Itacoatiara 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' ...

in the central eastern portion of state of Amazonas, inland

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 102,701 (2020) and its area is 8,600 km².

Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics The Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (; IBGE) is the agency responsible for official collection of statistical, geographic, cartographic, geodetic and environmental information in Brazil. IBGE performs a decennial national cen ...

(IBGE) - The town is known as "City of painted stone" - which is its name translated from Tupi. Itacoatiara has an important port, which is responsible for a considerable amount of cargo transportation in Amazonas. Its Catedral Prelatícia Nossa Senhora do Rosário, dedicated to

Our Lady of the Rosary Our Lady of the Rosary (), also known as Our Lady of the Holy Rosary, is a Titles of Mary, Marian title. The Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary, formerly known as Feast of Our Lady of Victory and Feast of the Holy Rosary is celebrated on 7 October ...

, is the episcopal see of the pre-diocesan Roman Catholic Territorial Prelature of Itacoatiara.

History

* In 1655, an ''aldeia'' (hamlet) named Arroquis, on Albi Island on the

Madeira River The Madeira River ( ) is a major waterway in South America. It is estimated to be in length, while the Madeira-Mamoré is estimated near or in length depending on the measuring party and their methods. The Madeira is the biggest tributary of ...

, was founded by Portuguese

Jesuit The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

missionary

António Vieira António (or Antônio) Vieira (; 6 February 160818 July 1697) was a Portuguese Jesuit Priesthood in the Catholic Church, priest, diplomat, orator, preacher, philosopher, writer, and member of the Royal Council to the King of Portugal. Biogr ...

. It was thereafter moved four times due to aggression by the indigenous

Mura people The Muras are an Indigenous peoples of Brazil, indigenous people who live in the central and eastern parts of Amazonas, Brazil, along the Amazon River, Amazon river from the Madeira River, Madeira to the Purus River, Purus. They played an importa ...

. * In 1757, the inhabitants of ''aldeia'' Abacaxi (where did the inhabitants of Arroquis go?) moved to the left bank of the Amazon River, where Itacoatiara is now located. * In 1758, Francisco Xavier de Mendonça passed through the region for the second time in order to found the captaincy of São José do Rio Negro. * In 1759, the ''aldeia'' was elevated to the category of village, and was then called Serpa. * Itacoatiara became an actual town by law 74 of December 10, 1857, but in 1858 it was once more demoted as village, named ''Nossa Senhora do Rosário de Serpa''. Finally, on April 25, 1874, by law 283, Itacoatiara was again elevated to the category of town, with its current name.

Demography

Ethnic composition

Itacoatiara is marked by the cultural, political and economic traits inherited from the Portuguese,

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

and

Dutch people The Dutch, or Netherlanders (Dutch language, Dutch: ) are an ethnic group native to the Netherlands. They share a common ancestry and culture and speak the Dutch language. Dutch people and their descendants are found in migrant communities wor ...

. The city grew that way, but going back a bit in history, one can not forget the importance of

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 ...

in the ethnic contribution. It was the Amerindians who began human occupation in the

Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon (company), an American multinational technology company * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek myth ...

, and their descendants, the caboclos, developed in intimate contact with the environment, adapting to the regional peculiarities and opportunities offered by the forest. In historical formation, Itacoatiara's demography is the result of the miscegenation of the three basic ethnic groups that compose the Brazilian population:

Native Brazilian Indigenous peoples in Brazil or Native Brazilians () are the peoples who lived in Brazil before European contact around 1500 and their descendants. Indigenous peoples once comprised an estimated 2,000 district tribes and nations inhabiting what ...

, European and African, thus forming the region's mestizos (caboclos). Later on, with the arrival of the immigrants, especially Japanese, Arabs, Syrians, Lebanese and

Jews Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

coming mostly from Morocco, a unique culture was formed that characterizes the population of the city, its values and way of life. According to the

IBGE The Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (; IBGE) is the agency responsible for official collection of statistical, geographic, cartographic, geodetic and environmental information in Brazil. IBGE performs a decennial national cen ...

2000 census, the population of Itacoatiara is composed of:

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 ...

(58.37% or 41.367 inhabitants),

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

(32.21% or 22.504 inhabitants),

Black Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...

(5.7% or 4 110 inhabitants),

(3.09% or 2,228 inhabitants) and

Yellow Yellow is the color between green and orange on the spectrum of light. It is evoked by light with a dominant wavelength of roughly 575585 nm. It is a primary color in subtractive color systems, used in painting or color printing. In t ...

(0.63% or 430 inhabitants). There are also 50 people who did not declare their ethnicity, representing 0.10% of the total population.

Geography

The town is located 176 km east by air or 270 km downstream by river from

Manaus Manaus () is the List of capitals of subdivisions of Brazil, capital and largest city of the States of Brazil, Brazilian state of Amazonas (Brazilian state), Amazonas. It is the List of largest cities in Brazil, seventh-largest city in Brazil, w ...

. It is the third most populous town in the state, on the bank of the Amazon River.

Climate

Notable people

* Mayra Dias, Brazilian model and Miss Brazil 2018

References

{{Municipalities of Amazonas Municipalities in Amazonas (Brazilian state) Populated places on the Amazon 1757 establishments in the Portuguese Empire