Luziânia

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Luziânia
State	Goiás
Area:	3,961.0 km²
Population:	180,227 (IBGE 2005)
Elevation:	930 m above sea level
Postcode (CEP):	72800-000
IBGE statistical microregion:	Entorno de Brasília
Became a city:	1833
Distance to Goiânia:	186 km
Website:	Luziânia.com

Luziânia is a city and municipality in the state of Goiás, Brazil. This fast-growing city is a great producer of agricultural products including soybeans and beans.

1 Location
2 Political data
3 A case of rapid growth
4 Demographic data
5 The economy
6 Health and education
7 Human Development Index
8 Sources of data
9 External links
10 See also

[edit] Location

Luziânia is located 68 km. south of Brasília and is part of the greater Brasília metropolitan area, called Entorno de Brasília. This is composed of 20 municipalities with 766,502 inhabitants in a total area of 38,212.00 km².[1]

Although the city has existed as a settlement since colonial days, its rapid growth occurred in the eighties and nineties with the population explosion of the federal capital and the need for less expensive living areas outside the planned city.

The municipality is limited in the north by Valparaíso de Goiás and Novo Gama; in the south by Orizona and Ipameri; in the west by Santo Antônio do Descoberto, Alexânia, and Silvânia; and in the east by Cristalina.

[edit] Political data

In January 2005 the mayor of Luziânia was Célio Antônio da Silveira; the vice mayor was Hélio Roriz and the number of councilmembers was 12. The total number of eligible voters was 89,022 in September 2004.

[edit] A case of rapid growth

Luziânia is the classic example of a small town that grew extremely fast without time for the infrastructure to catch up with the population. Once the site of a major gold discovery in 1746 that attracted prospectors from far way, the city today has little of its colonial origins. The urban zone, made up of nuclei of population, extends for more than 20 km. along the BR 040 highway, which connects Belo Horizonte with Brasília. These nuclei of population are at the same time interconnected with those of neighboring municipalities forming a continuous urban zone of 40 km. as far as Brasília. Many of the inhabitants of these satellite towns were either arrivals from other states, mainly the Northeast, or dwellers of Brasília forced out by increasing high living costs. Most of them are poor and create serious problems for the government of Luziânia, forced to provide health care and education for a population that has tripled in the last twenty years. In addition, the distance from the state capital (255 km.) means that resources are not destined to a region that is considered to be more connected to Brasília than to Goiânia. Consequently, economic and social indicators for Luziânia are much lower than those for Brasília.

[edit] Demographic data

In 2003 population density was 40.47 inhab/km². The population has almost doubled since 1980, when it was 92,817. Today it is over 180,000 with less than 20,000 living in the rural area.

In 1996 the population had grown to 246,000, but then the city lost much of its territory and population due to the formation of new municipalities like Valparaíso de Goiás and Cidade Ocidental. Since 1996 the population has continued to grow, showing an increase of 7.3% from 1996 to 2000.

[edit] The economy

Until the eighties Luziânia was a sleepy little agricultural town a half hour's drive away from Brasília. Then agribusiness discovered the relatively flat lands that could produce high yields of soybeans with central pivot irrigation. Today the city is one of the most prosperous in the state and the second largest producer of beans and potatoes in the state, and the third largest producer of cotton and corn. In fruit cultivation it is the first producer in the state of guava and the fourth of tomatoes and passion fruit (maracujá).

The economy is also strong in cattle raising (179,000 head in 2004), both for meat and dairy, as well as semi-precious stones, gravel, bricks, and a well-known sweet made from quince. Due to the proximity to Brasília there is extensive production of fruits and garden vegetables. The poultry industry is highly developed with 1,200,000 birds in 2004.

In a study made by the Secretaria do Planejamento e Desenvolvimento (Seplan) Luziânia was ranked in seventh place in the state in competiveness. See [2].

The gross domestic product (GDP) for the municipality was 930.937 million Reais in 2003.

In 2005 there were 166 industrial units in the city and 865 retail units. Banking institutions were represented by: -Banco do Brasil S.A (1) -BRADESCO S.A (1) -CEF (2) -Banco Itaú S.A.(2) -HSBC Bank Brasil S.A. –Banco Múltiplo (1). -BRB – Banco de Brasília S.A (1).

In motor vehicles there were 10,263 automobiles, 1,746 trucks, 553 pickups, and 2,886 motorcyles (2003).

Products in 2005 (km²)
Beans	140
Coffee:	3.2
Corn	110
Cotton	5
Guava	1.3
Rice	12
Sorghum	6
Soybeans	500
Wheat	12

The municipality is rich in gold, rock crystals and hardwoods like jatobá, aroeira, peroba, and angico are still found in the fast disappearing forests, now existing mainly on the river banks.

The Corumbá River passes west of the city and receives its untreated sewage, seriously polluting the river waters.

[edit] Health and education

In 2003 the city had one hospital with 49 beds and 35 walk-in clinics. There were 153 doctors, 13 nurses, and 39 dentists. The infant mortality rate was 21.11 in 2000, well below the state and national average.

The school system had 100 schools in 2005, with 49,892 students and 1,497 teachers. In June 2005 there were two institutions of higher learning: a private school--Faculdades Integradas do Planalto Central-FIPLAC; and a campus of the state university-- Unidade Universitária da UEG. The literacy rate was 89.2% in 2000.