North Region Região Norte | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Coordinates:3°7′45″S60°1′17″W / 3.12917°S 60.02139°W /-3.12917; -60.02139 | |
| Country |  Brazil |
| Largest cities | Manaus Belém |
| States | Acre,Amapá,Amazonas,Pará,Rondônia,Roraima, andTocantins |
| Area | |
• Region | 3,853,676.9 km2 (1,487,913.0 sq mi) |
| • Rank | 1st |
| Population | |
• Region | 17,354,884 |
| • Rank | 4th |
| • Density | 4.5/km2 (12/sq mi) |
| • Rank | 5th |
| • Urban | 75.6% |
| GDP | |
| • Total | R$ 564.064 billion (US$ 104.634 billion) |
| HDI | |
| • Year | 2014 |
| • Category | 0.730 –high (4th) |
| • Life expectancy | 71 years (4th) |
| • Infant mortality | 25.8 per 1,000 (2nd) |
| • Literacy | 91.8% (4th) |
| Time zones | UTC−03:00 (BRT) |
| UTC−04:00 (AMT) | |
| UTC−05:00 (ACT) | |
TheNorth Region of Brazil (Portuguese:Região Norte do Brasil[ʁeʒiˈɐ̃wˈnɔʁtʃidubɾaˈziw]) is the largestregion ofBrazil, accounting for 45.27% of the national territory. It has the second-lowest population of any region in the country, and accounts for a minor percentage of the nationalGDP. The region is slightly larger thanIndia and slightly smaller than the wholeEuropean Union. It comprises thestates ofAcre,Amapá,Amazonas,Pará,Rondônia,Roraima, andTocantins.
It has the lowest population density out of all the regions of Brazil, with only 4.5 inhabitants per km2. Most of the population is centered in urban areas.[2]
Belém International Airport andManaus International Airport connect the North Region with many Brazilian cities and also operate some international flights. The region is home to theFederal University of Amazonas and theFederal University of Pará, among others.
The first inhabitants of the North Region, as in the rest of Brazil, were theNative Brazilians, who shared a diverse number of tribes and villages, from thepre-Columbian period until the arrival of the European people.[3]
The Spaniards, among themFrancisco de Orellana, organized exploratory expeditions by theAmazon River to know the region. After long journeys alongsideFrancisco de Orellana,Gonzalo Fernández de Oviedo y Valdés wrote a letter addressed to Cardinal Pedro Bembo inVenice, extolling the fauna and flora existing in the region at the time of the expedition.[3]
The 17th century marked the arrival of thePortuguese people, where they built military strongholds to defend the region against the invasion of other peoples, in 1616, causing in the foundation ofBelém do Pará. The richness of the Amazon Rainforest has also become interesting for thePortuguese Crown.[3] With the Portuguese explorers, the Catholic missionaries came to the region, in order to catechize the natives. The natives were assembled by missionaries in villages, called missions, many of which gave birth to several cities, such asBorba andÓbidos.[3]
Some of the Region's oldest towns:Bragança,Xapuri,Tefé,Natividade andAmapá.[4] In order to work on rubber extraction, Brazilians from other states, mainly from theNortheast Region, moved to the region. Also manyJapanese families came to work in the agricultural colonies.
During the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, military governments implemented a major plan to integrate the region with other regions of Brazil, including the construction of several highways (such as theBR-010), the installation of industries and the creation of theFree Economic Zone of Manaus.
The territorial division into countries does not necessarily coincide with the indigenous occupation of the geographical space; in many cases, there are people living on both sides of international borders, which were created long after they were already in the region.
From the beginning of the colonization from the 17th century to the present day, the inhabitants ofAmazônia dedicated themselves to extractive and mercantilist activities, inserting between 1840 and 1910 the monopoly ofrubber, mainly inAmazonas andAcre. All this process of colonization has brought about changes such as the reduction of the indigenous population, the increase of theCaboclo identity, the mixing of whites, blacks and indigenous people, the reduction of species of plants and animals and other consequences.
AfterWorld War II, theBrazilian Amazon became part of the national development process. The creation of theNational Institute of Amazonian Research (INPA) in 1952, the establishment of regional development agencies such as theSuperintendency of Development for the Amazon (SUDAM) in 1966 and theFree Economic Zone of Manaus in 1967 began to contribute to the settlement of region and in the execution of projects focused on the region.
