Manaus

Sister cities

• Mesa
• Santo Domingo
• Salt Lake City
• Charlotte
• Rio de Janeiro
• Belém
• Tarapoto
• Moyobamba
• Iquitos
• Hamamatsu
• Goiânia

History

The history of the European colonization of Manaus began in 1499 with the Spanish arrival at the mouth of the Amazon River. The Spanish then continued to colonize the region north of Brazil. Development continued in 1668–1669 with the building of the Fort of São José da Barra do Rio Negro by the Portuguese in order to ensure its predominance in the region, especially against the Dutch, at that time headquartered in what is today Suriname. The fort was constructed in rock and clay, with four cannons guarding the curtains. It continued to function for more than 100 years. Next to the fort there were many indigenous mestizos, who helped in its construction and began to live in the vicinity. A Royal Charter of March 3, 1755 created the captaincy of São José do Rio Negro, with capital in Mariuá (now Barcelos), but with the governor, Lobo D'Almada, fearing a Spanish invasion, the seat went back to Lugar de Barra in 1791. Being located at the confluence of the Rio Negro and Amazon Rivers, it was a strategic point. On November 13, 1832, Lugar da Barra was elevated to town status and named Manaus. On October 24, 1848, under Law 145 of the Provincial Assembly of Para, it was renamed the City of Barra do Rio Negro. On September 4, 1856, the governor, Herculano Ferreira Pena, finally gave it the name "Manaus". The Cabanagem was the revolt in which blacks, Native Americans, and mestizos fought against the white political elite and took power in 1835. The Cabanagem reduced the population of the then state of Grão-Pará from about 100,000 to 60,000. The involvement of rebels from the Upper Amazon (Manaus today) in what was originally a movement based in Belém was crucial for the birth of the current state of Amazonas. During the brief period of revolution, the Cabanos of the Upper…

Geography

The largest city in northern Brazil, Manaus occupies an area of , with a density of . It is the neighboring city of Presidente Figueiredo, Careiro, Iranduba, Rio Preto da Eva, Itacoatiara, and Novo Airão. Manaus is located in the middle of the Amazon Rainforest. The Amazon represents over half of the planet's remaining rainforests and comprises the largest and most species-rich tract of tropical rainforest in the world. Wet tropical forests are the most species-rich biome, and tropical forests in the Americas are consistently more species-rich than the wet forests in Africa and Asia. As the largest tract of tropical rainforest in the Americas, the Amazonian rainforests have unparalleled biodiversity. More than one-third of all species in the world live in the Amazon rainforest. Despite being located in the Amazon, Manaus is densely developed and has few green areas in the city. The largest green areas are: * Mindu Park, located in the center-south of the city, the district Park 10. The Park of Mindú, established in 1989, is one of the largest and most visited parks in the city. * Bilhares Park, established in 2005, located in the south-central region of Manaus, in the neighborhood of ("plateau"). * Area of the green hill of Aleixo, created in the 1980s, located in the east of the city and is one of the largest urban green areas. * Sumaúma State Park, a state park located in the north of Manaus, in the New Town district. It is the smallest state park of the Brazilian Amazon Basin. * Castanheiras Pied Tamarin Wildlife Refuge, a refuge created in 1982 to protect a population of endangered pied tamarins. * Adolfo Ducke Forest Reserve, a biological reserve established in 1963, and covers an area of 100 square kilometres (10,000 hectares, 39 square miles). The Reserve…