North Region, Brazil

North Region Região Norte
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	88.7% (4th)
Time zones	UTC−03:00 (BRT)
	UTC−04:00 (AMT)
	UTC−05:00 (ACT)

The North Region of Brazil (

.

Its demographic density is the lowest in Brazil considering all the regions of the country, with only 3.8 inhabitants per km². Most of the population is centered in urban areas.

connect the North Region with many Brazilian cities and also operate some international flights.

The North is home to the Federal University of Amazonas and the Federal University of Pará, among others.

History

The first inhabitants of the North Region, as in the rest of Brazil, were the Native Brazilians, who shared a diverse number of tribes and villages, from the pre-Columbian period until the arrival of the European people.^[2]

The Spaniards, among them Francisco de Orellana, organized exploratory expeditions by the Amazon River to know the region. After long journeys alongside Francisco de Orellana, Gonzalo Fernández de Oviedo y Valdés wrote a letter addressed to Cardinal Pedro Bembo in Venice, extolling the fauna and flora existing in the region at the time of the expedition.^[2]

The 17th century marked the arrival of the

Some of the Region's oldest towns: Bragança, Xapuri, Tefé, Natividade and Amapá.^[3] In order to work on rubber extraction, Brazilians from other states, mainly from the Northeast Region, moved to the region. Also many Japanese 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 the

.

Settlement

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 of

identity, the mixing of whites, blacks and indigenous people, the reduction of species of plants and animals and other consequences.

After

in 1967 began to contribute to the settlement of region and in the execution of projects focused on the region.

Geography

The

. 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.^[5] As the largest tract of tropical rainforest in the Americas, the Amazonian rainforests have unparalleled biodiversity. More than 1/3 of all species in the world live in the Amazon Rainforest.^[6] The region is home to about 2.5 million

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 of

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 an

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.

Political Subdivisions

City	Population (2016)
Manaus	2,094,391
Belém	1,446,042
Porto Velho	511,219
Ananindeua	510,834
Macapá	465,495
Rio Branco	377,057
Boa Vista	326,419
Palmas	279,856

Culture

With its own folklore, the main attractions are the Parintins Folklore Festival, Círio de Nazaré in Belém, Rio Branco and Macapá; Sairé Festival, in Santarém, ExpoAcre (the largest in the North region)^{[10][11][12][13]} 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: The Amazon Theatre, located in Manaus, Palácio Rio Branco, in Rio Branco, Palácio Senador Hélio Campos, in Boa Vista, Teatro das Bacabeiras, in Macapá and the Peace Theatre, located in Belém. The gastronomic culture of the northern region of Brazil is quite rich, has Indigenous, 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 in tucupi sauce, maniçoba, tacacá and a menu of a wide variety of species of Amazonian fish, such as pirarucu, tambaqui, jaú, piramutaba, among other species; a huge menu of fruits, such as the local açaí, 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 on cassava such as water flour, uarini flour, tapioca flour, tapioca gum, tucupi, among others.

Ethnic groups

The population of northern Brazil is largely made up of Caboclos, descendants of Native Brazilians and Europeans - mostly Portuguese, French and Spanish.

North of Brazil has received and continues to receive large migration of people from

.

Race (2022)[14]
Multiracial	67.2%
White	20.7%
Black	8.8%
Amerindian	3.1%
Asian	0.2%

Economy

The economy of the North Region is essentially based on the vegetal plantation and extraction, such as

are also important to the local economy.

Infrastructure

Vehicles

: 1,746,501 (March/2007); Telephones: 1,805,000 (April/2007); : 449 (2007).

curriculum.

Educational Institutions

• Federal University of Pará (UFPA)
• Federal University of Western Pará (UFOPA)
• Federal University of Southern and Southeastern Pará (UNIFESSPA)
• Pará State University (UEPA)
• Federal University of Acre (UFAC)
• Federal University of Amazonas (UFAM)
• Amazonas State University (UEA)
• University of Amazon (UNAMA)
• Federal University of Rondônia (UNIR)
• Federal University of Tocantins (UFT)
• Federal University of Amapá (UNIFAP)
• Federal University of Roraima (UFRR)

Transportation

There are only a few highways in the North region. The most important ones are the

.

Most of the transportation in the region is done by boat or airplane. There are two major airports in the region:

.

The Rio Branco International Bus Station offers services to destinations in Peru and Bolivia, the Boa Vista International Bus Station to Venezuela and Guyana.

See also

• Açaí
• Free Economic Zone of Manaus
• Port of Santarém
• Guaraná
• Brazil Nut
• Central Market of Macapá

References