiritism
Spiritism
Spiritism is a loose corpus of religious faiths having in common the general belief in the survival of a spirit after death. In a stricter sense, it is the religion, beliefs and practices of the people affiliated to the International Spiritist Union, based on the works of Allan Kardec and others...

.

Location

The distance to the state capital, Goiânia
Goiânia
-Climate:The city has a tropical wet and dry climate with an average temperature of . There's a wet season, from October to April, and a dry one, from May to September. Annual rainfall is around 1,520 mm....

, is 128 km. Highway
Highway
A highway is any public road. In American English, the term is common and almost always designates major roads. In British English, the term designates any road open to the public. Any interconnected set of highways can be variously referred to as a "highway system", a "highway network", or a...

 connections are made by BR-352 / Bela Vista de Goiás
Bela Vista de Goiás
Bela Vista de Goiás is a small city located in central Goiás state in Brazil.-Location:It is 45 kilometers from the state capital of Goiânia...

 / Cristianópolis
Cristianópolis
This article is about Cristianópolis, Goiás. For Cristianópolis, Mato Grosso see Cristianópolis, Mato GrossoCristianópolis is a small town and municipality in south-eastern Goiás state, Brazil.-Geographical Information:...

 / BR-352 / GO-020 / Santa Cruz de Goiás
Santa Cruz de Goiás
Santa Cruz de Goiás is a small town and municipality in southeast Goiás state, Brazil.-Geography:Santa Cruz is located in the southeastern part of the state, 33 km. west of regional center, Pires do Rio...

. Source: Sepin

The municipality is bounded on north, south, and east by Pires do Rio
Pires do Rio
Pires do Rio is a small city and municipality in Goiás state, Brazil. It is a prosperous town and a major producer of poultry.-Location:It is located in the Pires do Rio Microregion. . It is located 144 kilometers from the state capital and is served by highways GO-020, 330 and 414, as well as...

 and on the west by Santa Cruz de Goiás
Santa Cruz de Goiás
Santa Cruz de Goiás is a small town and municipality in southeast Goiás state, Brazil.-Geography:Santa Cruz is located in the southeastern part of the state, 33 km. west of regional center, Pires do Rio...

. It is crossed by the Ribeirão Caiapó and its tributaries: Ribeirão São Jerônimo and Ribeirão Monjolinho, which flow into the Corumbá River
Corumbá River
The Corumbá River is the most important river in the Central Plateau region of Brazil. Its source is in the Montes de Pireneus, near Pirenópolis, state of Goiás, near the boundary with the Federal District and its length ifs 567 km. It receives the waters of the Descoberto and São Bartolomeu,...

.

History

The city was founded on February 9, 1929, when a group of 18 people founded a Spiritist center called Luz da Verdade. These people had converted to Spiritism
Spiritism
Spiritism is a loose corpus of religious faiths having in common the general belief in the survival of a spirit after death. In a stricter sense, it is the religion, beliefs and practices of the people affiliated to the International Spiritist Union, based on the works of Allan Kardec and others...

 after seeing the alleged cure of a medium, Dorcelino Damásio da Silva, who had suffered from a disease called fogo selvagem. In 1953 Palmelo became a municipality separating from Pires do Rio. It is probably the only town in Brazil and in the world where most of the inhabitants are Spiritists.

Climate

The climate is moist tropical, with two well defined seasons: summer and winter. The summer is very rainy while the winter is very dry. The temperature varies between 16°C and 26°C.

Political Information

In January 2005 the Mayor was Geraldo Afonso Leite. The city council had 9 members and there were 1,842 eligible voters in December 2007.

Demographic Information

In 2007 the population density was 38.32 inhab/km². In 2007 there were 2,088 people living in the urban area and 172 living in the rural area. The population has increased by about 600 people since the first census in 1980.

Economy

The main economic activity is cattle raising, both for meat and milk and the region also produces a lot of clay for brick making. In 2006 there was a dairy—Centrolac Indústria e Comércio Ltda—and 3 small industrial units. There were 22 commercial units.

In 2007 there were 2,500 head of cattle. The main agricultural products were oranges, manioc, and corn. All were of modest production due to the small area of the municipality.

Agricultural data 2006
  • Number of farms: 63
  • Total area: 1,161 ha.
  • Area of permanent crops: 22 ha.
  • Area of perennial crops: 61 ha.
  • Area of natural pasture: 862 ha.
  • Area of woodland and forests: 176 ha.
  • Persons dependent on farming: 110
  • Farms with tractors: 12
  • Number of tractors: 12
  • Cattle herd: 127,000 head IBGE

Health and education

In 2007 there was 1 hospital, with 14 beds and 2 ambulatory health clinics. In 2000 the infant mortality rate was 9.80—much lower than the national average of 33.0 and one of the lowest in the state. It 1990 it had been 40.97.

In 2006 the school system had 3 schools, 17 classrooms, 34 teachers, and 622 students. In 2000 the adult literacy rate was 85.3%--lower than the national average of 86.4%.

Municipal Human Development Index
Human Development Index
The Human Development Index is a composite statistic used to rank countries by level of "human development" and separate "very high human development", "high human development", "medium human development", and "low human development" countries...

  • MHDI: 0.787
  • State ranking: 18 (out of 242 municipalities)
  • National ranking: 891 (out of 5,507 municipalities) For the complete list see Frigoletto.com

Tourism

One of the greatest attractions is Spiritism
Spiritism
Spiritism is a loose corpus of religious faiths having in common the general belief in the survival of a spirit after death. In a stricter sense, it is the religion, beliefs and practices of the people affiliated to the International Spiritist Union, based on the works of Allan Kardec and others...

 and people from all over the country come seeking cures for their illnesses.

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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