Nova Ponte

Nova Ponte is a Brazilian municipality located in the west of the state of Minas Gerais. Its population as of 2007 was estimated to be 11,586 people living in a total area of 1,105 km². The city belongs to the mesoregion of Triângulo Mineiro and Alto Paranaíba and to the micro-region of Araxá. It became a municipality in 1938.

Location

Nova Ponte is located at an elevation of 791 meters, 70 km. east of Uberlândia on the western end of the Nova Ponte Represa. The distance to the state capital, Belo Horizonte, is 479 km. Neighboring municipalities are: Romaria and Iraí de Minas (N), Pedrinópolis, Santa Juliana, and Sacramento (E), Uberaba (S and W), Indianópolis (NW).

Communications

Nova Ponte is connected to one of the most important export corridors in Brazil by way of the Ferrovia Central Atlântica.

Weather Facts

Economic activities

The GDP in 2005 was approximately R$441 million, with 70 million reais from services, 218 million reais from industry, and 85 million reais from agriculture. Nova Ponte receives royalties from the hydroelectric plant—Usina Hidrelétrica de Nova Ponte. There were 358 rural producers on 69,000 hectares of land. The land is very fertile and agricultural production is high. 131 farms had tractors (2006). Approximately 1,600 persons were dependent on agriculture. The main crops are coffee, sugarcane, soybeans, potatoes, and corn. There were 32,000 head of cattle (2006) and almost one million chickens.