Alexânia
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Alexânia is a small town and municipality in central Goiás state, Brazil. Alexânia is known for its alleged extraterrestrial sightings in the late sixties and early seventies. (See below)
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[edit] Important facts
- Population: 22,287 (2005 estimate)
- Area of the municipality: 850.8 kmª
- Population density: 24.94 inhab/km² (2003)
- Population growth rate: 2.21.% (1991-2000)
- Urban population: 18,847 (2003)
- Rural population: 2,301 (2003)
- Number of households: 16318 (09/2005)
- Registered voters: 5,505
- City government in 2004: mayor (Ronaldo Fernandes de Queiroz), vice-mayor (Cláudio Pinto dos Santos), and 09 councilpersons
- Elevation: 1096 meters
- Became a city: 1958
- Postal code: 72920-000
[edit] Location
It is located on the main Brasília-Goiânia highway, BR-153, which has been recently widened to four lanes. The distance to Brasília is 130 km and 118 km to Goiânia. It is part of the micro-region of Entorno de Brasília.
Municipal boundaries are with:
- North: Corumbá de Goiás
- South: Abadiânia
- East: Santo Antônio do Descoberto
- West: Corumbá de Goiás and Abadiânia
[edit] Economy
The city relies on agriculture and livestock raising, with ranches producing both meat and dairy cattle. There is also an intense commercial activity because of the highway traffic.
- The Gross Domestic Product for the municipality was R$ 148.131 million in 2003--71.131 million dollars at the exchange rate of May 1, 2006.
- GDP per capita: R$6897 in 2003--3,311 dollars at the exchange rate of May 1, 2006.
There were 2 financial institutions in the town in June 2005: Banco do Brasil S.A. and Bradesco S.A.
Main economic enterprises (2000)
- agriculture and cattle raising: 09 units employing 150 workers
- transformation: 54 units employing 423 workers
- commerce; vehicle repair: 259 employing 485 workers
- hotels and restaurants: 33 units employing 100 workers
- education: 12 units employing 36 workers
- health and social services: 07 units employing 16 workers
Motor vehicles
- automobiles: 2,061
- trucks: 267
- pickups: 72
- motorcycles: 461
(IBGE 2004)
Agricultural production (2003):
- Cattle: 47,000 head
- Bananas: 3.2 kmª
- Beans: 5 kmª
- Coffee: 0.13 kmª
- Corn: 15 kmª
- Manioc: 0.8 kmª
- Passion fruit: 0.45 kmª
- Rice: 0.7 kmª
- Soybeans: 12 kmª
- Sugarcane: 2 kmª
- Tomatoes: 0.5 kmª
(IBGE 2003)
[edit] Tourism and development
The municipality still has a relatively unspoilt nature with some forest growth along the rivers. In recent years several rural hotels (hotel-fazendas) have opened up near the town offering what is known as ecotourism to the urban inhabitants of Brasília. This activity supports more than 200 families.[1]
Recently a beer brewery was established in the municipality providing needed jobs and giving the region the possibility of finally developing and benefiting from a higher standard of living. In the Seplan list of municipal development, which ranked 58 municipalities in the state based on dynamism, economic wealth, quality of life and other factors Alexânia went from 51st plane in 2003 to 18th place in 2004. [2]
[edit] Health and education
The infant mortality rate in 2000 was 36.16, having declined slightly from 36.34 in 1990.
In 2002 there were 3 public health establishments, with one hospital providing 46 beds. There were 15 doctors, one nurse, and one dentist.
The literacy rate in 2000 was 84.3, having improved from 72.6 in 1991.
There were 5075 students in 27 primary schools and 826 students in 2 middle and secondary schools. There were 106 primary school teachers and 32 secondary school teachers. Source: [3]
[edit] Households and income in 2000
- Total of households: 5,507
- Households receiving no income: 467
- Households receiving less than one minimum salary: 1,786
- Households receiving from 01 to 02 minimum salaries: 1,534
- Households receiving from 02 to 03 minimum salaries: 533
- Households receiving from 03 to 05 minimum salaries: 537
- Households receiving from 05 to 10 minimum salaries: 430
- Households receiving from 10 to 15 minimum salaries: 103
- Households receiving from 15 to 20 minimum salaries: 57
- Households receiving more than 20 minimum salaries: 58
- The minimum salary in April 2000 was R$151.00. The minimum salary of April 2006 was R$350.00, which was $167.40 US dollars on April 30, 2006.
[edit] Ranking on Municipal Human Development Index
- Life expectancy: 64.8
- Adult literacy rate: 0.831
- School attendance rate: 0.823
- MHDI: 0.696
- State ranking: 211 (out of 242 municipalities)
- National ranking: 3,056 (out of 5,505 municipalities)
(All data is from 2000.) For the complete list see [4]
[edit] Extraterrestrial contacts
Alexânia's main claim to fame is that there was supposedly an important UFO sighting nearby with encounters of the third kind. According to testimony from witnesses, including a general in the Brazilian army, Moacyr Uchoa, who had been professor of engineering mechanics at the Brazilian military academy and went on to found a private university in Brasília, Date: January 31, 1969 Time: 20:00 A small “astro ship” approached General Moacyr Uchoa and his investigating team on Wilson P Gusmao’s Alexania Fazenda, where UFO phenomena had been frequent for more than a year. It made some maneuvers, then landed 100 yards away. Gusmao left the group and walked up to within a yard of the vessel, which he found to, be only 6.5 ft long and 3 ft wide, hovering 18” above the ground. A door opened, and a crewmember stood up in the entrance. He looked at Gusmao while manipulating something on his belt, which Gusmao thought was a camera. Then he turned his back, and “as if obeying an order, a big light arose from the nearby ridge.” The man then again faced Gusmao; he put his hand to his belt again, which caused a luminous halo to surround his body. After this the onlookers could see him only as a ball of light. Then, with a little gesture, he slipped down again into the craft, which took off rapidly.
The sightings were frequent for ten months but after that they dwindled off, he said.
In 1973, Uchoa started having another kind of experience: according to his own testimony he started being able to understand the extraterrestrials in a telepathic way.
General Uchôa said that from these beings he learned there are many groups visiting earth, most of them from other star systems but some from our own solar system. Most, but not all, mean us no harm, he said.
"There are many different kinds, many groups of different origins with different interests. These people we have been in touch with are of high spiritual conditions and are very benevolent. They mean us no harm."
"But others don’t care about us, other visitors from outer space. They are indifferent to us. They don't care about us. They want to study our planet, our living conditions, our animals, our plants and so on without paying any attention to us as responsible men. So, sometimes they can be aggressive."
General Uchôa died on March 5, 1996, six weeks before his ninetieth birthday.
