Poços de Caldas | |
|---|---|
| Municipality of Poços de Caldas | |
_067.jpg) _100.jpg)  .jpg) .jpg) .jpg)  | |
 Flag  Seal | |
| Nickname: Cidade das Rosas | |
 Location in Minas Gerais | |
  Poços de Caldas | |
| Coordinates:21°47′16″S46°33′39″W / 21.78778°S 46.56083°W /-21.78778; -46.56083 | |
| Country |  Brazil |
| State |  Minas Gerais |
| Region | Southeast |
| Intermediate Region | Pouso Alegre |
| Immediate Region | Poços de Caldas |
| Founded | 6 November 1872 |
| Government | |
| • Mayor | Paulo Ney de Castro Jr.[1] (PSDB) |
| Area | |
| 546.958 km2 (211.182 sq mi) | |
| • Urban | 85 km2 (33 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 1,196 m (3,924 ft) |
| Population (2020 est.)[3] | |
| 168,641 | |
| • Density | 308.325/km2 (798.559/sq mi) |
| Time zone | UTC−3 (BRT) |
| HDI (2010) | 0.779 –high[4] |
| Website | pocosdecaldas |
Poços de Caldas is amunicipality in the south ofMinas Gerais state, Brazil, in the microregion of the same name. Its estimated population in 2020 was 168,641 inhabitants.[3] The city is known for its hot springs.
 | This sectiondoes notcite anysources. Please helpimprove this section byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged andremoved. Find sources: "Poços de Caldas" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(December 2022) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
Poços was founded in 1872. The region had been inhabited by the Cataguases Indians, who were expelled from their lands by theBandeiras Unidas Paulistas during their quest for gold. The place was first calledFreguesia de Nossa Senhora da Saúde das Águas de Caldas ("Parish of Our Lady of Health of Caldas Waters").
In 1874 it became a district, then, in 1875, it was elevated to the category of city. It became famous after the discovery of thehot springs, and many important people began to visit the spa in search of cures provided by the water.
The name comes fromCaldas da Rainha, a spa town in centralPortugal.
| This sectionneeds additional citations forverification. Please helpimprove this article byadding citations to reliable sources in this section. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Poços de Caldas" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(December 2022) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
It lies on the boundary of the state ofSão Paulo at 1186 meters elevation and is the main socio-economic nucleus of its region, having an area of 547 km2 (85 km2 urban and 459 km2 rural) in the municipality.
The physical area is made up for the most part of a high plateau formed by mountains, fields and valleys with an area of approximately 750 km2. The average elevation is 1200 m (3937 ft), with Cristo Redentor, the highest point, at 1686 m (5531 ft). The topography is highly suggestive of avolcanic crater and, given that the region's rocks are indeedigneous and there arehot springs, this gave rise to a common misconception that Poços de Caldas would be located inside the crater of a large extinct volcano. In reality, Poços de Caldas is inside acaldera that was formed by the collapse of a central portion of terrain amid elevated areas, and while the latter have volcanic origin, the process that formed the supposed "crater" had nothing to do with volcanic activity.[5]
Poços de Caldas occupies a highly strategic geographical location, due to its proximity to São Paulo (243 km),Belo Horizonte (460 km) andRio de Janeiro (470 km), whose connections are made with good highways, and due to its integration into the routes of the hydro-mineral spas ofSerra Negra,Águas de Lindóia,Socorro,Monte Alegre do Sul,Águas da Prata,Caldas (Pocinhos do Rio Verde),Cambuquira,Lambari,Caxambu andSão Lourenço. Poços de Caldas is also close to the most developed regions of the interior of the state of São Paulo, such asRibeirão Preto (240 km),Campinas (160 km) andSão José dos Campos (315 km).
The climate is characterized by dry winters and mild summers. The winter is from April to September and has an average temperature of 15 °C and rainfall of 315 mm. The summer is from October to March and has an average temperature of 21 °C with rainfall of 1,430 mm. The annual rainfall is 1,745 mm. The average annual temperature is 17 °C with record low of -6 °C and record high of 31.7 °C.
