Belo Horizonte, city, southern Minas Gerais estado (state), southeastern Brazil. It lies on the western slope of the Espinhaço Mountains, at an elevation of 2,720 feet (830 metres). The first of Brazil’s planned cities, Belo Horizonte occupies a wide plateau encircled by the Curral del Rey Mountains, a hilly ridge forming the “beautiful horizon” for which the city was named.