Barcelos (also Barcellos), formerly Mariuá, is a

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

located in the

state 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 ...

of Amazonas,

northern Brazil The North Region of Brazil ( ) is the largest region of Brazil, accounting for 45.27% of the national territory. It has the second-lowest population of any region in the country, and accounts for a minor percentage of the national GDP. The regio ...

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

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 ...

(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 (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

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 borders China and Russia to the north at the Yalu River, Yalu (Amnok) an ...

. 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 and ...

, 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 region is the biggest exporter of this particular fish in Brazil with over 19 million specimen exported into

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

and

USA The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguous ...

. Barcelos is known for

Ecotourism Ecotourism is a form of nature-oriented tourism intended to contribute to the Ecological conservation, conservation of the natural environment, generally defined as being minimally impactful, and including providing both contributions to conserv ...

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 (9 October 1701–1769) was a Portuguese military officer and politician who served in the Portuguese Navy rising from soldier to sea-captain. Mendonça Furtado then became a colonial governor in Brazil, and f ...

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

Geography

The municipality area is 122,476 square kilometres (47,288 sq mi), making it the second largest municipality in Brazil (behind Altamira, Pará), equivalent in size to New York state in the United States and slightly larger than North Korea. The municipality contains part of the

Amanã Sustainable Development Reserve Amanã Sustainable Development Reserve () is a sustainable development reserve in the state of Amazonas, Brazil. Location The Amanã Sustainable Development Reserve (RDS) covers in the north-central part of Amazonas. It covers parts of the mu ...

. It also contains part of the Amazonas National Forest. It contains the

Rio Unini Extractive Reserve The Rio Unini Extractive Reserve () 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 extends upstream along the left (north ...

, created in 2006.

Climate

The climate reflects its vegetation being

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 ...

or equatorial (

Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (1951–2014), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author ...

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

Amazon Basin The Amazon basin is the part of South America drained by the Amazon River and its tributary, 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 ...

Transportation

The city is served by Barcelos Airport with scheduled services to Manaus.

References

{{Authority control Municipalities in Amazonas (Brazilian state)