MINAS GERAES, a mountainous province of Brazil, situated between Lat. 14. 30. and 23. S., and Long. 40. and 51. W., is bounded N. by the province of Bahia, W. by
Goyaz, S. by Sao Paulo, and E. by Rio de Janeiro and Espírito Santo. It is about 600 miles in length from N. to S., by 350 in average breadth, and has an estimated area of about 216,000 square miles. This is the most elevated province of Brazil, as well as the richest in minerals, and the most populous. It occupies an elevated table-land traversed by detached mountain ranges, separated from each other by sloping and pastoral but not very deep valleys. The most elevated summits are Itacolimi, 5750, and Itambi, 5900 feet above the level of sea. Owing to its elevation, the climate of Minas Gerais is temperate when compared with that of other countries under the torrid zone. It is abundantly watered by numerous small streams, which fall into larger currents. The principal of the latter is the Sao Francisco, which flows northward through almost the entire province, and after passing through Bahia and forming the boundary between that province and Pernambuco, and between Sergipe del Rei and Alagoas, falls into the Atlantic Ocean. The Rio Grande and the Rio Parnahiba flow southward to form the Rio Paraná; and the Rio Doce and the Jequitinhonha flow eastward into the Atlantic. The soil is in general very fertile, yielding in abundance, and with little labour, the grains and fruits of Europe, besides the aromatic plants and other vegetable productions characteristic of such regions, as cotton, tobacco, sugar, maize, manioc, coffee, indigo, ipecacuanha, jalap, liquorice, &c. The forests abound in valuable timber; and vast herds of swine and cattle are reared. The great wealth of the province, however, is in its mineral resources. Among the metals and minerals found here are gold, silver, copper, platina, iron, lead, mercury, antimony, bismuth, limestone, millstone, alum, and sulphur. The manufactures are still very imperfectly developed; but there are some extensive ironworks in the neighbourhood of the capital, Ouro Preto. Pop. (1852) 1,300,000.