City South America
Belo Horizonte
Belo Horizonte is a big city in Brazil. It was planned on paper before it was built.
Belo Horizonte is the capital of the state of Minas Gerais in Brazil. It was created in 1894 as a planned city, with straight avenues laid out like a checkerboard. In the 2022 census, 2,315,560 people were counted in the city.
Belo Horizonte, capital of Minas Gerais, was created in 1894 to replace Ouro Preto as the state capital and planned on a grid at the heart of the Brazilian plateau's iron-ore zone; it grew from 13,972 people in 1900 to 2,315,560 in the 2022 census (urban area, IBGE).
Photo: copagov, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Discover Belo Horizonte
Belo Horizonte is a city in Brazil. It is the main city of a part of Brazil called Minas Gerais.
Millions of people live there.
Belo Horizonte is the capital of Minas Gerais, a state of Brazil. Universalis calls it a perfect example of a city that grew extremely fast: only 13,972 people lived there in 1900.
In the 2022 census, 2,315,560 people were counted in the city, according to Brazil's statistics institute, IBGE. Universalis says the wider metropolitan area had about 4.5 million people in 2005.
Universalis: city of Brazil, capital of the state of Minas Gerais, created in 1894; only 13,972 inhabitants in 1900, an estimated 2,375,000 in 2005 (4.5 million in the agglomeration): the very type of an extremely fast-growing city, reflecting the economic development of the region it leads.
IBGE (via City Population), urban area of Belo Horizonte: 2,238,526 (census 2000), 2,375,151 (2010) and 2,315,560 (1 August 2022); Minas Gerais state 20,539,989 (2022). City Population's own 2025 calculation (2,415,870, rank 6 in Brazil) is not an official figure and is not used for the count.
- Country
- Brazil (capital of the state of Minas Gerais)
- People in Belo Horizonte (census 2022)
- 2,315,560
- Created
- 1894 (Universalis)
- Metropolitan area
- about 4.5 million people in 2005 (Universalis)
Towers around a round garden
Look at all the tall buildings! In the middle is a round garden with a fountain. Roads go around it like a wheel.
This photo shows Belo Horizonte from the air on 17 October 2012. Below, a round garden with a fountain in the middle and flower beds around it sits where several wide avenues meet. Buses and cars move along the roads.
All around stand apartment and office towers, and the city stretches away to hills on the horizon. Universalis says Belo Horizonte was designed with straight avenues and streets at right angles, and its center has avenues set out like the spokes of a huge wheel.
Commons: Flickr photo by the account 'copagov', 17 October 2012, CC BY-SA 2.0 (license review passed 5 December 2012), uploaded by another user; the description reads only 'Belo Horizonte, Brasil.'
In the picture: a circular square with a central fountain, radiating paths and flower beds; avenues with buses meeting around it; dense high-rise blocks, including two long slab-like towers at left; low roofs at lower right; a hazy line of hills far away. Universalis: a checkerboard plan from the start, and a center reorganized into avenues and streets like the spokes of an immense wheel.
- Photo
- Belo Horizonte from the air, 17 October 2012
- City plan
- a checkerboard of straight, parallel avenues crossed by streets at right angles (Universalis)
- Center
- avenues and streets arranged like the spokes of a huge wheel (Universalis)
A new capital for Minas Gerais
Long ago, Minas Gerais had a small, old capital. People built a brand-new city to take its place: Belo Horizonte.
Minas Gerais first grew rich after gold was found there in the 18th century, Universalis says. Its capital then was Ouro Preto, which became too cramped and too old.
So a new capital was created in 1894: Belo Horizonte. Planners placed it in the middle of the area where iron ore is dug from the Brazilian plateau, which helped its factories grow quickly. In 1900 it had only 13,972 people.
Universalis: Minas Gerais had a first growth phase with the discovery of gold in the 18th century; its capital, Ouro Preto, having become too cramped and too old, was replaced by Belo Horizonte, created in 1894, which quickly became the state's main center of services. By the planner's will, the city was placed at the heart of the iron-ore extraction zone of the Brazilian plateau, allowing very fast growth of its industry and of its role as a regional center; only the very large cities of Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo limit its influence to the east and south.
- 18th century
- gold is found in Minas Gerais; Ouro Preto is the capital
- 1894
- Belo Horizonte is created to replace Ouro Preto
- 1900
- only 13,972 people
Avenues on a grid
Belo Horizonte's streets were drawn with a ruler. Many of them are long and straight.
From the start, Universalis says, Belo Horizonte was laid out like a checkerboard: wide, straight, parallel avenues crossed by streets at right angles. Later its center was reorganized so that avenues and streets spread out like the spokes of a huge wheel.