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TheAmazon represents over half of the planet's remainingrainforests and comprises the largest and most species-rich tract oftropical rainforest in theworld.Wet tropical forests are the most species-richbiome, and tropical forests in theAmericas are consistently more species rich than the wet forests inAfrica andAsia.[6] As the largest tract of tropical rainforest in the Americas, the Amazonian rainforests have unparalleledbiodiversity. More than 1/3 of all species in the world live in the Amazon Rainforest.[7]The region is home to about 2.5 millioninsect species, tens of thousands ofplants, and some 2000birds andmammals species. To date, at least 40,000 plantspecies, 3,000 fish, 1,294 birds, 427 mammals, 428 amphibians, and 378 reptiles have been scientifically classified in the region.[8] Scientists have described between 96,660 and 128,843 invertebrate species in Brazil alone.[9]
The diversity of plant species is the highest on earth with some experts estimating that one square kilometre may contain over 75,000 types of trees and 150,000 species ofhigher plants. One square kilometre of Amazon rainforest can contain about 90,790 tonnes of living plants.[10] This constitutes the largest collection of living plants and animal species in the world. One in five of all the birds in the world live in the rainforests of the Amazon. To date, an estimated 438,000 species of plants of economic and social interest have been registered in the region with many more remaining to be discovered or catalogue
Some latitudes can create a region with hot and humid climates. The existence of heat and the enormous liquid mass favor evaporation and make the region a very humid area.
Dominated by anequatorial climate, the region presents high temperatures throughout the year (averages from 24 °C to 26 °C), a low thermal amplitude, with the exception of some areas of the states ofAmazonas, Rondônia andAcre, where the phenomenon of "friagem" occurs, due toLa Niña's activity, allowing cold air masses coming from theSouth Atlantic Ocean to penetrate the states of theSouth Region of the country, pass through theCentral-West region and reach the Amazonian states, causing rapidly falling temperature.
The Amazonian heat provides an area of low latitude that attracts masses of polar air. Occurring in winter, the effect of "friagem" lasts a week or so.
| City | Population (2022) |
|---|---|
| Manaus | 2,063,689 |
| Belém | 1,303,403 |
| Ananindeua | 478,778 |
| Porto Velho | 460,434 |
| Macapá | 442,933 |
| Boa Vista | 413,486 |
| Rio Branco | 364,756 |
| Santarém | 331,937 |
| Palmas | 302,692 |
With its own folklore, the main attractions are theParintins Folklore Festival,Círio de Nazaré inBelém,Rio Branco andMacapá;Sairé Festival, inSantarém,ExpoAcre (the largest in the North region)[11][12][13][14] and typical dances, Marujada,Carimbó,Brazilian Calypso,Tecno brega and Cirandas such as Samba lelê and others.
In the region, there are some of the most beautiful theaters and palaces in Brazil: TheAmazon Theatre, located inManaus,Palácio Rio Branco, in Rio Branco,Palácio Senador Hélio Campos, in Boa Vista,Teatro das Bacabeiras, in Macapá and thePeace Theatre, located inBelém.The gastronomic culture of the northern region of Brazil is quite rich, hasIndigenous, African and Portuguese roots, in addition to other influences from both within Brazil and other cultures outside the country, the strong Amazonian indigenous influence in its main dishes is remarkable, among the main highlights are delicacies such as duck intucupi sauce, maniçoba,tacacá and a menu of a wide variety of species ofAmazonian fish, such as pirarucu,tambaqui, jaú, piramutaba, among other species; a huge menu of fruits, such as the localaçaí, pupunha, tucumã,cupuaçu, buriti, abiu, urucu,Malay apple, cumaru,guaraná, and ingá, among other fruits. The whole region has a rich variety of ingredients, but also foods based oncassava such as water flour, uarini flour, tapioca flour,tapioca gum, tucupi, among others.
The population of northern Brazil is largely made up ofCaboclos, descendants ofNative Brazilians andEuropeans - mostly Portuguese, French and Spanish.
North of Brazil has received and continues to receive large migration of people fromSouth andSoutheast regions of the country. In the 20th century, also received great migration from theNortheast, who were working in therubber plantations ofAmazonas andAcre.
| Skin color/Race (2022)[2] | |
|---|---|
| Multiracial | 67.2% |
| White | 20.7% |
| Black | 8.8% |
| Amerindian | 3.1% |
| Asian | 0.2% |
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The economy of the North Region is essentially based on the vegetal plantation and extraction, such aslatex,açaí,woods andBrazil nuts; and mineral extraction ofgold, precious stones,cassiterite andtin (metal); as well as mining exploitation, mainlyiron, at Carajás Mountain Range (in the State ofPará) and manganese, at Navio Mountain Range (in the State ofAmapá). Small-scaleBuffalo creation and theFree Economic Zone of Manaus are also important to the local economy.
Vehicles: 1,746,501 (March/2007);Telephones: 1,805,000 (April/2007);Cities: 449 (2007).
Portuguese language is the official national language, and thus the primary language taught in schools. However,English andSpanish are also part of the officialhigh school curriculum.
There are only a few highways in the North region. The most important ones are theBR-364, theInteroceanic Highway, running throughAcre intoPeru, theBR-010 connecting Belém to Southern Brazil, andBR-174 connecting Manaus toVenezuela.
Most of the transportation in the region is done by boat or airplane. There are two major airports in the region:Belém International Airport, servingBelém, andEduardo Gomes International Airport, servingManaus.
TheRio Branco International Bus Station offers services to destinations in Peru and Bolivia, theBoa Vista International Bus Station to Venezuela and Guyana.
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