the name to a now extinct mining town—Água Quente. Cavalcante was once considered in the golden age of mining to be a great producer of gold and other minerals. Now livestock raising is the strong point of the local economy. The town also gets some tourism, which enters the Chapada dos Veadeiros National Park in Alto Paraíso de Goiás, 100 km to the south. Many tourists come to visit the more than 150 cataloged waterfalls, most of which can only be visited on foot. On a dirt road that borders the national park there are connections with Colinas do Sul and the Serra da Mesa artificial lake. Kalunga Nearby there is a community, called the Kalunga, who are black descendants of the slaves who escaped into the interior to form communities called quilombos. These runaway slaves lived in isolation, building their own identity and their own culture, with African elements added to European elements, mainly the traditional Catholicism of the rural milieu, and intermingling with the indigenous population. Today the Kalunga (approximately 4,500 people) occupy a territory that takes in part of the municipalities of Cavalcante, Monte Alegre and Teresina de Goiás. In these territories there are four main population centers: the region of Contenda and Vão do Calunga, Vão de Almas, Vão do Moleque and the former Ribeirão dos Negros, later renamed Ribeirão dos Bois. Health and education Hospital: 01 with 18 beds Infant mortality rate in 2000: 30.02 Literacy rate in 2000: 61.7 (one of the lowest in the state) MHDI: 0.609 State ranking: 241 (out of 242 municipalities) National ranking: 4,509 (out of 5,507 municipalities) See also List of municipalities in Goiás References Frigoletto External links Cavalcante (in Portuguese) Kalunga (in Portuguese) Municipalities in Goiás