Padre Carvalho


Padre Carvalho is a Brazilian municipality located in the north of the state of Minas Gerais. In 2007 the population was 5,828 in a total area of 450 km². It became a municipality in 1997.

Location and Distances

Padre Carvalho is located in the foothills of the Serra do Espinhaço mountains southwest of Salinas at an elevation of 750 meters. It is north of the Rio Jequitinhonha and just east of the Rio Vacaria, a tributary of the Jequitinhonha. Neighboring municipalities are: Grão Mogol, Josenópolis, Rubelita, Fruta de Leite e Rio Pardo de Minas.
Padre Carvalho is part of the statistical microregion of Grão Mogol.

Economic activities

The most important economic activities are cattle raising on a modest scale and subsistence agriculture. The GDP in 2005 was R$ 11,849,000. The most important agricultural crops are bananas, coffee, peanuts, sugarcane, and corn. In the rural area there were 281 producers. The total area of agricultural land was 10,000 hectares in 2006, of which 2,200 ha. were in crops. As of 2006 there were only 02 tractors. In the urban area there were no banking agencies in 2006.

Health and education

This municipality is isolated from major population centers and suffers from drought and poor soils.
The highest ranking municipality in Minas Gerais in 2000 was Poços de Caldas with 0.841, while the lowest was Setubinha with 0.568. Nationally the highest was São Caetano do Sul in São Paulo with 0.919, while the lowest was Setubinha.