Ipameri is a municipality and Latin Catholic bishopric in southeastern Goiás state, in Brazil. The population was 27,174 (2020) in a total area of 4,368.6km2. It is a major producer of soybeans, corn and livestock.
Location and connections
Ipameri is located east of Caldas Novas and 65km. northwest of Catalão. It is part of the statistical micro-region of Catalão.
Ipameri is 193km from the state capital, Goiânia, and 300km. from the federal capital, Brasília. The city is on the railroad linking Goiânia and Anápolis with São Paulo and Belo Horizonte. It is also accessible by highway from Goiânia, which lies to the northwest.
Highway connections from Goiânia are by BR-352 / Bela Vista de Goiás / Cristianópolis / GO-020 / Pires do Rio / GO-330. Other distances from Ipameri are: Catalão 50km, Campo Alegre 55km, Goiandira 63km, Três Ranchos 89km, Caldas Novas 60km and Urutaí 32km.
History
The region of Ipameri was first settled by Europeans in the middle of the nineteenth century. The first houses were built along the banks of the Vai-Vem River, on the Fazenda Vai-Vem, belonging to Francisco José Dutra. According to legend this rancher was bitten by a poisonous snake and promised, if he were cured, to donate all the lands he could see from the heights of a hill called São Domingos to the Divine Holy Spirit. As he survived he donated all the lands which would make up the future municipality of Ipameri. The origin of the name of the first settlement, Vai-Vem" (It comes and goes), has two versions. One is that it refers to the comings and goings of the Indians (Xavantes and Caiapós), who crossed the river on a makeshift bridge, and another that the name refers to the stream seemed to zigzag. In 1845 Vai-Vem was made a district of Catalão, becoming a municipality in 1870, with the name "Entre-Rios". In 1904 the name was changed to Ipameri, from the Indigenous word "Ipau-meri", meaning entre-rios (in Portugues) or 'between the rivers'.
In 1913 the first hydroelectric station in Goiás was built here. In 1915 a cinema was opened. The automobile appeared in 1914 and a newspaper was founded in 1917. In 1921 the first bank in the state opened its doors here. In 1922 a military base was built. In 1938 the main Catholic church, the Igreja Matriz do Divino Espírito Santo, was inaugurated. After the middle of the twentieth century the city began a period of decline, caused by the decadence of the national railroad system and the distance of the main national highways. Ipameri became known as the city that "already had", or "already was". The city began to prosper again the 1980s with rural electrification, mechanization of agriculture and paved highways leading to other centers. Agroindustries began to arrive together with institutes of higher education. Today Ipameri is considered one of the more prosperous small cities in the state.
Lying in rolling uplands between the Veríssimo and Corumbá rivers, tributaries of the Paranaíba, Ipameri is primarily a cattle-shipping centre that also houses meat-processing and rice-hulling plants.
Ipameri has a modern and mechanized agriculture. The municipality is the largest producer of cereals in the Southeast region of Goiás and one of the biggest in the state. The most important crops are cotton and soy, but there is also cultivation of corn, rice, potato, tomato, coffee, manioc, and garlic.
Main agricultural products in total planted area (2006)
coffee: 565 ha.
cotton: 5,800 ha.
sugarcane: 2,700 ha.
corn: 14,000 ha.
soybeans: 66,000 ha.
Cattle raising is also very important. There was a herd of approximately 180,000 head, divided between beef and dairy cattle.
Main industries are in cotton processing, soybean oil production, dairy products, and bricks and tiles.
Economic data
Industrial units: 49 (06/2007)
Retail units: 255 (August/2007)
Lodging and restaurants: 36
Banking institutions: - Banco do Brasil S.A. - Banco Itaú S.A. - CEF (Aug/2007)
Dairies: - Laticínios Carvalho Ltda.; - Cooperativa Agropecuária do Vale do Corumbá Ltda (07/06/2005)
Meat-packing plants: FRI-SOL - Frigorífico Sol Nascente Ltda.; - GAASA e Alimentos Ltda.; - Carvalho e Pinheiro Ltda. (07/06/2005)
Distilleries: LASA - Lago Azul S/A (Jul/2007)
Industrial zone: Distrito Agroindustrial - DIAIPA (Jun/2006)
Agricultural data 2006
Farms: 1,246
Total area: 284,247 ha.
Area of permanent crops: 3,099 ha.
Area of perennial crops: 51,075 ha.
Area of natural pasture: 143,365 ha.
Area of woodland and forests: 75,638 ha.
Persons dependent on farming: 3,000
Farms with tractors: 308
Number of tractors: 704
Cattle herd: 180,000
Education and health
(All data are from 2000 )
Literacy rate: 89.5%
Infant mortality rate: 24.5 in 1,000 live births
Schools: 30 (2006)
Students: 7,017
Higher education: Unidade Universitária da UEG. - Campus IV da Universidade Católica (Jul/2007)
↑"Insolação Total (horas)". Normais Climatológicas do Brasil 1991-2020 (in Portuguese). Instituto Nacional de Meteorologia. Archived from the original on 24 March 2022. Retrieved 20 April 2024.
