The Acre River (called Aquiry in the local Iñapari language; locally, ''Rio Acre'') is a long river in central South America.

Course

The river is born in

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = Seal (emblem), National seal , national_motto = "Fi ...

, and runs North-Eastwards, forming part of the border between Peru and

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

and then part of the border between

Bolivia , image_flag = Bandera de Bolivia (Estado).svg , flag_alt = Horizontal tricolor (red, yellow, and green from top to bottom) with the coat of arms of Bolivia in the center , flag_alt2 = 7 × 7 square p ...

and Brazil. It runs through the Brazilian states of

Acre The acre is a unit of land area used in the imperial Imperial is that which relates to an empire, emperor, or imperialism. Imperial or The Imperial may also refer to: Places United States * Imperial, California * Imperial, Missouri * Imp ...

and Amazonas, before eventually running into the

Purus River The Purus River (Portuguese: ''Rio Purus''; Spanish: ''Río Purús'') is a tributary of the Amazon River in South America. Its drainage basin is , and the mean annual discharge is . The river shares its name with the Alto Purús National Park and ...

Boca do Acre Boca do Acre (''Mouth of Acre'') is a municipality located in the Brazilian state The federative units of Brazil ( pt, unidades federativas do Brasil) are subnational entities with a certain degree of autonomy (self-government, self-regulation ...

. It runs along the Bolivian frontier and flows northeastward to a junction with the Purus at 8° 45' South latitude. The name is also applied to a district situated on the same river and on the former boundary line of 1867, between Bolivia and Brazil. This region's area is estimated at about . It is navigable from the mouth until the

Xapuri River Xapuri () is a municipality located in the southeast of the Brazilian state The federative units of Brazil ( pt, unidades federativas do Brasil) are subnational entities with a certain degree of autonomy (self-government, self-regulation and ...

(), even farther in the

wet season The wet season (sometimes called the Rainy season) is the time of year when most of a region's average annual rainfall occurs. It is the time of year where the majority of a country's or region's annual precipitation occurs. Generally, the sea ...

from January until May. The river was an important transportation artery at the end of the 19th century due to newly discovered

rubber Rubber, also called India rubber, latex, Amazonian rubber, ''caucho'', or ''caoutchouc'', as initially produced, consists of polymers of the organic compound isoprene, with minor impurities of other organic compounds. Thailand, Malaysia, and ...

tree forests. The

Rio Acre Ecological Station Rio Acre Ecological Station ( pt, Estação Ecológica do Rio Acre) is an ecological station in the state of Acre, Brazil. Location The Rio Acre Ecological Station, which covers , was created on 2 June 1981. It is administered by the Chico Mende ...

lies in the municipalities of

Assis Brasil Assis Brasil () is a Municipalities of Brazil, municipality located in the south of the States of Brazil, Brazilian state of Acre (state), Acre. Its population is 7,534 (2020 est) and its area is . The municipality contains part of the Rio Ac ...

and

Sena Madureira Sena Madureira () is a municipality located in the center of the Brazilian state of Acre. Its population is 46,511 and its area is , making it the largest municipality in the state. It has a climate which combines temperatures of with humidit ...

in the state of

, Brazil. It contains Amazon forest bounded to the north by an Indian reservation and to the south by the Acre River. It was created to preserve the headwaters of the Acre River.

History

The region was settled by Peruvians between 1870 and 1878, but was invaded by Brazilian rubber collectors during the next decade (during the '

rubber boom The Amazon rubber boom ( pt, Ciclo da borracha, ; es, Fiebre del caucho, , 1879 to 1912) was an important part of the economic and social history of Brazil and Amazonian regions of neighboring countries, being related to the extraction and comm ...

') and became tributary to the

markets of

Iquitos Iquitos (; ) is the capital city of Peru's Maynas Province and Loreto Region. It is the largest metropolis in the Peruvian Amazon, east of the Andes, as well as the ninth-most populous city of Peru. Iquitos is the largest city in the world th ...

Manaus Manaus () is the capital and largest city of the Brazilian state of Amazonas. It is the seventh-largest city in Brazil, with an estimated 2020 population of 2,219,580 distributed over a land area of about . Located at the east center of the s ...

and

Pará Pará is a Federative units of Brazil, state of Brazil, located in northern Brazil and traversed by the lower Amazon River. It borders the Brazilian states of Amapá, Maranhão, Tocantins (state), Tocantins, Mato Grosso, Amazonas (Brazilian state) ...

. In 1899, the Bolivian government established a custom-house at Puerto Alonso, on the Acre river, for the collection of export duties on rubber, which precipitated a conflict with the Brazilian settlers, and finally brought about a boundary dispute between the two republics. In July 1899 the "Acreanos" declared their independence and set up a republic of their own, but in the following March they were reduced to submission by Brazil. Various disorders followed until Brazil decided to occupy Puerto Alonso with a military force. The boundary dispute was finally settled at Petropolis on November 17, 1903, through the purchase by Brazil of the rubber-producing territory, south to about the ninth parallel.

References

{{authority control Rivers of Amazonas (Brazilian state) Rivers of Acre (state) Rivers of Peru Rivers of Madre de Dios Region Rivers of Pando Department Bolivia–Brazil border Brazil–Peru border International rivers of South America Tributaries of the Amazon River Border rivers