Amapá (; ) is one of the 26

states State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

. It is in the North Region of Brazil. It is the second-least populous state and the eighteenth-largest state by area. Located in the far northern part of the country, Amapá is bordered clockwise by

French Guiana French Guiana, or Guyane in French, is an Overseas departments and regions of France, overseas department and region of France located on the northern coast of South America in the Guianas and the West Indies. Bordered by Suriname to the west ...

to the north for 730 km, the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the ...

to the east for 578 km,

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 st ...

to the south and west, and

Suriname Suriname, officially the Republic of Suriname, is a country in northern South America, also considered as part of the Caribbean and the West Indies. It is a developing country with a Human Development Index, high level of human development; i ...

to the northwest for 63 km. The capital and largest city is

Macapá Macapá () is a city in Brazil with a population of 512,902 (2020 estimate), and is the capital of Amapá state in the country's North Region, Brazil, North Region, located on the northern channel of the Amazon Delta near its mouth on the Atlant ...

. The state has 0.4% of the Brazilian population and is responsible for only 0.22% of the Brazilian

GDP Gross domestic product (GDP) is a monetary measure of the total market value of all the final goods and services produced and rendered in a specific time period by a country or countries. GDP is often used to measure the economic performance o ...

. In the colonial period the region was called Portuguese Guiana and was part of

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

State of Brazil The State of Brazil () was one of the states of the Portuguese Empire, in the Americas during the period of Colonial Brazil. History In 1621, the Governorate General of Brazil was split into two states, the State of Brazil and the State ...

. Later, the region was distinguished from the other

Guianas The Guianas, also spelled Guyanas or Guayanas, are a geographical region in north-eastern South America. Strictly, the term refers to the three Guianas: Guyana, Suriname, and French Guiana, formerly British Guiana, British, Surinam (Dutch colo ...

. Amapá was once part of Pará, but became a separate territory in 1943, and the decision to make it a state was made in 1988. The first state legislators took office on 1 January 1991. The dominant feature of the region, and 90 percent of its total area, is the

Amazon rainforest The Amazon rainforest, also called the Amazon jungle or Amazonia, is a Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests, moist broadleaf tropical rainforest in the Amazon biome that covers most of the Amazon basin of South America. This basin ...

. Unexplored forests occupy 70 percent of Amapá, and Tumucumaque Mountains National Park, established in 2002, is the largest tropical forest park in the world. The mouth of the River Oiapoque is the northern end of Brazil's coastline.

History

During the colonial era from 1637 to 1654 the Amapá region was merged into the Captaincy of Pará, which was the Captaincy of Cabo de Norte. In the early colonial period the Amapá region was a rich source of

lumber Lumber is wood that has been processed into uniform and useful sizes (dimensional lumber), including beams and planks or boards. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as finishing (floors, wall panels, window frames). ...

resin A resin is a solid or highly viscous liquid that can be converted into a polymer. Resins may be biological or synthetic in origin, but are typically harvested from plants. Resins are mixtures of organic compounds, predominantly terpenes. Commo ...

annatto Annatto ( or ) is an orange-red condiment and food coloring derived from the seeds of the achiote tree (''Bixa orellana''), native to tropics, tropical parts of the Americas. It is often used to impart a yellow to red-orange color to foods, but ...

, vegetable oils, and salted fish, all of which were exported to Europe. The French established

sugarcane Sugarcane or sugar cane is a species of tall, Perennial plant, perennial grass (in the genus ''Saccharum'', tribe Andropogoneae) that is used for sugar Sugar industry, production. The plants are 2–6 m (6–20 ft) tall with stout, jointed, fib ...

plantations in this period. With the discovery of mineral deposits the Amapá region was invaded by the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

and Dutch, who were ultimately repelled by the Portuguese. The

Treaty of Utrecht The Peace of Utrecht was a series of peace treaty, peace treaties signed by the belligerents in the War of the Spanish Succession, in the Dutch city of Utrecht between April 1713 and February 1715. The war involved three contenders for the vac ...

