Bom Despacho is a Brazilian municipality located in the west of the state of Minas Gerais. The population is 51,028 (2020 est.) in an area of 1213.55 km². The city belongs to the meso-region of Central Mineira and to the micro-region of Bom Despacho. It became a municipality in 1912.
Micro-region of Bom Despacho
Bom Despacho is a statistical micro-region which includes 12 municipalities: Araújos, Bom Despacho, Dores do Indaiá, Estrela do Indaiá, Japaraíba, Lagoa da Prata, Leandro Ferreira, Luz, Martinho Campos, Moema, Quartel Geral, and Serra da Saudade. In 2000 the area of this region was 7,515.50 km² and the population was 146,156 inhabitants.
Location
The city center of Bom Despahco is located at an elevation of 768 meters just off the major federal highway BR-262, which links Belo Horizonte to Uberaba. State highway MG-164 leads to Martinho Campos in the north (63 km.). The São Francisco River forms the western municipal boundary. Neighboring municipalities are: Martinho Campos (N), Leandro Ferreira (E), Araújos, Moema, and Luz (S), and Dores do Indaiá (W).
Distances to other cities
Belo Horizonte/MG - 141 km
Brasília/DF - 730 km
Rio de Janeiro/RJ - 576 km
São Paulo/SP - 580 km
Martinho Campos/MG - 50 km
Araújos/MG - 19 km
Luz/MG - 49 km
Moema/MG - 23 km
Economic activities
Services, light industry, and agriculture are the most important economic activities. The GDP in 2005 was approximately R$393 million, R$41 million from taxes, 223 million reais from services, 77 million reais from industry, and 51 million reais from agriculture. There were 560 rural producers on 63,000 hectares of land (2006). 179 farms had tractors (2006). Approximately 2,000 persons were involved in agriculture. The main crops are watermelon, soybeans, rice, sugarcane, and corn. There were 78,000 head of cattle (2006). Poultry raising was also substantial with over one million head in 2006.
There were 5 banks (2007). The motor vehicle fleet had 8,354 automobiles, 1,049 pickup trucks, and 2,520 motorcycles. The ratio of inhabitant per motor vehicle was 2/1.
Working population by sector
Transformation industries (218 units): 1,929 workers
Commerce (937 units): 3,430 workers
Lodging and restaurants (32 units): 302 workers
Transport, storage, communications (98 units): 450 workers
Public administration: 1,000 workers
Health and social services: 332 workers
Health and education
In the health sector there were 12 public health clinics (2005) and 2 private hospitals with 96 beds. Patients with more serious health conditions are transported to Belo Horizonte. Educational needs of 9,700 students were met by 20 primary schools, 6 middle schools, and 18 pre-primary schools. Municipal Human Development Index: 0.799 (2000) State ranking: 42 out of 853 municipalities as of 2000 National ranking: 584 out of 5,138 municipalities as of 2000 Literacy rate: 90% Life expectancy: 72 (average of males and females)
In 2000 the per capita monthly income of R$307.00 was above 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.
The highest ranking municipality in Minas Gerais in 2000 was Poços de Caldas with 0.841, while the lowest was Setubinha with 0.568. Nationally the highest was São Caetano do Sul in São Paulo with 0.919, while the lowest was Setubinha. In more recent statistics (considering 5,507 municipalities) Manari in the state of Pernambuco has the lowest rating in the country—0,467—putting it in last place.
History of immigration
The city of Bom Despacho has seen a significant influx of German settlers in the 1920s, however, their tradition has vanished and their history is almost forgotten.
Due to the efforts of the Brazilian politician Faustino Assunção the city of Bom Despacho was chosen to participate in the settlement program initiated by the Ministry of Agriculture during the Bernardes government. (President of the state of Minas Gerais from 1918–1922 and president of Brazil 1922-1926) The aim of this program was to attract European settlers to cultivate the soil surrounding Bom Despacho. For this purpose, the city provided two large areas of farmland in the direct vicinity of Bom Despacho which were named after Brazilian politicians, Colônia David Campista and Colônia Álvaro da Silveira.