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Founding
Founding of Teófilo Otoni
municipality of Minas Gerais state, Brazil
- 7 September 1853
- South America
Founding
municipality of Minas Gerais state, Brazil
Fetching the article from Wikipedia…
Teófilo Otoni is a municipality in northeastern Minas Gerais, Brazil, in the Mucuri River valley. It had a population of 137,418 in the 2022 census, with an estimated population of 142,851 in 2025, in an area of 3,242.270 km2 (1,251.847 sq mi). It is the seat of the Immediate Geographic Region of Teófilo Otoni and the Intermediate Geographic Region of Teófilo Otoni.
The settlement was founded as Filadélfia by Teófilo Ottoni on September 7, 1853. It became a municipality under the name Teófilo Otoni in 1878 and was formally installed in 1881.
The city is named after Teófilo Benedito Ottoni (Vila do Príncipe, 27 January 1807 - Rio de Janeiro, 17 October 1869), who was a provincial deputy representing Minas Gerais; a national deputy and a senator in the Empire of Brazil from 1864 to 1869; and founder of the city of the same name.
It lies at an elevation of 319 meters on the Todos os Santos River, a tributary of the Mucuri. It is part of the Valley of the Mucuri, a region which includes 27 municipalities. Situated on the Rio-Bahia Interstate Highway BR 116, it is 130 km. north of the regional center, Governador Valadares, on the Doce River, and 478 km north of the state capital, Belo Horizonte. It was founded in 1853 by German colonists and given city status in 1878.
Municipal boundaries are with:
Distances to important cities:
According to the modern (2017) geographic classification by Brazil's National Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE1), the city is the main municipality in the Intermediate Geographic Region of Teófilo Otoni.
Until 2017, Teófilo Otoni used to be a statistical microregion including the following municipalities: Ataléia, Catuji, Franciscópolis, Frei Gaspar, Itaipé, Ladainha, Malacacheta, Novo Oriente de Minas, Ouro Verde de Minas, Pavão, Poté, Setubinha, and Teófilo Otoni. The population of this region was 253,679 in 2000 and the area was 11,296.80 km2 (roughly the size of The Gambia and a little larger than Jamaica. The population density was 22.46 inhabitants/km2.
Teófilo Otoni is a trade centre for an agricultural hinterland in which livestock raising is of some importance. The city has small-scale manufacturing and food-processing plants. Poor soils for agriculture and lack of industry have made Teófilo Otoni a major source of immigration to other regions of Brazil. In 2005 the GDP was R$723 million, of which 515 million was from services, 101 was from industry, and 37 million was from agriculture. Industry employed about 2,000 workers, services employed 8,800 workers, and public administration employed 2,300 workers.
Téofilo Otoni's strongest economic sector is a diverse and bustling service industry. The city has several commercial areas and a shopping mall, City Mall. Prominent businesses in Teófilo Otoni include Pharmacy Indiana, Stationery Graffite, the store Magda Magazin, and Ramos Transport. The trade in precious stones is also quite important as the city is considered an International Capital of Precious Stones, which comprises a good portion of its economy.
In October 1994, government of Brazil created an Export Processing Zone of 14.31 hectares in Teófilo Otoni, attracting several industries since then.
The city was granted the FIPP (International Fair of Precious Stones) recognized worldwide.
The city is served by Kemil Kumaira Airport.
Extensive mining and gem trading for aquamarines, topaz, brazilianite, and various forms of quartz take place there. A Gem and Mineral Show (Feira Internacional de Pedras Preciosas (FIPP), is held here every year, attracting international buyers. The fair provides the opportunity to buy both rough and cut stones directly from local producers, miners and cutters.
The population was served by 61 health clinics and 4 hospitals (417 beds in 2005). There were several institutes of higher education: Faculdade de Tecnologia Egídio José da Silva (private), Instituto de Ensino Superior Integrado (private), Instituto de Educação Superior São Francisco de Assis de Teófilo Otoni (private philanthropic), Faculdades Unificadas Doctum de Teófilo Ottoni (private), a campus of the Federal University of Vales do Jequitinhonha and Mucuri - UFVJM (public) and a campus of the Federal Institute of Northern Minas Gerais - IFNMG (public).
Municipal Human Development Index
Text from the Wikipedia article “Teófilo Otoni”, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.