in 1713 established the boundaries between the

colony of Brazil Colonial Brazil (), sometimes referred to as Portuguese America, comprises the period from 1500, with the arrival of the Portuguese, until 1815, when Brazil was elevated to a kingdom in union with Portugal. During the 300 years of Brazilian col ...

and

, but these were not respected by the French. A fort was constructed at São José de Macapá, in present-day Macapá, as a base of Portuguese power in the region. In the 18th century, France retook control of the area. This international dispute continued until 1900. The discovery of

gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

and the increasing value of

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. Types of polyisoprene ...

on the international market during the 19th century increased the Portuguese population of Amapá, bringing the dispute with France to a head. Although French settlers had established the

Republic of Independent Guyana The Republic of Independent Guiana (), commonly referred to by the name of the capital Counani (rendered "Cunani" in Portuguese), was a short-lived List of states with limited recognition, unrecognized state in South America. Republic (1886–18 ...

(1886–1891), Brazil challenged the Amapá claim through international arbitration in Geneva on 1 December 1900, which was found in favour of Brazil. It was subsequently incorporated into the state of

, as ''Araguari'' after the Araguari River and in 1943 this became the federal

territory A territory is an area of land, sea, or space, belonging or connected to a particular country, person, or animal. In international politics, a territory is usually a geographic area which has not been granted the powers of self-government, ...

of Amapá. The discovery of rich

manganese Manganese is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Mn and atomic number 25. It is a hard, brittle, silvery metal, often found in minerals in combination with iron. Manganese was first isolated in the 1770s. It is a transition m ...

deposits in Serra do Navio in 1945 revolutionized the local economy. Manganese remains the largest source of revenue in the state. Amapá's move to statehood was made on 5 October 1988, at the time of the promulgation of the new Brazilian Constitution, with the first state legislators taking office at the start of 1991.

Geography

File:Floresta Nacional do Amapá César Favacho (25).jpg,

Amapá National Forest The Amapá National Forest () is a national forest in the state of Amapá, Brazil. It supports sustainable exploitation of the natural resources in an area of Amazon rainforest in the Guiana Shield. Location The Amapá National Forest is divide ...

File:Monte Karupina, Terra Indígena Uaçá.jpg, Karupina mountain in the Uaçá Indigenous Territory, Amapá, Brazil. The State of Amapá possesses the lowest rate of loss of its original vegetation for any Brazilian state, estimated at only 2%. Most of the Amapá territory is covered with

rainforest Rainforests are forests characterized by a closed and continuous tree Canopy (biology), canopy, moisture-dependent vegetation, the presence of epiphytes and lianas and the absence of wildfire. Rainforests can be generally classified as tropi ...

, while the remaining areas are covered with

savannah A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland-grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) biome and ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach th ...

and

plain In geography, a plain, commonly known as flatland, is a flat expanse of land that generally does not change much in elevation, and is primarily treeless. Plains occur as lowlands along valleys or at the base of mountains, as coastal plains, and ...

s. On the Amapá coast, almost intact beaches mix with swamps, creating the largest representation of this biome in Brazil. This mixture of salt and fresh water is perfect for the food chain reproduction of several animal species. Pollution, however, is now a chronic problem in the state of Amapá. Mercury, which is used in the extraction of gold, is widely found in water sources and sewage systems in the population centers of Amapá.

Nature

To protect the natural resources of the state, there are, as of 2016, 12

protected area Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural or cultural values. Protected areas are those areas in which human presence or the exploitation of natural resources (e.g. firewood ...

s and five indigenous territories covering , or 72% of the state. The Amapá Biodiversity Corridor has been established in 2003 to provide integrated management for the conservation area. The most important protected areas are the Tumucumaque Mountains National Park located in the west of the state, and the Cabo Orange National Park located near the coast. The Tumucumaque Mountains National Park is the world's largest tropical forest

national park A national park is a nature park designated for conservation (ethic), conservation purposes because of unparalleled national natural, historic, or cultural significance. It is an area of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that is protecte ...

