Aragarças

Aragarças
Municipality

Location in Goiás state
Aragarças

Location in Brazil

Coordinates: 15°54′09″S 52°14′31″W / 15.90250°S 52.24194°W / -15.90250; -52.24194Coordinates: 15°54′09″S 52°14′31″W / 15.90250°S 52.24194°W / -15.90250; -52.24194
Country  Brazil
Region Central-West Region
State Goiás
Microregion Aragarças Microregion
Area
 • Total 660.6 km2 (255.1 sq mi)
Elevation 310 m (1,020 ft)
Population (2007)
 • Total 17,156
 • Density 26/km2 (67/sq mi)
Time zone BRT/BRST (UTC-3/-2)
Postal code 76240-000

Aragarças is a municipality in southwest Goiás state, Brazil.

Location

Aragarças is the most important town in the Aragarças Microregion. It is 410 km. from the state capital, Goiânia on the confluence of two important rivers, the Garças and the Araguaia River.

Highway connections with Goiânia are made by GO-060 / Trindade / Turvânia / Israelândia / Iporá / Piranhas / BR-158 / Bom Jardim de Goiás.

Municipal boundaries are with:

It is separated from Barra do Garças in Mato Grosso by a bridge over the Araguaia River. The main highway connections are made by BR-158, BR-70, GO-194 and GO-060.

Demographic and Political Data

Transport

Aragarças Airport is a small airfield that serves mainly private aircraft with one single paved runway. The airfield has no terminal building with just a small hangar. The closest airport is SBBW.

The municipality is served by three major roads:

Economy

The main economic activities are cattle raising, commerce, and tourism. The population was employed in transformation industries, commerce (174 units), hotels and restaurants, and public administration (297 workers). The informal economy is also very strong. In recent years tourism has become one of the main sources of income, since the area is surrounded by great natural beauty. It is one of the most visited touristic points in the state, especially in the months of June and July, when enormous sandbanks are exposed on the Araguaia River, creating kilometers of pristine beaches. The Araguaia is a sought after location for sport fishing.

There were 26,500 cattle registered in 2006. The main agricultural products were rice and corn. There was also production of charcoal and hardwoods.

Health and education

History

The first penetration into the region now occupied by Aragarças occurred in 1872 by a group of prospectors seeking diamonds from Mato Grosso. They were massacred by the Bororó Indians who lived in the area. In 1933 the news that an enormous diamond had been discovered brought droves of prospectors. In the 1950s Aragarça, the name given to the settlement and made up of the name of the Araguaia River and its tributary the Garças, was the center of the government campaign to open up the east of Mato Grosso. A hotel was built to house visitors and a residential area to house the government workers involved in the project. Other improvements were the building of an airstrip and a concrete bridge over the Araguaia River. Araguaia became a district of Baliza in 1951 and a municipality in 1953.

See also

References

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