Três Pontas (, Three Tips) is a municipality located in southern Minas Gerais state, Brazil. It's a city with about all streets of urban zone paved and services of water and sewage to all people. The municipality has about 57 thousand inhabitants and a population density of 78,12hab/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.
The municipality don't have a rugged relief (the average level is 900m), 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 they flow into the Furnas Dam. The rivers Verde and Sapucaí pass on the south boundary and flow into Furnas Dam too. 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 (known as one of the largest producers of coffee in Brazil).
Etymology
The city name origin is the peculiar shape of the mountain near the city, that was utilized as a reference point by ancient travelers and by the runaway slaves. These slaves formed near the mountain, the Quilombo do Cascalho which was destroyed some time later.
History
The first inhabitants of the region was the runaway slaves that has formed two quilombos. During the colonization process, it had fights of settlers and slaves and explorers looking for gold. The soil of Três Pontas has no gold or important mineral resources. So, it was formed farms to create cattle and culture of subsistence.
The chapel of Nossa Senhora d'Ajuda was the start of the locality, founded on October 15, 1768, by the Captain Bento Ferreira de Brito, attracting people scattered around. The locality, with rural and urban characteristics mixed, was formed slowly around the chapel. Três Pontas has supplied the villages that arose with the gold and later the Rio de Janeiro. The locality was elevated to a village in April 1841.
On July 3, 1857, the village received the status of city. With the emergence and affirmation of the coffee, in the mid of the 19th century, and with the creation of roads, Três Pontas reach the international market through Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo ports. Coffee has maintained the city economy ever since. Two persons deserve special mention in the city's history: the Barão da Boa Esperança, influential politician who contributed to the development of the municipality, and Padre Victor, pastor of the city.
Três Pontas also had a rail spur, the Trespontana Railroad, which was inaugurated in 1895, whose terminal was where today is located the City Hall. The railway was closed in 1964 due to, among other reasons, the flooding of part of the line by Furnas Dam.
Geography
The municipality is limited to the north with Campos Gerais and Santana da Vargem, on south with the municipality of Varginha, Elói Mendes and Paraguaçu, on east with Nepomuceno e Carmo da Cachoeira and west with Campos Gerais. It's located at about 290 kilometers 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, that means the city has a restricted influence, only over the smaller cities around it. The city is under influence of Varginha that, on the other hand, is under influence of Belo Horizonte.
Relief, soils and rocks
The municipality has a wavy relief, with altitudes between 800 and 900 meters above sea level, with the city located at about 905 meters. However about twenty percent of the municipality is in mountainous regions, in which the height exceeds one thousand meters 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 1 234 meters above sea level. The lowest point is located on the margins of the Furnas reservoir, at about 770 meters above the sea level.
Soils
Red/yellow oxisols. According with Brazilian Systems of Soils Classification all (or almost all) oxisols are acidic and nutrient-poor. However, when adjusted and fertilized these soils become highly productive.