Formosa is a municipality located in the state of Goiás, Brazil, approximately 80 kilometers northeast of Brasília. The population was 123,684 (estimation 2020) in a total area of 5,813.637 km2. Formosa is known for its waterfalls and natural environment. It is a large producer of cattle and grains and is one of the fastest-growing cities in the state.
History
Arraial dos Couros was the first name of Formosa, which was founded in the second half of the eighteenth century on an uncertain date. For lack of documentation the early history is fragmented and historians can only speculate about the real facts.
What is known is that problems connected to the area of health were the motive for the transfer of the old settlement which was founded and built by black slaves, located on the banks of the Itiquira River and the Paranã in the tropical Paranã valley. At the time a devastating fever swept the place, probably caused by the unhealthy climate of the river location, and the population was afflicted by a degenerative malaria. For fear of getting the disease the move was made very quickly.
Even today it is not known who was responsible for the move or the date in which it occurred. The historians register the existence of a new settlement called Couros. It is believed that the name Arraial dos Couros comes from the improvised houses which were covered with the leather of the loads of the tradesmen. The first huts were set up in the old Street of the Crioulos which has been transformed into the present-day Alves de Castro Street. Another theory is that the name could have come from the existence in the site of an artisan who made saddlebags and rawhides for transporting small loads such as hard molasses, salt, rice and other food items.
On August 1, 1843, the settlement was elevated to the category of Vila (town), and received the name of Vila Formosa da Imperatriz, chosen for the beauty of the area and to pay homage to the Empress Teresa Cristina.
The municipality of Formosa was only created on February 22, 1844.
Other important dates are: 1910 - founding of Colégio São José, the Catholic school 1913 - the weather station was established 1920 - arrival of the first automobile in Formosa 1926 - arrival of the first airplane 1928 - inauguration of the telegraph 1932 - the first electric light 1943 - the first Agro-Pecuária (Agro-Cattle) Fair 1960 - the first public telephone
Geography
Formosa belongs to the micro-region called Entorno do Distrito Federal, which is composed of 20 municipalities with 960,000 inhabitants in a total area of 38,212.00 km². It has municipal boundaries with: North: São João d'Aliança South: Cabeceira Grande, Minas Gerais East: Buritis, Minas Gerais West: Federal District
The average elevation of this large area is around 1000 meters, about the same as Brasília, eighty kilometers away. The terrain is for the most part characterized by gently undulating flat plateau lands, especially to the north and south. There is a deep valley formed by the Paranã river which begins just on the northeastern limits of the urban area. This valley has a more tropical vegetation and once had dense forests, now cleared for the most part for cattle raising. The flatlands surrounding Formosa are characterized by cerrado vegetation, consisting of grasslands, interspersed by low, thorn-covered trees, many of which are protected against the annual fires by thick bark.
Land
Formosa is located in the second largest of Brazil's eco-regions, the Cerrado. The term "Cerrado" means "dense" or "closed" in both Portuguese and Spanish, an unusual term for a region that consists mainly of tree and scrub savannah. Local diversity in parts of the Cerrado is quite impressive. Just within the limits of Brasília, the 37-year-old capital of Brazil located at the heart of the Cerrado, there are some 81 mammals, 429 birds, 40 snakes and lizards, 11 amphibians, 1,000 butterflies, and 550 bees and wasps recorded to date.
Where rivers cut the flatlands there are still areas of dense vegetation, which once had stands of hard tropical wood such as aroeira, angico, peroba, jacaranda, jatobá and pau ferro. One of the most notable trees is the ipê roxo (tabebuia), or purple ipê. Most of this vegetation has been eliminated by the need to find hard woods for fenceposts and other uses. Even the typical cerrado vegetation has gradually disappeared and been replaced by expanses of soybeans or cattle pasture. See List of plants of cerrado vegetation.