Turmalina, Minas Gerais


Turmalina is a municipality in the northeast of the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais. As of 2007 the population was 17,219 in a total area of 1,153 km². The elevation of the urban area is 718 meters. It is part of the IBGE statistical meso-region of Jequitinhonha and the micro-region of Capelinha. It became a municipality in 1949.
The economy is based on cattle raising, services, and subsistence agriculture, with the main crops being coffee, rice, beans, sugarcane, and corn. There were plantations of eucalyptus trees for charcoal production. In 2005 there were 1,053 rural producers but only 18 tractors. 3,900 persons were dependent on agriculture. As of 2005 there were 13 public health clinics, with 1 of them carrying out diagnosis and complete therapy. There was one hospital with 72 beds. Educational needs were met by 17 primary schools, 3 middle schools and 2 nursery schools. There were 1,101 automobiles in 2006, giving a ratio of 17 inhabitants per automobile. There was one bank in 2007.
Neighboring municipalities are: Bocaiúva, Botumirim, Capelinha, Carbonita, Leme do Prado, Minas Novas and Veredinha. The distance to Belo Horizonte is 500 km.

Social Indicators

Turmalina is ranked in the middle on the MHDI and was in the middle tier of the municipalities in the state and in the country in 2000.
The above figures can be compared with those of Poços de Caldas, which had an MHDI of.841, the highest in the state of Minas Gerais. The highest in the country was São Caetano do Sul in the state of São Paulo with an MHDI of.919. The lowest was Manari in the state of Pernambuco with an MHDI of.467 out of a total of 5504 municipalities in the country as of 2004. At last count Brazil had 5,561 municipalities so this might have changed at the time of this writing.