. The Cabo Orange National Park contains flooded grasslands and

mangrove forest Mangrove forests, also called mangrove swamps, mangrove thickets or mangals, are productive wetlands that occur in coastal intertidal zones. Mangrove forests grow mainly at tropical and subtropical latitudes because mangrove trees cannot withsta ...

s which are important fish nurseries.

Climate

Most of Amapá has a

Tropical monsoon climate An area of tropical monsoon climate (occasionally known as a sub-equatorial, tropical wet climate or a tropical monsoon and trade-wind littoral climate) is a tropical climate subtype that corresponds to the Köppen climate classification category ' ...

, a

tropical climate Tropical climate is the first of the five major climate groups in the Köppen climate classification identified with the letter A. Tropical climates are defined by a monthly average temperature of or higher in the coolest month, featuring hot te ...

with a short

dry season The dry season is a yearly period of low rainfall, especially in the tropics. The weather in the tropics is dominated by the tropical rain belt, which moves from the northern to the southern tropics and back over the course of the year. The t ...

and heavy rainfall for the majority of the year. In the

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

, it is classified under the letters ''Am''.

Tropical rainforest Tropical rainforests are dense and warm rainforests with high rainfall typically found between 10° north and south of the Equator. They are a subset of the tropical forest biome that occurs roughly within the 28° latitudes (in the torrid zo ...

is the natural vegetation, and also provides the other climate type located in the state.

Demographics

According to the 2022 census, there were 733,759 people residing in the state, with a population density of 5.1/km². The population of Amapá is highly urbanized, with 93.7% of the population residing primarily in Macapá and

Santana Santana may refer to: Transportation * Volkswagen Santana, an automobile * Santana Cycles, manufacturer of tandem bicycles * Santana Motors, a former Spanish automobile manufacturer * Sailboat designs by W. D. Schock Corp ** Santana 20 ** Santan ...

Population growth Population growth is the increase in the number of people in a population or dispersed group. The World population, global population has grown from 1 billion in 1800 to 8.2 billion in 2025. Actual global human population growth amounts to aroun ...

: 5.7% (1991–2000);

House A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air c ...

s: 144,000 (2006). During the 2022 census, 65.3% identified as

Pardo In the former Portuguese and Spanish colonies in the Americas, ''pardos'' (feminine ''pardas'') are triracial descendants of Europeans, Indigenous Americans and Africans. History In some places they were defined as neither exclusively ...

(multiracial), 21.4% as

White Brazilians White Brazilians ( ) refers to Brazilian citizens who are considered or self-identify as "white", typically because of Ethnic groups in Europe, European or Levant, Levantine Asian ancestry. The main ancestry of current white Brazilians is Portu ...

, 11.8% as Black Brazilians and 1.4% as Indigenous. The remaining 0.1% are

Asians "Asian people" (sometimes "Asiatic people")United States National Library of Medicine. Medical Subject Headings. 2004. November 17, 200Nlm.nih.gov: ''Asian Continental Ancestry Group'' is also used for categorical purposes. is an umbrella term ...

and undeclared. The majority of the residents of Amapá live in poverty. According to the

Fundação Getulio Vargas Fundação Getulio Vargas (''Getulio Vargas Foundation'', often abbreviated as FGV) is a Brazilian higher education institution and think tank founded on December 20, 1944. FGV is considered by the Think Tanks and Civil Societies Program of the ...

(FGV) 36.56% of the population live on only R$79 per month, which the foundation considers below a decent standard of living.

Religion

According to data obtained by the IBGE in the 2010 Brazilian Census, 64% of Amapá residents were Roman Catholics, 28% were Evangelicals (Protestants) and 6% did not profess any religion. The other faiths added together formed 2% of the population. The Catholic Church comprises the Diocese of Macapá (1949) a suffragan diocese of the Archdiocese of Belém de Pará, under Bishop Pedro José Conti (2004) with 27 parishes.

