Três Pontas (, Three Tips) is a municipality located in southern Minas Gerais state, Brazil. The municipality has about 57,000 inhabitants and a population density of 78.12 inhabitants/km2. The road MG-167 is the only paved road that passes through the city, but the Rodovia Fernão Dias (BR-381), is less than 50 km from the city centre passing through Varginha. Almost all streets of the urban zone are paved, and water and sewage services are provided to all residents.
The municipality does not have a rugged relief (the average elevation is 900m), and there are only three areas in which the altitude reaches 1100m above sea level. One of them is the Serra de Três Pontas (Three Tips Mountain), a place known in the region for its distinctive shape and natural environment. The streams Araras and Espera are the main water courses that pass through the municipality, and flow into the Furnas Dam. The rivers Verde and Sapucaí pass on the southern boundary and flow into the Furnas Dam as well. The Municipality is located on the basin of the Grande River.
The suave climate favors the growth of coffee, the main economic wealth of the city; it is known as one of the largest producers of coffee in Brazil.
Etymology
The city takes its name from the peculiar shape of the mountain near the city; the three peaks were used as a reference point by ancient travelers and by runaway slaves. These slaves formed a settlement near the mountain, the Quilombo do Cascalho which was destroyed some time later.
History
The first inhabitants of the region were runaway slaves who formed two quilombos, followed by colonisers moving from Europe. Although many explorers came looking for gold, the soil in the Três Pontas area has no gold or important mineral resources, so farms were formed to create cattle and grow crops.
The chapel of Nossa Senhora d'Ajuda was founded on October 15, 1768, by the Captain Bento Ferreira de Brito. This event is held to be the founding of Três Pontas itself as a permanent settlement - mixing rural and urban characteristics, slowly forming around the chapel. The locality was formally recognised as a village in April 1841.
City status was conferred upon the village on July 3, 1857. With the emergence of trade in coffee in the mid-19th century, and with the creation of roads, crops from Três Pontas reached the international market through Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo ports. Coffee has maintained the economy of the city ever since.
Três Pontas also had a rail spur, the Trespontana Railroad, which was inaugurated in 1895. The railway was closed in 1964 due to, among other reasons, the flooding of part of the line by the Furnas Dam. The rail terminal site was redeveloped into the City Hall.
Geography
The municipality is bordered to the north with Campos Gerais and Santana da Vargem, to the south by the municipalities of Varginha, Elói Mendes and Paraguaçu, to the east by Nepomuceno and Carmo da Cachoeira, and to the west by Campos Gerais.
Três Pontas is about away from Belo Horizonte, the state's capital. According to the map of urban hierarchy produced by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics, Três Pontas is classified as a B zone center, which means the city has a restricted influence, only over the smaller cities around it; the Institute says that Três Pontas is under the influence of Varginha, and in turn of Belo Horizonte.
Relief, soils and rocks
The municipality has a wavy relief, with altitudes between above sea level, with the city located at about . However about twenty percent of the municipality is in mountainous regions, in which the height exceeds above sea level. One of these areas is the Serra de Três Pontas (Three Tips Hill), located nineteen kilometers away from the city, where is located the highest point of the municipality, at meters above sea level. The lowest point is located on the margins of the Furnas reservoir, at about above the sea level.
Soils
Soils in the area are mostly red/yellow oxisols. According to the Brazilian Systems of Soils Classification all (or almost all) oxisols are acidic and nutrient-poor; when adjusted and fertilized these soils become highly productive.
Rocks
According to the Geologic Map of Minas Gerais, the soils in the south portion of the municipality have kianite granulite rocks. In the north, it has rocks of the ortogneissics complexes (ortogneisses granitics, granulite, migmatite and anphibolite). In the region of Três Pontas Mountain the rocks are formed by metapelitic graphitous alternated with quartzite.
Climate The climate of Três Pontas is tropical semi-humid, with a dry season that lasts between four and five months and the average temperature is between 15 °C and 18 °C in at least one month in the year.
During the summer, rain usually comes in late afternoon, and temperatures at this time are very high. In the winter, the arrival of polar air masses causes temperatures to drop and frost to form; in this time of year, the relative humidity is low enough to cause discomfort to the population.
Hydrography The municipality is watered by Verde and Sapucaí rivers (dammed in Furnas), belonging to the Rio Grande drainage basin. It also has the Araras and Espera streams, that are formed by the joining of several smaller streams. The Arara stream rises near the town and moves west to flow into the reservoir of the Furnas. The Espera stream rises near the Três Pontas Mountain and flows into the Furnas near a farm with the same name. Other streams that rise on the north of Três Pontas Mountain go north and flow into Rio Grande.
Biome Três Pontas is in the transition area between the Mata Atlântica biome and the Cerrado biome. The original vegetation of the municipality was heavily wooded, though most of the trees have been cleared to allow coffee production.
Urban area
The water and sewage service is by S.A.A.E. (Serviço Autônomo de Água e Esgoto, Water and Sewage Autonomous System). Três Pontas has 12,644 water connections, which means that 100% of urban area homes served with treated water. The sewage system serves 12,572 homes; with 99.2% of houses having access to the sewage system, the city is among the places with better sanitation in Brazil.
In the municipality, 14,004 homes have water connections, 1,776 draw water from wells or springs on their own property and 263 have other forms of obtaining water.
