Portelândia


Portelândia is a municipality in southwestern Goiás state, Brazil. It is a prosperous community with a large production of soybeans.

Geographical information

Portelândia is located in the extreme west of the state, 65,5 kilometers east of the Araguaia River and the boundary with the state of Mato Grosso. The region is south of the Serra do Caiapó.
The distance to the state capital, Goiânia, is 454 km. Highway connections are made by BR-060 / Abadia de Goiás / Guapó / Indiara / Acreúna / Rio Verde / BR-364 / Jataí / Mineiros / GO-194.
Municipal boundaries are with Mineiros, which surrounds it on all sides.

History

Before 1933 the area where Portelândia now lies was almost inhabited with a few cattle ranches. It belonged to the municipality of Jataí. In 1933 Ludugerio Martins de Souza arrived with his wife and 8 children and built a residence on the banks of the Córrego da Porteira in lands belonging to the Fazenda Flores. Here Ludugerio set up a brick kiln to sell bricks to the local ranchers. Soon Walfredo Ivo de Oliveira saw the possibilities of starting a settlement in the area and he built the first solid building as a general store to sell to the passing muleteers. He began to buy land and the settlement began to grow. It was called Córrego da Porteira, after the stream. In 1938 it became part of Mineiros. In 1948 the first school was built, followed by a church in 1954. In 1956 a highway BR-31 reached the town and lots were sold to new settlers. In 1963 Portelândia became a municipality, the name having its origin int Porteira, the name of the stream passing nearby.

Political and Demographic information

The economy is based on agriculture, cattle raising, services, public administration, and small transformation industries.
Municipal Human Development Index
Data are from 2000
For the complete list see