Ipameri is a municipality and Latin Catholic bishopric in southeastern Goiás state, in Brazil. The population was 27,174 (2020) in a total area of 4,368.6 km2. It is a major producer of soybeans, corn and livestock. Location and connections Ipameri is located east of Caldas Novas and 65 km. northwest of Catalão. It is part of the statistical micro-region of Catalão. Limiting municipalities: Caldas Novas, Campo Alegre de Goiás, Catalão, Cristalina, Corumbaíba, Goiandira, Luziânia, Nova Aurora, Orizona, Pires do Rio, Urutaí and Paracatu - MG Ipameri is 193 km from the state capital, Goiânia, and 300 km. from the federal capital, Brasília. The city is on the railroad linking Goiânia and Anápolis with São Paulo and Belo Horizonte. It is also accessible by highway from Goiânia, which lies to the northwest. Highway connections from Goiânia are by BR-352 / Bela Vista de Goiás / Cristianópolis / GO-020 / Pires do Rio / GO-330. Other distances from Ipameri are: Catalão 50 km, Campo Alegre 55 km, Goiandira 63 km, Três Ranchos 89 km, Caldas Novas 60 km and Urutaí 32 km. History The region of Ipameri was first settled by Europeans in the middle of the nineteenth century. The first houses were built along the banks of the Vai-Vem River, on the Fazenda Vai-Vem, belonging to Francisco José Dutra. According to legend this rancher was bitten by a poisonous snake and promised, if he were cured, to donate all the lands he could see from the heights of a hill called São Domingos to the Divine Holy Spirit. As he survived he donated all the lands which would make up the future municipality of Ipameri. The origin of the name of the first settlement, Vai-Vem" (It comes and goes), has two versions. One is that it refers to the comings and goings of the Indians (Xavantes and Caiapós), who crossed the river on a makeshift bridge, and another that the name refers to the stream seemed to zigzag. In 1845 Vai-Vem was made a district of Catalão, becoming a municipality in 1870, with the name "Entre-Rios". In 1904 the name was changed to Ipameri, from the Indigenous word "Ipau-meri", meaning entre-rios (in Portugues) or 'between the rivers'. In 1913 the first hydroelectric station in Goiás was built here. In 1915 a cinema was opened. The automobile appeared in 1914 and a newspaper was founded in 1917. In 1921 the first bank