Electrical power is supplied by CEMIG (Compania Energética de Minas Gerais, or Energetic Company of Minas Gerais).
Três Pontas has about 98% of paved streets in the urban area. Due to an increasing number of vehicles, there is a lack of parking lots in downtown; in peak hours, the traffic becomes slow in some streets.
The city has bus lines that serve almost all neighborhoods of the urban area.
According to the 2010 census, there are 18,517 houses in the municipality, that total 21,819 addresses. 3,474 addresses are in the countryside and 18,345 in the urban area. The census also found that 15,474 homes are houses (96.5%), 526 are apartments (3.3%) and 40 belong to a condominium (0.2%).
Transport
Três Pontas is crossed by the state highway MG-167 giving access to BR-491 (passing through Varginha) and BR-265 (passing through Santana da Vargem). Both federal highways give access to Rodovia Fernão Dias (BR-381).
The municipality is crossed by more than of rural roads, mostly in good condition. Through these routes it is possible to get directly to Campos Gerais, Nepomuceno, Carmo da Cachoeira and Paraguaçu (passing through Pontalete crossing the Furnas Dam by a ferry line)
There are proposals to create a road from Três Pontas to Paraguaçu passing through Pontalete; and another for a road from Três Pontas to Carmo da Cachoeira.
The city has the Leda Mello Resende Airport, 3 kilometers from the downtown, with a paved runway, measuring 1150m in length by 20m in width, which allows for the landing and takeoff of small and medium-sized planes.
It is possible to arrive to the Pontalete district by boat, because the district is watered by the Furnas Dam.
Population According to the 2010 census, 27,155 (50.4%) of Três Pontas population are women, and 26,705 (49.6%) are men.
The census also researched inhabitants' skin color.
Skin color Number of people Percentage White 26,754 49.7% Black 5554 10.3% Yellow 305 0.6% Brown 21,220 39.4%
Municipal Human Development Index: .773 State ranking: 152 out of 853 municipalities National ranking: 1251 out of 5138 municipalities Life expectancy: 72 Literacy rate: 88%
Economy The municipal economy is mixed, with coffee being the most important economic product.
Agriculture Coffee is the predominant crop in Três Pontas, occupying the majority of the cultivated land. The municipality has over 30 million coffee trees spread across approximately , making it the largest coffee-producing municipality in Brazil. About 75% of its coffee production is sold through the Coffee Growers' Cooperative of the Três Pontas Region.
Other crops cultivated in the region include corn, beans, and various vegetables. In 2010, the city produced 29,808 tons of coffee, equivalent to around 1% of Brazil's national output, with an average yield of 1,440 kg per hectare, generating a total revenue of R$ 157,982,000.
Permanent farming
Year Banana Coffee Guava Orange Passion fruit Tangerine 1990 26 24032 - 6630 - 1740 2000 3 35904 - 5538 - 702 2010 40 29808 4 108 10 126 Production value (R$) 2000 13000 42474000 - 223 - 49 2010 22 157982000 6 52 6 40
Source: government statistics.
Temporary Farming Product Production Value (R$) (2000). Production value (R$)(2010) Planted area (ha)(1990).Planted area (ha)(2000) Planted area (ha) (2010) Rice 49 000 11000 603 200 8 Sugar cane - 14000 6118 (sem dados) 10 Beans 502000 1764000 2400 1100 1200 Cassava 77000 90000 14 17 10 Corn 3125000 6300000 4000 4000 3500 Tomato - 960000 - - 12
Animal production
Year Cows Horses Buffalo Asinines Hinnies Swine Goats Sheep Chickens 1974 26724 848 - - - 3124 22 91 40000 1980 20261 1500 - - 350 6307 - - 37826 1990 20500 1070 - 119 119 438 - 27 32000 2000 20000 1620 120 20 140 2110 50 20 6400 2009 21727 1790 262 80 185 1770 72 21 6120
Source: government statistics (Animal numbers).
Industry Três Pontas has an Industrial Park, with small and medium industries, including fertilizers, agricultural machinery, fabrics, plastic ware, precast products, metalwork, furniture, roasting, baking, graphics, and still photography.
Tourism in the region is driven by the dam and farm hotels.
Services The service sector contributes 62% of the municipality's revenue.
Commercial establishments by activity: Restaurants / Bars - 315 Hotels and others - 6 Coffee shops, Bakeries and Ice Cream – 78 Gas stations with services - 12 Markets – 152 Obs.: Total number of registered taxpayers in the municipality in various brands of activity: 3938
Public health
The municipality is responsible for about 58% of health facilities; the other 42% are private. The city has a Pronto Atendimento Municipal (Municipal Emergency Services), which attends to urgent and emergency cases. It also has the Hospital São Francisco de Assis (St. Francis Hospital), which has about 100 beds, along with surgical, obstetric, pediatric, ICU wards and a medical clinic. The hospital also offers radiology services, ultrasound and a sterilization center.
The Department of Health of Três Pontas manages various clinics scattered throughout neighborhoods. Center for Health Catumbi (Centro de Saúde Catumbi) Padre Victor Health Center (Centro de Saúde Padre Victor) Health Centre St. Edwirges (Centro de Saúde Santa Edwirges) Health Center Marilena Village (Centro de Saúde Vila Marilena) Center for Health Polyclinic (Centro de Saúde Policlínica) There are also centers in rural communities and periodic visits.
The Municipal Pharmacy provides medications to low-income families.