Belo Horizonte
Belo Horizonte
— Municipality —
The Municipality of Belo Horizonte
The city of Belo Horizonte, surrounded by mountains
Flag
Seal
Nickname(s): BH, The Garden City
Location in the State of Minas Gerais
Coordinates: 19°55′8.88″S 43°56′19.2″W /
19.9191333°S 43.938667°W / -19.9191333;
-43.938667
Country
Brazil
Region
Southeast
State
Minas Gerais
Founded
1701
Incorporated (as
city)
December 12, 1897
Government
- Mayor
Marcio Lacerda (PSB)
Area
- Municipality
330.9 km2 (127.7 sq mi)
- Metro
9,459.1 km2 (3,652 sq mi)
Elevation
852.19 m (2,796 ft)
Population (2009)
- Municipality
2,412,937 (6th)
- Density
7,290.8/km2 (17,521/
sq mi)
- Metro
6,174,005
- Demonym
Belorizontino
Time zone
BST (UTC-3)
- Summer (DST)
BDT (UTC-2)
Postal Code
30000-000
HDI (2000)
0.839 – high
Website
Belo Horizonte, Minas
Gerais
Belo Horizonte ("beautiful horizon"; Por-
tuguese pronunciation: [bɛloɾiˈzõtʃi][1]) is the cap-
ital of the state of Minas Gerais, located in
the southeastern region of Brazil. It is the
third-largest metropolitan
area
in
the
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Belo Horizonte
1
country. Belo Horizonte (or "Beagá", as it is
more familiarly known from the sound of its
initials "BH" in Portuguese) has a population
of almost 3 million, reaching over 6.1 million
in the official Metropolitan Area.
The first settlements in the region oc-
curred in the early 1700s, but the city as it is
known today was planned and constructed in
the 1890s, in order to replace Ouro Preto as
the capital of Minas Gerais. It is nowadays
well known for the contrast between contem-
porary and classical buildings, being in fact
the location of many modern Brazilian archi-
tectural icons, most notably the Pampulha
Complex. In planning it, Brazilian engineers
Aarão Reis and Francisco Bicalho found their
inspiration in the town plan of Washington
D.C.[2]
In the area surrounding Belo Horizonte
there are parks of great natural richness
such as Mangabeiras, located six kilometres
from the city in the Serra do Curral. This
park provides an asto