Coronel Fabriciano, Coronel Fabriciano

Coronel Fabriciano is a municipality in the state of Minas Gerais in the Southeast region of Brazil. It is located in the mesoregion of the Vale do Rio Doce and microregion of Ipatinga and is situated 200 km from the capital. The municipal population was estimated in 2012 by IBGE in 104,637 inhabitants, thus the 27th most populous in the Minas Gerais state. The area is 221.049 km² (13.1549 km² of urban area).The municipality was emancipated from Antônio Dias in 1948 and it name is a tribute to Lieutenant colonel Fabriciano Felisberto Carvalho de Brito. The town was situated in the Vale do Aço (Steel Valley) metropolitan area, between the largest steel industries of Minas Gerais state; the Usiminas, in Ipatinga, and the Aperam South America, in Timóteo. These industries, when they were installed, were situated in Fabriciano and were essential to the development of the city. But with the emancipation of Ipatinga and Timóteo, occurred in 1964, the companies now belong to these cities.