As the city grew beyond the planned area, it spread in big new housing districts. Out to the north-northwest, Wikidata places the Mineirão football stadium, opened in 1965, about 7.6 kilometers from the city's center point.
Universalis: Belo Horizonte continues to organize itself very geometrically: from its creation it was designed on a checkerboard plan with large straight parallel avenues cut by streets at right angles; the center was reorganized as a set of avenues and streets arranged like the spokes of an immense wheel; growth beyond the planned city came through large subdivisions, so today's city is a juxtaposition of urban units.
Wikidata (from the city point Q42800): Serra do Curral (Q9077173), a mountain range, 4.96 km SE; Federal University of Minas Gerais (Q132140, 1927) 7.04 km NNW; Mineirão (Q910370, opened 1965-09-05) 7.55 km NNW.
- Plan
- straight parallel avenues crossed by streets at right angles
- Growth
- beyond the planned city, the town grew in large housing developments
- Mineirão
- a football stadium, opened on 5 September 1965 (Wikidata)
Rainy summers and dry winters
Belo Horizonte is warm all year. Summer brings lots of rain, and winter is dry.
In the World Meteorological Organization's averages for Belo Horizonte for 1961 to 1990, the average daily high stays between 24.6 °C in July and 28.8 °C in February. Because Brazil is in the Southern Hemisphere, July is winter.
About 1,491 millimeters of rain fall in a year, almost nine-tenths of it from October to March. December is the wettest month, with 319.4 millimeters, and August the driest, with 13.7.
WMO World Weather Information Service, Belo Horizonte (19.85° S, 43.95° W; Instituto Nacional de Meteorologia), 1961–1990: mean daily maximum 24.6 °C (July) to 28.8 °C (February); mean daily minimum 13.1 °C (July) to 19.0 °C (February). Rainfall sums to 1,491.3 mm, of which 1,318.3 mm (88%) falls from October to March; December (319.4 mm) is the wettest month and August (13.7 mm) the driest. Days with at least 0.1 mm sum to 116 a year.
- Average daily highs (WMO, Belo Horizonte, 1961–1990)
- 24.6 °C (July) to 28.8 °C (February)
- Average daily lows (same table)
- 13.1 °C (July) to 19.0 °C (February)
- Rain in a year (sum of the monthly averages)
- about 1,491 mm
Iron, steel and many industries
In Belo Horizonte, people make steel, machines, plastic and food. Cars are built in a town nearby.
Belo Horizonte is a big center of industry and services, Universalis says. Besides the iron ore dug nearby, it has electricity from water power and an oil refinery. Its factories make steel and other metals, machines, chemicals, plastics and food, and cars are built in the neighboring city of Betim.
On Wikidata, the Federal University of Minas Gerais, founded in 1927, lies about 7 kilometers north-northwest of the city's center point.
Universalis: the city diversified its industries: besides its own mineral resources, it has important energy sources (hydroelectricity) and an oil refinery; production includes iron and steel, metallurgy, mechanical engineering, petrochemicals, plastics and food; the car industry is in neighboring Betim; it quickly became the state's main center of tertiary activities, an important industrial and service center.
Wikidata: Federal University of Minas Gerais (Q132140), inception 1927.
- Industries
- steel, metalworking, machinery, petrochemicals, plastics and food (Universalis)
- Energy
- hydroelectric power and an oil refinery
- Cars
- car factories in the neighboring city of Betim
Belo Horizonte on the map
Find South America on the globe, then find Brazil. Belo Horizonte is there, in the state of Minas Gerais.
Belo Horizonte lies at about 19.9° south and 43.9° west, in the state of Minas Gerais.
Measured from the city's center point on Wikidata, the Serra do Curral range is about 5 kilometers southeast, the Federal University of Minas Gerais about 7 kilometers north-northwest and the Mineirão stadium about 7.6 kilometers north-northwest.
Belo Horizonte lies at about 19.91° S and 43.92° W (Natural Earth point, 3.10 km ENE of the Wikidata point). From the Wikidata point (Q42800; 43.9419° W, 19.9281° S): Serra do Curral 4.96 km SE; Federal University of Minas Gerais 7.04 km NNW; Mineirão 7.55 km NNW. The WMO station point (19.85° S, 43.95° W) is 8.72 km N of the Wikidata point.
- Latitude
- about 19.9° south
- Longitude
- about 43.9° west
- Neighbors
- Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo limit its influence to the east and south (Universalis)
Amazing facts
-
Belo Horizonte was planned before it was built, with straight streets like a checkerboard.
