Três Pontas (Portuguese pronunciation: [ˈtɾes ˈpõtas], Three Tips) is a municipality located in southern Minas Gerais state, Brazil.

One of them is the Serra de Três Pontas (Three Tips Mountain), a place known in the region for its distinctive shape and natural environment.

[citation needed] The streams Araras and Espera are the main water courses that pass through the municipality, and they flow into the Furnas Dam.

The rivers Verde and Sapucaí pass on the south boundary and flow into Furnas Dam too.

The chapel of Nossa Senhora d'Ajuda was the start of the locality, founded on October 15, 1768, by the Captain Bento Ferreira de Brito, attracting people scattered around.

Três Pontas has supplied the villages that arose with the gold and later the Rio de Janeiro.

[3] With the emergence and affirmation of the coffee, in the mid of the 19th century, and with the creation of roads, Três Pontas reach the international market through Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo ports.

Três Pontas also had a rail spur, the Trespontana Railroad, which was inaugurated in 1895,[4] whose terminal was where today is located the City Hall.

The municipality is limited to the north with Campos Gerais and Santana da Vargem, on south with the municipality of Varginha, Elói Mendes and Paraguaçu, on east with Nepomuceno e Carmo da Cachoeira and west with Campos Gerais.

[8] However about twenty percent of the municipality is in mountainous regions, in which the height exceeds one thousand meters above sea level.

The lowest point is located on the margins of the Furnas reservoir, at about 770 meters above the sea level.

According to the Geologic Map of Minas Gerais,[9] the soils in the south portion of the municipality have kianite granulite rocks.

The Arara stream rises near the town and moves west to flow into the reservoir of Furnas.

The Espera stream rises near the Três Pontas Mountain and flows into Furnas near a farm with the same name.

[11] The original vegetation of the Municipality is highly modified because of coffee production, but some woods still remain.

Due to the fleet growing in the last years, there is a lack of parking lots in downtown and in peak hours, the traffic becomes slow in some streets.

There are more than 50 million coffee trees in an area of approximately 300 square kilometres, producing an average of 400 thousand sacks each harvest.

[15] The city has the Leda Mello Resende Airport[16] , 3 km from downtown, with paved runway, measuring 1,150m in length by 20m in width, which allows for the landing and takeoff of small and medium-sized planes.

Through these routes is possible get directly to Campos Gerais, Nepomuceno, Carmo da Cachoeira and Paraguaçu (passing through Pontalete crossing the Furnas Dam by a ferry line) It's possible arrive to the Pontalete district by boat, because the district is watered by Furnas Dam.

There is in the city more than 30 million coffee trees planted in an area of 24 thousand hectares, being the largest national producer.

About 75% of coffee production is marketed by the Cooperativa dos Cafeicultores da Zona de Três Pontas.

Três Pontas has a Centre of Ophthalmology and a dental center, both with free care for low income families.

[27] Três Pontas has many schools with professional courses to serve young people wishing to enter the labor market.

In Três Pontas the preferred tourist destination is the Pontalete District,[29] because of the Furnas Dam.

The carmelite nun Tereza Margarida of the Heart of Mary founded a contemplative carmel in Três Pontas.

Sentinela FM - 99.9 MHz[34] Community Radio Liberdade FM - 87.9 MHz[35] Radio Três Pontas - AM 1540 kHz[36] Transamérica Hits - Fm 92.5 MHz Jornal Correio Trespontano (Trespontano Mail Newspaper)[37] Commemorated with shows and parties One of the biggest events of the coffee growing country, where millions of dollars are moved, and the event grows every year.