Aparecida de Goiânia, Goiás, Central-West Region, Brazil

🇧🇷 Aparecida de Goiânia is a city and municipality in central Goiás, Brazil. It is the second largest city in the state and the third largest industrial centre, with a GDP of 11.980.984 billion reais in 2018.

Geography: Location Bordering on the southern limits of Goiânia, 21 km from the centre, Aparecida has experienced rapid growth as a suburb and an option for less expensive housing than in neighboring Goiânia.

Municipal boundaries are with: • North: Goiânia • South: Hidrolândia • East: Bela Vista de Goiás and Senador Canedo • West: Aragoiânia and Abadia de Goiás

The city is cut by the BR-153 (Goiânia-São Paulo) and several municipal highways and bathed by the Meia Ponte River.

History The history of Aparecida, like that of Goiânia, is recent. In 1922 followers of Our Lady of Aparecida donated land so that their neighbors could build a church for the Virgin. In 1958 it was elevated to the condition of Vila, as a district of Goiânia with the name Aparecida de Goiás. In 1958 the name was changed to Goialândia, which remained until 1963, when it emancipated itself and assumed the name of Aparecida de Goiânia.

Economy Its proximity to the capital has attracted important industries like Mabel (cookies), Vepeza and others, concentrated in the four different industrial zones on the edge of BR-153. In recent years the number of companies has doubled. In 2007 there were 964 industries. The industrial centres in the city are Distrito Agroindustrial de Aparecida de Goiânia (Daiag), Distrito Industrial (Dimag), Pólo Empresarial Goiás and Cidade Empresarial.

In 2007 there were 13 financial institutions in the city.

Despite the heavy industrialization Aparecida still produces agricultural products. The cattle herd was 11,700 in 2003. Other agricultural products are rice, manioc, bananas, coconut, and sugarcane.

Health • Hospitals: 08 • Hospital beds: 782 • Infant mortality rate: 1990 – 35.4; 2000 – 20.9

Education • Higher education: Faculdade Cidade de Aparecida de Goiânia – FACCIDADE; Faculdade Alfredo Nasser – UNIFAN; – Faculdade Nossa Senhora Aparecida – FANAP; – Universidade Estadual de Goiás – UEG; – Faculdade Mestra(Padrão); – Faculdade Sul da América – SULDAMÉRICA. • Literacy rate: 1991 – 85.2%; 2000 – 92.1% • HDI: 0.764 • State ranking: 49 (out of 242 municipalities) • National ranking: 1,488 (out of 5,507 municipalities)

Tourist Industry One of the festivals that most attracts tourists to this industrial city is the festival of its patroness, Nossa Senhora Aparecida.