Iguatama

Iguatama is a Brazilian municipality located in the west of the state of Minas Gerais. Its population as of 2007 was 7,632 people living in a total area of 627 km². The city belongs to the meso-region of Oeste de Minas and to the micro-region of Piumhi. It became a municipality in 1944.

Iguatama is a Tupi-Guarani name, Yguaterama or Igua-terrama. This name was suggested by a local pharmacist and means "place where the river opens in bends", or "inlet of my land", or even "place where the river opens up into a lake".

The city center of Iguatama is located at an elevation of 664 meters. The São Francisco River passes by the town. Neighboring municipalities are: Bambuí (N), Arcos (E), Pains (S), and Doresópolis (W).

The distance to Belo Horizonte is 258 km. The distance to the closest regional center Arcos is 23 km. Highway connections are made by BR-354.

Services, small industries, and agriculture are the most important economic activities. The town is known for its cheese and traditional sweets. The GDP in 2005 was approximately R$117 million, 12 million reais from taxes, 33 million reais from services, 49 million reais from industry, and 21 million reais from agriculture. There were 339 rural producers on 37,000 hectares of land. 77 farms had tractors (2006). Approximately 900 persons were dependent on agriculture. The main crops are beans, soybeans, sorghum, and corn. There were 37,000 head of cattle (2006).

There were no banks (2007) and 161 automobiles (2007), giving a ratio of 8 inhabitants per automobile.

Working population by sector

In the health sector there were 2 public health clinics and 1 private hospital with 26 beds (2005). Patients with more serious health conditions are transported to Divinópolis, Lagoa da Prata or Formiga. Educational needs of 1600 students were met by 8 primary schools, 2 middle schools, and 6 pre-primary schools.

In 2000 the per capita monthly income of R$260.00 was below the state and national average of R$276.00 and R$297.00 respectively. Poços de Caldas had the highest per capita monthly income in 2000 with R$435.00. The lowest was Setubinha with R$73.00.

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