Map of Pará

History

In 1500, the Spanish navigator Vicente Yáñez Pinzón was the first European to navigate the mouth of the Amazon River. On 26 August 1542, the Spaniard Francisco de Orellana reached the mouth of the Amazon River waterway, by river from Quito, Ecuador. On 28 October 1637, the Portuguese Pedro Teixeira left Belém and went to Quito: during the expedition, he placed a landmark in the confluence of the Napo and Aguarico, in the current border between Ecuador and Peru, to Portugal, and later to Brazil, getting the possession of most of the Amazon, including all of the current territory of Pará.

Archaeologists divide the ancient inhabitants of prehistory Brazil into groups according to their way of life and tools: hunter-gatherers of the coast and farmers.

Geography

All of Pará has a tropical climate, with most areas having a tropical monsoon climate (Köppen Am) with a drier season from July to November. The driest months are usually September and October with around 30 millimetres or 1.2 inches, whilst February to April are the wettest with between 350 and 450 millimetres (14 and 18 inches). In the extreme south and east this grades into a tropical savanna climate (Aw) with less rainfall and a more pronounced dry season in the middle of the year, whilst parts of the north have a tropical rainforest climate (Köppen Af) with over 60 millimetres or 2.4 inches in all months and an annual total of around 2,500 millimetres or 100 inches.

Temperatures throughout Pará are uniformly hot with high relative humidity.

Economy

The service sector is the largest component of GDP at 40.9%, followed by the industrial sector at 36.3%. Agriculture represents 22.8% of GDP (2004). Pará exports iron ore 31.1%, aluminium 22.2%, wood 13.5%, ores of aluminium 8.3%, others ores 7.9% (2002), representing 1.8% of the Brazilian economy (2005).

The mining sector represents 14% of the gross domestic product (GDP) of the state, originated mainly from the extraction of iron, bauxite, manganese, limestone and tin, as well as gold, until recently extracted from one of the largest mines of recent history: Serra Pelada. The economy of Pará is based also on the extraction of vegetation, on agriculture and cattle raising. Thanks to the rich soil and the important hydrographic basin – boats are the main means of transport in the region.

Demographics

According to the IBGE of 2022, there were 8,120,131 people residing in the state. The population density was 6.52 inhabitants per square kilometre (16.9/sq mi). Urbanization: 75.2% (2006); Population growth: 2.5% (1991–2000); Houses: 1,754,000 (2006).