Municipalities

It is divided into 16 municipalities.

Indigenous population

The

Amerindians In the Americas, Indigenous peoples comprise the two continents' pre-Columbian inhabitants, as well as the ethnic groups that identify with them in the 15th century, as well as the ethnic groups that identify with the pre-Columbian population of ...

tribes in Amapá are located in the north near the

Oiapoque River The Oyapock or Oiapoque ( ; ; ) is a long river in South America that forms most of the border between the French overseas department of French Guiana and the Brazilian state of Amapá. Course The Oyapock runs through the Guianan moist for ...

, and in the east in the Wayampi Indigenous Territory. All the indigenous territories in Amapá have been demarcated. The tribes living in Amapá are the

Galibi do Oiapoque The Kalina, also known as the Caribs or mainland Caribs and by several other names, are an Indigenous people native to the northern coastal areas of South America. Today, the Kalina live largely in villages on the rivers and coasts of Venezuela ...

, the

Karipuna do Amapá The Karipuna do Amapá (also: Karipúna) are an indigenous people located in the riverine areas of the Brazilian state of Amapá, particularly around the Caripi River. In 2014, the population was estimated at 2,922 people. History The Amerindia ...

, the

Palikur The Palikur are an Indigenous people located in the riverine areas of the Brazilian state of Amapá and in French Guiana, particularly in the south-eastern border region, on the north bank of the Oyapock River. The Palikur Nation, or ''naoné'', ...

, the

Wayampi Wayampi or Wayãpi are an Indigenous people located in the south-eastern border area of French Guiana at the confluence of the rivers Camopi and Oyapock, and the basins of the Amapari and Carapanatuba Rivers in the central part of the states ...

and the

Galibi Marwono The Kalina, also known as the Caribs or mainland Caribs and by several other names, are an Indigenous people native to the northern coastal areas of South America. Today, the Kalina live largely in villages on the rivers and coasts of Venezuela ...

. The region around the Amazon River used to support a large population of Amerindians during the

pre-Columbian In the history of the Americas, the pre-Columbian era, also known as the pre-contact era, or as the pre-Cabraline era specifically in Brazil, spans from the initial peopling of the Americas in the Upper Paleolithic to the onset of European col ...

era. The policy of the Portuguese monarchy was to engage in war in order to clear them from the land. The Cabanagem Revolt in the 1830s, resulted in the final dispersal of the Amerindians along the Amazon.

Education

Portuguese is the official national language, and thus the primary language taught in schools. French is the second language taught in every school due to the proximity of

. A Creole language called Lanc-Patuá is spoken among some of the people.

Educational institutions

* Universidade Federal do Amapá (Unifap) (Federal University of Amapá) * Universidade Estadual do Amapá (UEAP) (Amapá State University) * Instituto Federal de Educação, Ciência e Tecnologia do Amapá (IFAP) (Amapá Federal Institute of Education, Science and Technology) * Centro de Ensino Superior do Amapá (Ceap) * Instituto de Ensino Superior do Amapá (Iesap) * Instituto Macapaense de Ensino Superior (IMMES) * Faculdade Seama (Seama College)

Economy

The

service sector The tertiary sector of the economy, generally known as the service sector, is the third of the three economic sectors in the three-sector model (also known as the economic cycle). The others are the primary sector (raw materials) and the ...

is the largest component of

at 87.6%, followed by the

industrial sector In macroeconomics, the secondary sector of the economy is an economic sector in the three-sector theory that describes the role of manufacturing. It encompasses industries that produce a finished, usable product or are involved in construc ...

at 7.8%.

Agriculture Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created ...

represents 4.6% of

(2004). Amapá exports:

wood Wood is a structural tissue/material found as xylem in the stems and roots of trees and other woody plants. It is an organic materiala natural composite of cellulosic fibers that are strong in tension and embedded in a matrix of lignin t ...

