Serra da Saudade


Serra da Saudade is a Brazilian municipality located in the center of the state of Minas Gerais. Its population as of 2007 was 786 people living in a total area of, making it the smallest municipality of Brazil. The population density is 256.84/km2. The city belongs to the meso-region of Central Mineira and to the micro-region of Bom Despacho. It became a municipality in 1962.

Location

The city center of Serra da Saudade is located at an elevation of 738 meters in a mountainous area of the Sierra da Saudade. Neighboring municipalities are: Quartel Geral, Dores do Indaiá, Estrela do Indaiá, and São Gotardo.
Distances
Services and agriculture are the most important economic activities. The GDP in 2005 was approximately R$7 million, with 4 million coming from services. There were 113 rural producers on 19,000 hectares of land. 25 farms had tractors. Approximately 250 persons were employed in agriculture. The main crops are coffee, beans and corn. There were 15,000 head of cattle of which 1,000 were dairy cattle.
There were no banks. In the vehicle fleet there were 124 automobiles, 4 trucks, 21 pickup trucks, 4 micro-buses, and 11 motorcycles. .

Health and Education

In the health sector there was 1 public health clinic.. Patients with more serious health conditions are transported to Divinópolis or Belo Horizonte. Educational needs of 170 students were met by 1 primary school and 1 pre-primary school. There was no middle school.
In 2000 the per capita monthly income of R$217.00 was below the state average of R$276.00 and below the national average of R$297.00. Poços de Caldas had the highest per capita monthly income in 2000 with R$435.00. The lowest was Setubinha with R$73.00.
The highest ranking municipality in Minas Gerais in 2000 was Poços de Caldas with 0.841, while the lowest was Setubinha with 0.568. Nationally the highest was São Caetano do Sul in São Paulo with 0.919, while the lowest was Setubinha. In more recent statistics Manari in the state of Pernambuco has the lowest rating in the country—0,467—putting it in last place.