From the start, Belo Horizonte was laid out on a checkerboard plan, with straight parallel avenues crossed by streets at right angles, Universalis says.
Universalis: designed from its creation on a checkerboard plan, with large straight parallel avenues cut by streets at right angles.
-
In 1900 Belo Horizonte was a small town. Now more than two million people live there!
Belo Horizonte had 13,972 people in 1900 (Universalis) and 2,315,560 in the 2022 census: about 166 times as many.
Universalis 1900: 13,972; IBGE census 2022: 2,315,560; ratio about 166.
-
The city was built close to where iron is dug out of the ground.
Planners put Belo Horizonte at the heart of the iron-ore mining area of the Brazilian plateau, Universalis says.
Universalis: by the planner's will, Belo Horizonte was placed at the heart of the iron-ore extraction zone of the Brazilian plateau.
-
In Belo Horizonte, almost all the rain falls in the warm months.
In the WMO table, almost nine-tenths of Belo Horizonte's rain falls from October to March.
WMO table: October-March 1,318.3 of 1,491.3 mm (88%); June-August each under 16 mm.
Words to know
- planned city
- a city designed on paper before it was built
- checkerboard plan
- a street layout of straight roads crossing at right angles, like squares on a board
- iron ore
- rock from which iron can be taken
- state capital
- the city where a state's government meets
- refinery
- a factory that cleans and separates raw materials such as oil
- census
- an official count of all the people in a country
Discovery challenge
-
Belo Horizonte is a city in which country?
Belo Horizonte is the capital of Minas Gerais, a state of which country?
Belo Horizonte replaced Ouro Preto as a state capital in which country?
- Brazil
- Spain
- Kenya
Show the answer
Brazil
Brazil!
Brazil.
Brazil.
-
What shape do many of Belo Horizonte's streets make?
Belo Horizonte was planned like which kind of board?
Universalis says the original plan of Belo Horizonte was laid out like what?
- A checkerboard
- A spiral
- A star
Show the answer
A checkerboard
A checkerboard, with straight streets!
A checkerboard.
A checkerboard (grid) plan.
-
In which year was Belo Horizonte created?
In which year was Belo Horizonte created, Universalis says?
In which year was Belo Horizonte created to replace Ouro Preto?
- 1894
- 1694
- 1994
Show the answer
1894
1894!
1894.
1894.
-
What is dug from the ground near Belo Horizonte?
Belo Horizonte was placed at the heart of a mining area for which ore?
The planners placed Belo Horizonte in the extraction zone of which ore?
- Iron ore
- Salt
- Ice
Show the answer
Iron ore
Iron ore!
Iron ore.
Iron ore.
-
Which month is the wettest in Belo Horizonte?
In the WMO table, which month gets the most rain in Belo Horizonte?
WMO table for Belo Horizonte: which month has the highest rainfall, 319.4 mm?
- December
- August
- June
Show the answer
December
December!
December.
December (319.4 mm).
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For parents & teachers
What children will learn
- Locate Belo Horizonte in Minas Gerais, Brazil.
- Explain what a planned city is and why a state might build a new capital.
- Describe how nearby resources such as iron ore can help a city grow.
- Read a Southern Hemisphere climate table with a summer rainy season.
Recommended ages: 3 to 17 · About 15 minutes
Talk about it
- Why might an old capital become too small for a growing state?
- What are the good and hard things about streets in a perfect grid?
- How can a city grow from about 14,000 to over 2 million people in about 120 years?
Try at home or in class
- Grid city: draw a checkerboard city, then add avenues that spread out like the spokes of a wheel.
- Growth chart: plot 13,972 (1900) and 2,315,560 (2022) and talk about how to show such different numbers.
- Rain bars: draw the monthly rainfall and shade the wet half of the year.
Key vocabulary: planned city, checkerboard plan, iron ore, state capital, refinery, census
Where these facts come from
- Wikidata , Wikimedia Foundation (CC0 1.0)
- Natural Earth vector data , Natural Earth (NACIS) (Public domain)
- Belo Horizonte , Encyclopaedia Universalis
- Brazil: Cities , City Population (Thomas Brinkhoff), from the Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística
- Belo Horizonte: climatological information , World Meteorological Organization, World Weather Information Service
- File:Belo Horizonte, Brasil horizon view.jpg (copagov, 17 October 2012) , Wikimedia Commons
- Wikimedia Commons , Wikimedia Foundation (Per file (public domain, CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA); see each media record)
Checked, not yet human-reviewed. Last updated November 1, 2026. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.