The State of Grão-Pará and Rio Negro () was one of the states of the Portuguese Empire.

History

The state was created in 1772 by order of

Sebastião José de Carvalho e Melo, 1st Marquis of Pombal Dom (honorific), D. Sebastião José de Carvalho e Melo, 1st Marquis of Pombal and 1st Count of Oeiras (13 May 1699 – 8 May 1782), known as the Marquis of Pombal ( ), was a Portuguese statesman and diplomat who Despotism, despotically ruled ...

, the Secretary of the State for

Joseph I of Portugal '' Dom'' Joseph I (; 6 June 1714 – 24 February 1777), known as the Reformer (Portuguese: ''o Reformador''), was King of Portugal from 31 July 1750 until his death in 1777. Among other activities, Joseph was devoted to hunting and the opera. ...

. The state was created because of the economic success of the State of Grão-Pará and Maranhão. Sebastião José de Carvalho e Melo split that state into two states, the State of Grão-Pará and Rio Negro and the State of Maranhão and Piauí, thinking that this would cause even better economic conditions, though the state split would prove a failure. In 1775, due to economical issues in

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 ...

and São Luis, both the State of Grão-Pará and Rio Negro and the State of Maranhão and Piauí were merged into the

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 ...

, formally unifying Portuguese America into one colony. However, the State of Grão-Pará and Rio Negro would remain autonomous of the Brazilian colonial government until 1823, when it would formally join the

Empire of Brazil The Empire of Brazil was a 19th-century state that broadly comprised the territories which form modern Brazil and Uruguay until the latter achieved independence in 1828. The empire's government was a Representative democracy, representative Par ...

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:State of Grao-Para and Rio Negro Grão-Pará and Rio Negro Colonial Brazil Portuguese colonization of the Americas Former Portuguese colonies Former subdivisions of Brazil