The municipality is located in the Meso-region of Zona da Mata near the border with the State of Rio de Janeiro. It is 379 kilometres (235 mi) by road from the capital of Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte. It has an area of 192 square kilometres (74 sq mi) including the city itself and two districts: Valão Quente and Caiapó.
Topography, climate, hydrology
The city is at an altitude of 160 metres (520 ft), with the highest point being Pedra Bonita at 797 metres (2,615 ft). The climate is tropical with wet summers and an average annual temperature around 23.5 °C (74.3 °F), with variations between 18 °C (64 °F) (mean minimum) and 31 °C (88 °F) (mean maximum).
The city began as a village that grew up around the chapel erected in honour of Saint Anne in 1850. In 1864 the village became a district of Leopoldina with the name of Santana Pirapetinga.
It became independent of the municipality of Além Paraíba in 1938.
^"Divisão Territorial do Brasil" (in Portuguese). Divisão Territorial do Brasil e Limites Territoriais, Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística (IBGE). July 1, 2008. Retrieved December 17, 2009.