Cristalina

Cristalina, Goias
Municipality
Municipality of Cristalina
Flag
Flag
Coat of Arms
Coat of arms
Nickname(s): Terra dos Cristais (Earth in Cristais)

Location of Cristalina in the State of Goiás
Cristalina, Goias

Location in Brazil

Coordinates: 16°46′08″S 47°36′56″W / 16.76889°S 47.61556°W / -16.76889; -47.61556Coordinates: 16°46′08″S 47°36′56″W / 16.76889°S 47.61556°W / -16.76889; -47.61556
Country Brazil Brazil
Region Central-West
State Goiás Goiás
Government
  Mayor Luiz Carlos Attie (2013-2016) (Democrats of Brazil)
Area
  Total 6,160.72 km2 (2,378.67 sq mi)
Elevation(AMSL) 1,189 m (3,901 ft)
Population (2012)
  Total 48,463(IBGE 2,012)
  Density 7.87/km2 (20.4/sq mi)
Time zone UTC-3 (UTC-3)
  Summer (DST) UTC-2 (UTC-2)
Postal code 73850-000
Area code +55 (Brazil) 61 (Region)
Website Prefeitura Municipal de Cristalina

Cristalina is a municipality located in the southeast of the state of Goiás, Brazil.

Location

Cristalina is located directly south of the federal capital, Brasília, and is connected to that city by BR-040. It lies on a plateau between the basins of two rivers: the Corumbá River and the São Marcos. Cristalina is 274 kilometers from Goiânia and 125 kilometers from Brasília. Cristalina belongs to the micro-region called Entorno do Distrito Federal, which consists of several cities in Goiás state located outside the boundaries of the Federal District.

Cristalina has municipal boundaries with:

Cristalina is located at the junction of two important highways—the BR 040, which links Brasília to Belo Horizonte, and the BR 050, which links Brasília to São Paulo. This location alone has been responsible for much of the growth of the city, which had an increase in population with the foundation and continuous growth of Brasília, which is located at a distance of 125 km.

As the name indicates the town is famous for being one of the largest centers of production and commerce of precious and semi-precious stones and crystals in Brazil. The immense variety of stones (such as amethysts, sapphires, emeralds, blue topazes, and tourmaline) and of crystals (found in diverse sizes, shapes and colors) are responsible for the large number of tourists that visit the city. Because of the altitude the climate is mild, with temperatures between 10 and 28 degrees Celsius.

Economy

Today Cristalina is known for its large production of grains, especially seeds. It produces soybeans (140,000 hectares), corn (21,000 hectares), beans (34,000 hectares), sorghum (5,000 hectares), and rice (3,000 hectares). The cattle herd is large with 125,000 head in 2006. In 2007 there were 03 financial institutions (Banco do Brasil S.A, BRADESCO S.A., and Banco Itaú S.A.) and 01 meat-packing house—Cooperativa Agrícola Três Barras Ltda. (22/05/2006)

Agricultural data 2006

Cristalina was the state's largest producer of garlic, coffee, onions, peas, beans, tomatoes, and wheat.

Health and education

History

The history of Cristalina began in the eighteenth century with gold exploration. An abundance of rock crystal and in 1879 two Frenchmen, Etienne Lopes and Leon Laboissière, residents of Paracatu, bought some of the crystal and exported it to Paris. They then settled in a place called Serra Velha where they set up their operations. Later, after the failure of the first miners, another Frenchman, Emílio Levy, arrived trading cloth for crystal and built his house, stimulating others to arrive. In 1901 the district of Serra dos Cristais was created belonging to the municipality of Santa Luzia, now Luziânia. In 1916 it was emancipated as São Sebastião dos Cristais, later changed to Cristalina.

Otto Monh Garden in Lake Cachoeira
Pedra Chapéu do Sol (Rock Hat of Sun), about five miles from downtown Cristalina

References

  1. Frigoletto

See also

Sources of Data

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Tuesday, May 03, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.