Uruaçu

History

The origin of this town was the Passa Três ranch acquired by the Fernandes family in 1910 and located in the municipality of Pilar de Goiás along the route used by muleteers and merchants from the south. In 1913 Coronel Gaspar donated lands to build a chapel dedicated to Saint Anne and the settlement was called Sant'Ana. In 1924 the settlement was raised to a district and in 1931 it became a municipality. In 1943 the name was changed to Uruaçu, which in Tupi-Guaraní means "large bird". In 1948 Uruaçu lost the district of Porangatu, which became the municipality of Porangatu, now the most important city in the region. in 1953 it lost the district of Amaro Leite, which became the municipality of Amaro Leite, later changed to Mara Rosa.

Geography

Uruaçu is located north of Anápolis and Goiânia on the important interstate highway BR-153, which links Brasília to Belém. It is 269 km. from Goiânia and 244 km. from Brasília. It belongs to the Porangatu Microregion. Municipal boundaries are with: *North: Nova Iguaçu de Goiás and Campinorte *South: Hidrolina and Santa Rita do Novo Destino *East: Niquelândia *West: Hidrolina On the west the municipal boundary follows the Serra Dourada mountains, where the Passa Três river has its source and supplies the city with its drinking water. On the east the boundary is formed by the Serra da Mesa reservoir (43 meters deep and 1,784 km2 in area). The climate is moist tropical, with maximum temperatures of 38 °C, minimums of 18 °C and an average of 28 °C.

Most-observed species

• Glittering-throated Emerald

  Chionomesa fimbriata (J.F.Gmelin, 1788) · Aves
  75
• peach-fronted conure

  Aratinga aurea (Gmelin, 1788) · Aves
  75
• Great Kiskadee

  Pitangus sulphuratus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  74
• Saffron Finch

  Sicalis flaveola (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  74
• Scaled Dove

  Columbina squammata (R.Lesson, 1831) · Aves
  74
• Chopi Blackbird

  Gnorimopsar chopi (Vieillot, 1819) · Aves
  68
• Picazuro Pigeon

  Patagioenas picazuro (Temminck, 1813) · Aves
  67
• White-tipped Dove

  Leptotila verreauxi Bonaparte, 1855 · Aves
  67

Most recent

• M 4.4 — 2010-10-08
  42 km SW of Porangatu, Brazil
• M 5 — 2010-10-08
  50 km S of Porangatu, Brazil