75.5%,

ore Ore is natural rock or sediment that contains one or more valuable minerals, typically including metals, concentrated above background levels, and that is economically viable to mine and process. The grade of ore refers to the concentration ...

s 18.7%,

heart of palm Heart of palm is a vegetable harvested from the inner core and growing bud of certain Palm tree, palm trees, most notably the coconut (''Cocos nucifera''), juçara (''Euterpe edulis''), açaí palm (''Euterpe oleracea''), sabal, palmetto (''Sabal ...

5.5% (2002). The state, which has 0.4% of the Brazilian population, is responsible for only 0.22% of the Brazilian

Transport

International Airport

The main airport of the state is Macapá International Airport. On 12 April 2019 a new terminal was opened replacing an older facility. Following its closure, the old terminal was demolished to make room for an enlarged apron which was completed by 2020.

Highways

There are two federal highways in Amapá:

BR-156 BR-156 is a federal highway of Brazil. The road consists of 552 km between Oiapoque and Macapá, and 271 km between Macapá and Laranjal do Jari (except via Santana city), totalling 823 km of road through forest and savannah. Only the road be ...

connects Laranjal do Jari,

and

Oiapoque Oiapoque () is a municipality in the north of the state of Amapá, Brazil. Its population is 27,906 and its area is . Oiapoque is also a major river in the same state, forming the international border with French Guiana. The Oyapock River Bridge, ...

. The highway is connected to the road network of

via the

Oyapock River Bridge The Franco-Brazilian Binational Bridge spans the Oyapock River, linking the cities of Oiapoque in Amapá, Brazil and Saint-Georges-de-l'Oyapock in French Guiana, France. The bridge is cable-stayed bridge, cable-stayed, with two towers rising to a ...

BR-210 BR-210 is a federal highway of Brazil. The 411.7 kilometre road, popularly known as ' ("north perimeter"), is primarily located in the North Region, Brazil, Northern Brazilian state of Roraima, with other segments in Amazonas (Brazilian state), A ...

connects Macapá with Serra do Navio. It is supposed to be extended all the way to the border with

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

in Amazonas; however, as of 2021, it ends in the Wayampi Indigenous Territory. An important state road is the AP-010 which connects Macapá with

and

Mazagão Velho Mazagão Velho is a district and town in the Brazilian municipality of Mazagão, in the state of Amapá. The town was founded in 1773 by refugees from the former colony of El Jadida, Mazagão in Morocco. Mazagão Velho is known for the Festival of ...

. There are no road connections to other Brazilian states. In Laranjal do Jari there is a ferry to Monte Dourado in

. In Port Santana, there is a ferry to

Belém Belém (; Portuguese for Bethlehem; initially called Nossa Senhora de Belém do Grão-Pará, in English Our Lady of Bethlehem of Great Pará), often called Belém of Pará, is the capital and largest city of the state of Pará in the north of B ...

, Pará.

Ports and harbours

There is a small port in Macapá; however, it is not suitable for cargo traffic. The main harbour is the Port of Santana which is also used for international cargo.

Flag

The flag was adopted by Decree No. 8 of 23 April 1984. The blue represents the sky over Amapá and justice, the green represents the native rainforest, and the yellow represents the Union and its natural resources. The black stands for the deceased who worked for the state, and the white for the will of the state to live in peace and stability. The symbol on the hoist-side represents the Fortress of São José, out of which the state capital grew. Before 1984, the state had a red-white-red flag, based on the flag of

, and similar to the

flag of Peru The Flag of Peru (), often referred to as The Bicolour (), was adopted by the government of Peru in 1825, and modified in 1950. According to the article 49 of the Constitution of Peru, it is a vertical triband with red outer bands and a singl ...

References

External links

Official Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Amapá Federative units of Brazil * 1988 establishments in Brazil States and territories established in 1988 The Guianas

History

Geography

Nature

Climate

Demographics

Religion

Municipalities

Indigenous population

Education

Educational institutions

Economy

Transport

International Airport

Highways

Ports and harbours

Flag

See also

References

External links