Amazonas (Brazilian state)

Amazonas is a state of Brazil, situated in the North Region at the country’s northwestern edge. It is the largest Brazilian state by area and the ninth-largest country subdivision globally, covering over 1.57 million square kilometers. This makes it the largest such subdivision in South America, exceeding the combined territories of Chile, Paraguay, and Uruguay. The state shares borders with Roraima, Pará, Mato Grosso, Rondônia, and Acre, as well as the nations of Peru, Colombia, and Venezuela. Its name derives from the Amazon River, which Francisco de Orellana named in 1541 after encountering indigenous women he likened to the Amazons of Greek myth. Originally part of the Spanish Empire’s Viceroyalty of Peru, the region was settled by Portuguese moving northwest from Brazil in the early 18th century and formally incorporated into the Portuguese Empire following the Treaty of Madrid in 1750. It became a state under the First Brazilian Republic in 1889. The territory is almost entirely tropical jungle, with settlements clustered along navigable waterways and accessible only by boat or plane. The capital, Manaus, is a modern city of 2.1 million inhabitants situated on the Amazon River, 1,500 kilometers upstream from the Atlantic. Nearly half the state’s population lives in Manaus; other major cities—Parintins, Manacapuru, Itacoatiara, Tefé, and Coari—are also along the Amazon in the eastern half. The Amazon rainforest itself formed about ten million years ago when the river changed course to flow eastward after the rise of the Andes. During Ice Ages, sea level drops drained a vast inland lake, and the forest retreated into isolated patches, allowing species to diverge and later rejoin, contributing to the region’s immense biodiversity. Pre-Columbian inhabitants were seminomadic peoples who combined agriculture with fishing and hunting. Thousands of tribes once lived here, but disease and assimilation reduced their numbers to around three hundred thousand by the late 20th century, with some uncontacted groups remaining.