| Climate data for Poços de Caldas (1981–2010) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 26.4 (79.5) | 26.6 (79.9) | 26.5 (79.7) | 25.5 (77.9) | 23.2 (73.8) | 22.5 (72.5) | 22.8 (73.0) | 24.6 (76.3) | 25.4 (77.7) | 26.3 (79.3) | 26.2 (79.2) | 25.9 (78.6) | 25.2 (77.4) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | 20.9 (69.6) | 21.0 (69.8) | 20.6 (69.1) | 18.8 (65.8) | 15.8 (60.4) | 13.8 (56.8) | 14.0 (57.2) | 15.5 (59.9) | 17.8 (64.0) | 19.5 (67.1) | 20.1 (68.2) | 20.4 (68.7) | 18.2 (64.8) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 16.7 (62.1) | 16.5 (61.7) | 15.9 (60.6) | 13.1 (55.6) | 9.3 (48.7) | 6.7 (44.1) | 6.4 (43.5) | 7.4 (45.3) | 11.2 (52.2) | 13.7 (56.7) | 15.1 (59.2) | 16.1 (61.0) | 12.3 (54.1) |
| Averageprecipitation mm (inches) | 295.3 (11.63) | 224.6 (8.84) | 187.1 (7.37) | 77.9 (3.07) | 67.0 (2.64) | 23.8 (0.94) | 19.9 (0.78) | 29.4 (1.16) | 78.9 (3.11) | 136.3 (5.37) | 174.6 (6.87) | 287.3 (11.31) | 1,602.1 (63.07) |
| Average precipitation days(≥ 1.0 mm) | 18 | 15 | 14 | 8 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 7 | 10 | 13 | 18 | 118 |
| Averagerelative humidity (%) | 81.3 | 81.1 | 80.3 | 78.2 | 78.6 | 77.2 | 73.7 | 68.9 | 70.6 | 74.5 | 77.2 | 80.7 | 76.9 |
| Mean monthlysunshine hours | 120.9 | 128.0 | 141.2 | 183.5 | 186.7 | 190.2 | 196.6 | 216.2 | 150.7 | 150.1 | 141.8 | 129.6 | 1,935.5 |
| Source: Instituto Nacional de Meteorologia[6] | |||||||||||||
| This sectiondoes notcite anysources. Please helpimprove this section byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged andremoved. Find sources: "Poços de Caldas" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(December 2022) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
Known principally for its thermal baths, there are severalresorts in the city. Due to its wealth in hydro-mineral resources, Poços de Caldas is also known for the quality of thesoap that it produces. There are four factories in the city: Raízes, Antares, Sarandi and Terra Brasil. Poços is famous for its glass, which is known internationally.[citation needed] The founders of the factories were descendants of theartistic glassmakers who lived on theIsland of Murano, near Venice, in Italy. In the city there are four glass factories: Ca'D'oro, São Marcos, Veneza and Bonora.
The local soils are rich in minerals that yieldthorium andzirconium. One rare zirconium ore,caldasite, was named for the area. The city has Brazil's firsturanium-ore concentration plant, for use in theAngra Nuclear Power Plant inAngra dos Reis.
Poços is also the home of one of the largestbauxite mines in the world, owned byAlcoa. Bauxite is an ore that contains at least 45% alumina, which is extracted to makealuminum. The smelting operations at Poços de Caldas have an annual capacity of 90,000 tons/year of primary aluminum. The facility is the largest aluminum-powder production facility in Latin America, and the second largest in the world.
The plant has a capacity of 14,000 tonnes/year of aluminum powder and meets the market demand for ferroalloys, refractories, pigments, metallurgy, chemicals, explosives and solid fuel for rockets. The facility began production of hydrated aluminas and hard-burned calcined aluminas in 1985.
The city gets most of its electricity fromhydroelectric power plants, built and administrated with local resources (dimethyl ether), leading to independence from the state's power system.
The city has parks, squares, gardens, and São Domingos mountain, which has trails for walking. Thesulphurous water is the main attraction and can be consumed in several fountains and at Thermas Antônio Carlos. There is an aerial tram to get to the Statue of Christ the Redeemer (1,686 m).
At the top of the mountain there is a great view of the nearby mountains. The city also offers options such as a Japanese tea garden, a theme park, museums, theaters, and other cultural events, including the yearly Music in the Mountains Festival (Festival Musica nas Montanhas).
The city is served byEmb. Walther Moreira Salles Airport.
.jpg)
Poços de Caldas istwinned with:[7]
Takasaki, Japan (1968)Jundiaí, Brazil (1991)
Caldas da Rainha, Portugal (2001)
General Pueyrredón, Argentina (2009)São Luís, Brazil (2011)São João del-Rei, Brazil (2012)Bagé, Brazil (2014)
Mount Vernon, United States (2014)2018 Area Total
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Other | |
