It is currently the twenty-fourth largest city in the state in terms of population, with 120,904 inhabitants, according to a 2020 IBGE survey.

It is known as the "Capital of Poetry", by virtue of being the birthplace of poet Carlos Drummond de Andrade, is part of the Circuit of the Gold and of Estrada Real.

The first settlements at the site date to the early eighteenth century, when the village of Itabira do Mato Dentro was founded by bandeirantes seeking gold.

Itabira is a regional economic center, and hosts a thriving iron ore extraction operation headed by Companhia Vale do Rio Doce since 1942, when the company was created by President Getúlio Vargas specifically for the mineral exploration of the Rio Doce valley.

[citation needed] As a result of the decades-old extraction operations, the city faces air pollution problems.