Water Beneath the Sand: The Thousand-Year Foggaras of the Sahara
In a photograph made in 2025, a water measurer in Ben Aissa holds a copper plate above the channel.…
REGIONAL CHRONICLE · LIVING HERITAGE
Minas Gerais
Explore this region’s place in the atlas and its connection to Brazil.
Photo: Nathalia Segato on Unsplash · Unsplash License
AT A GLANCE
Minas Gerais in facts
- TypeFederative unit
- CapitalBelo Horizonte
- Population20.5 m2022 · 20,539,989
- Area586,514 km²
All geographic & statistical details (16)
- Density
- 35 people per km²
- World region
- Americas · Latin America and the Caribbean · South America
- Share of Brazil’s area
- 6.9% of Brazil
- Share of Brazil’s people
- 9.7% of Brazil
- Regional anthem
- Hino de Minas Gerais
- National anthem (Brazil)
- "Hino Nacional Brasileiro" (Brazilian National Anthem) · Joaquim Osorio Duque Estrada/Francisco Manoel DA Silva
- Official language
- Portuguese
- Currency
- Brazilian real
- Calling code
- +55
- Drives on the
- right
- ISO 3166-2 code
- BR-MG
- Time zone
- UTC-3
- Official website
- mg.gov.br (opens in a new tab)
- Location
- 19.8°S, 44.0°W
- Distance from Brasília
- 610 km (straight line)
- Neighbouring regions
- 7
Shares borders with 7 regions
- BahiaFederative unit · 14.1 m people
- Espírito SantoFederative unit · 3.8 m people
- Federal DistrictCapital district or territory · 2.8 m people
- GoiásFederative unit · 7.1 m people
- Mato Grosso do SulFederative unit · 2.8 m people
- Rio de JaneiroFederative unit · 16.1 m people
- São PauloFederative unit · 46.2 m people
Neighbours from Wikidata (land borders and some sea borders; only places with a page here).
Facts: Wikidata Q39109, retrieved 1 November 2026. Figures can change; check the source for the latest. Location, time zone and distances are worked out by The Landlore from Wikidata coordinates and the IANA time zone database.
The flag and symbols of Minas Gerais
National anthem
Hino de Minas Gerais
Recording: José Duduca de Morais e Manoel Araújo / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0
Flag, coat of arms, motto and anthem: Wikidata and Wikimedia Commons (credited above), retrieved 1 November 2026.
Discover Minas Gerais
This is a sourced directory entry. A researched regional chronicle and verified location photography are in preparation.
Suggest a correction
Spotted a factual issue, a wrong location or a missing image credit? Tell us what needs checking.
Send a correction
Directory: UN M49 countries or areas, with 193 UN members, 2 observers and 53 other areas. Subdivisions: GeoNames, CC BY 4.0; filtered to this catalogue. Flags/symbols: flag-icons (MIT). Snapshot: 28 October 2026. Geographic groups are statistical. Associated-country links describe the cited relationship and do not settle sovereignty claims.
KEEP EXPLORING
All stories →
Similar articles
Cultural journeys, craft traditions, and heritage chronicles from around the world.
Labyrinths of Stone: Madagascar’s Tsingy de Bemaraha
A climber’s pierced boot soles lead into Bemaraha’s cave-cut limestone, its small wildlife habitats and the human histories associated…
Untranslatable Words: Five Histories Behind the Label
After the Second World War, William Barclay asked the Red Cross and Allied agencies tracing looted property to help…
.jpg){kind=link}
Voices Carved in Stone: The Decipherment of Maya Hieroglyphs
Alfred Maudslay found the carved stone already fallen. His diary entry for 19 March 1882 records the lintel at…
Share what you know
Been there, grew up there, or know something we missed? Add a comment; corrections with a source are especially welcome.