The city centre of Divinópolis is at an elevation of 712 meters approximately 120 km southwest of Belo Horizonte.

The climate is classified as subtropical mesothermic, characterised by dry winters and wet summers.

The basin of the Pará is one of the most important of the São Francisco River and crosses 16 municipalities.

Divinópolis is a statistical micro-region including 11 municipalities: Carmo do Cajuru, Cláudio, Conceição do Pará, Divinópolis, Igaratinga, Itaúna, Nova Serrana, Perdigão, Santo Antônio do Monte, São Gonçalo do Pará, and São Sebastião do Oeste.

[3] Divinópolis was founded in 1767 by 50 families who lived in the lands near the Itapecerica and Pará rivers.

The arrival of the Estrada de Ferro Oeste de Minas (a narrow gauge railroad) in 1890 offered the city opportunities for the installation of industries of iron and steel, providing a reasonable standard of living, as well as a high level of social development.

[8] At the end of the 1970s the economic problems of the steel industry caused factories to close and many workers to be laid off.

[9] There is a satellite campus of the Federal University of São João del-Rei (UFSJ), which goes by the name of "Dona Lindu", in homage to president Lula's mother.

The highest ranking municipality in Minas Gerais in 2000 was Poços de Caldas with 0.841, while the lowest was Setubinha with 0.568.

In more recent statistics (considering 5,507 municipalities) Manari in the state of Pernambuco has the lowest rating in the country—0,467—putting it in last place.