Economy
The service sector is the largest component of GDP at 47.1%, followed by the industrial sector at 44.1%. Agriculture represents 8.8% of GDP (2004). Exports: iron ore 26.1%, siderurgy 20.9%, coffee 12.8%, not ferrous metals 7.2%, others agriculture products 6.2%, vehicles 5.9% (2002).
Share of the Brazilian economy: 9% (2005).
Minas Gerais (or simply Minas, as it is commonly called) is a major producer of milk, coffee and other agricultural commodities, as well as minerals. Electronics are also produced in Minas. The automakers Fiat and Mercedes-Benz have factories there. Tourism is also an important activity for the state: historical cities like Ouro Preto, Mariana, Sabará, Congonhas, Diamantina, Tiradentes, and Sao João del Rey, are a major attractive for visitors interested in their colonial architecture. Other cities, like Araxá, Poços de Caldas, Lambari, Caxambu, and others, attract visitors interested in their mineral watersprings. Eco-tourism is a rising economic activity in the state, specially in localities situated on the several Serras (highlands) that exist in Minas Gerais.
The state has marked economic divisions. The southern part of the state (close to the São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro state borders) has several mid-sized cities with solid industrial bases such as Juiz de Fora, Varginha, Pouso Alegre, and Poços de Caldas, as well as Ipatinga in the east of the state, which is also a modern and major industrial city and Itabira, considered mother city of mining company Companhia Vale do Rio Doce, that has stocks quoted in Bovespa and NYSE. The northeastern region is marked by poverty, but Governador Valadares and Teófilo Otoni attract foreign traders for the semi-precious gems such as topaz and sapphire. The central region of the state (where the capital is located) has big reserves of iron (and to a lesser extent, gold) still being actively mined. There are also large companies installed the automotive industry, as manufacturers FIAT in Betim, IVECO in Sete Lagoas and suppliers of auto-parts, as STOLA and USIPARTS. The western part, the "Triângulo Mineiro", is less densely populated than the rest of the state, and it is now a focus of biotechnology investment, particularly on the cities of Uberlândia, Uberaba and Patos de Minas, which includes leading research on cattle, soy and corn culture.
Read more about this topic: Minas Gerais
Famous quotes containing the word economy:
“Even the poor student studies and is taught only political economy, while that economy of living which is synonymous with philosophy is not even sincerely professed in our colleges. The consequence is, that while he is reading Adam Smith, Ricardo, and Say, he runs his father in debt irretrievably.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“Everyone is always in favour of general economy and particular expenditure.”
—Anthony, Sir Eden (1897–1977)
“Quidquid luce fuit tenebris agit: but also the other way around. What we experience in dreams, so long as we experience it frequently, is in the end just as much a part of the total economy of our soul as anything we “really” experience: because of it we are richer or poorer, are sensitive to one need more or less, and are eventually guided a little by our dream-habits in broad daylight and even in the most cheerful moments occupying our waking spirit.”
—Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900)