Barcelos, (also Barcellos), formerly Mariuá, is a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

located in the State of Amazonas,

northern Brazil The North Region of Brazil ( pt, Região Norte do Brasil; ) is the largest region of Brazil, corresponding to 45.27% of the national territory. It is the second least inhabited of the country, and contributes with a minor percentage in the national ...

. Its population was 27,638 (2020) and its area is , making it the second largest municipality in

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 ...

(behind

Altamira, Pará Altamira is one of one hundred and forty-four municipalities in the state of Pará, in northern Brazil. It has an area of , making it the largest municipality by area both in Pará state and Brazil, and until 2009 it was the world's largest muni ...

), equivalent in size to

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

state in the United States and slightly larger than

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu River, Y ...

About

The city is served by Barcelos Airport with scheduled services to Manaus. Since 1994, Barcelos has been the host of an annual festival celebrating

ornamental fish Lists of aquarium life include lists of fish, amphibians, invertebrates and plants in freshwater, brackish and marine aquariums. In fishkeeping, suitable species of aquarium fish, plants and other organisms vary with the size, water chemistry an ...

, which is a significant source of income for the region. Project ''Piaba'' uses Barcelos as the starting point for their annual research expedition into the Rio Negro area. The municipality contains part of the

Amanã Sustainable Development Reserve Amanã Sustainable Development Reserve ( pt, Reserva de Desenvolvimento Sustentável Amanã) is a sustainable development reserve in the state of Amazonas, Brazil. Location The Amanã Sustainable Development Reserve (RDS) covers in the north-c ...

. It also contains part of the

Amazonas National Forest The Amazonas National Forest ( pt, Floresta Nacional do Amazonas) is a national forest in the state of Amazonas, Brazil. Location The Amazonas National Forest is in the municipalities of Barcelos and Santa Isabel do Rio Negro in the state of ...

. It contains the

Rio Unini Extractive Reserve The Rio Unini Extractive Reserve ( pt, Reserva Extrativista Rio Unini) is an extractive reserve in the state of Amazonas, Brazil. Location The Rio Unini Extractive Reserve is in the municipality of Barcelos, Amazonas. It has an area of . It ext ...

, created in 2006.

History

Barcelos was originally named Mariuá, village of the Manaus Indians. When the captaincy of São José do Rio Negro was formed in 1755,

Francisco Xavier de Mendonça Furtado Francisco Xavier de Mendonça Furtado (1701–1769) served in Portugal's armed services rising in rank from soldier to sea-captain, then became a colonial governor in Brazil and finally a secretary of state in the Portuguese government. His major ...

, Governor General of state of Grao Para e Maranhao chose the ''aldeia'' de São José do Javari, a village founded by Carmelite Friar Matias São Boaventuras in 1728 near the mouth of the

Javari River The Javary River, Javari River or Yavarí River ( es, Río Yavarí, links=no; pt, Rio Javari, links=no) is a tributary of the Amazon that forms the boundary between Brazil and Peru for more than . It is navigable by canoe for from above its ...

, as its capital. It was the capital of the captaincy of São José do Rio Negro from 1755–1791, and again from 1799–1808.

Climate

The climate reflects its vegetation being

tropical rainforest Tropical rainforests are rainforests that occur in areas of tropical rainforest climate in which there is no dry season – all months have an average precipitation of at least 60 mm – and may also be referred to as ''lowland equatori ...

equatorial Equatorial may refer to something related to: *Earth's equator **the tropics, the Earth's equatorial region **tropical climate *the Celestial equator ** equatorial orbit **equatorial coordinate system ** equatorial mount, of telescopes * equatorial ...

(

Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (born 1951), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author and ...

: ''Af''), like the rest of the

Amazon Basin The Amazon basin is the part of South America drained by the Amazon River and its tributaries. The Amazon drainage basin covers an area of about , or about 35.5 percent of the South American continent. It is located in the countries of Bolivi ...

References

External links

Municipalities in Amazonas (Brazilian state) {{AmazonasBR-geo-stub