Ipatinga


Ipatinga is a municipality located in eastern Minas Gerais state, Brazil. The city was founded on April 29, 1964 and covers a total area of. Its population is 263,410. It is part of the Vale do Aço Metropolitan Area.
Ipatinga is located at the site where the Piracicaba River flows into the Doce River, 217 km. from the state capital of Belo Horizonte. It is served by highway and railroad connections. There is also a medium-sized airport, Usiminas Airport in the area of the neighbor city Santana do Paraíso, that serves the Steel Valley and can receive small and medium-sized planes, including jets like the Boeing 737 and the Fokker 100.

Industry

It is the most important city of the Vale do Aço metropolitan area and it is the headquarters for one of the largest steel making complexes in Brazil, Usina Siderúrgica de Minas Gerais – Usiminas.

Environment

Despite the steel complex's presence, Ipatinga has 127 m2 of green area per inhabitant, one of the highest averages in the country. Parque Ipanema, Ipatinga's main park, has about one million square meters of green space with 12 thousand trees planted, one of the largest in the country.

Sport

, the city's principal football club won the state championship in 2005 and reached the Copa do Brasil semi-finals in 2006. In 2007, it placed 2nd on the National Championship's Serie B, climbing to the first division. Ipatinga Futebol Clube holds its home at Estádio Municipal João Lamengo Neto popularly known as Ipatingão. The stadium was founded on November 23, 1981, and it is considered the fourth biggest soccer stadium of the state of Minas Gerais. In 2013 this team changed Ipatinga to Betim.

Statistics