Pedra Branca do Amapari () (''White Stone of Amaphary''), also known simply as Amapari, 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 midwest of the state of

Amapá Amapá (; ) is one of the 26 federative units of Brazil, states of Brazil. It is in the North Region, Brazil, North Region of Brazil. It is Federative units of Brazil#List, the second-least populous state and the eighteenth-largest state by area ...

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 ...

. Its population is 17,067, with an area of . The municipality has a population density of 1.13/km2, and the population remains evenly divided between rural and village areas.

Geography

Pedra Branca do Amapari is bordered by the municipalities of

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, ...

to the north,

Serra do Navio Serra do Navio (), (''Mountain range of the Ship'') is a Municipalities of Brazil, municipality located in the center of the state of Amapá in Brazil. Its population is 5,488 (2020 est.) and its area is 7,713 km². In the 1947, Manganese was ...

to the east,

Porto Grande Porto Grande (Portuguese: ''Grand Harbor'', ) is a municipality located in the southeast of the state of Amapá in Brazil. Its population is 22,452 and its area is 4,425 km2. Overview Porto Grande became an independent municipality in 1993. ...

to the southeast,

Mazagão Mazagão (, ) is a Municipalities of Brazil, municipality located in the south of the state of Amapá in Brazil. Its population is 22,053 and its area is . Mazagão Velho located in the municipality of Mazagão is known for the Festival of Saint ...

to the south, and

Laranjal do Jari Laranjal do Jari () (''Jari Orangery'') is a Municipalities of Brazil, municipality located in the west of the state of Amapá in Brazil. It is the only municipality in the west boundaries of Amapá, except for a small part of Vitória do Jari. It ...

to the west. The town is rich in rivers and streams (igarapé). The

Amapari River Amapari River is a river in Amapá state in north-eastern Brazil. See also *List of rivers of Amapá List of rivers in Amapá (Brazilian State). The list is arranged by drainage basin from north to south, with respective tributaries indented un ...

and its tributaries, the Mururé, Tucumpi and Cupixi, all cross through the municipality. The Amapari River feeds in to the Araguari River in the southwest of the town. The municipality contains 12% of the

Rio Iratapuru Sustainable Development Reserve The Rio Iratapuru Sustainable Development Reserve () is a sustainable development reserve in the state of Amapá, Brazil. It contains a well-preserved area of terra firme forest with rich fauna. The local communities that surround the reserve use ...

, created in 1997. It contains 6.39% of the

Amapá State Forest The Amapá State Forest () is a state forest in the state of Amapá, Brazil. Location The Amapá State Forest is divided between the municipalities of Tartarugalzinho (7.64%), Pracuúba (4.52%), Porto Grande (7.72%), Oiapoque (24.15%), Mazagã ...

, a sustainable use conservation unit established in 2006.

History

The municipality of Amapari was originally explored by members of the

Saramaka The Saramaka, Saamaka or Saramacca are one of six Maroon (people), Maroon peoples (formerly called "Bush Negroes") in the Republic of Suriname and one of the Maroon peoples in French Guiana. In 2007, the Saramaka won a ruling by the Inter-Ameri ...

, a

Maroon Maroon ( , ) is a brownish crimson color that takes its name from the French word , meaning chestnut. ''Marron'' is also one of the French translations for "brown". Terms describing interchangeable shades, with overlapping RGB ranges, inc ...

group from

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 ...

, who searched for gold in the area. Manganese ore was discovered in the region in 1953. Travel to Pedra Branca do Amapari was possible only by airplane, and pilots used a huge white rock (''pedra branca'') in the Amapari River as a reference point. Thereafter the town was known as Pedra Branca do Amapari. The town can nowadays be accessed via the

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 ...

highway.

Economy

Amapari supports the small-scale production of

rice Rice is a cereal grain and in its Domestication, domesticated form is the staple food of over half of the world's population, particularly in Asia and Africa. Rice is the seed of the grass species ''Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice)—or, much l ...

corn Maize (; ''Zea mays''), also known as corn in North American English, is a tall stout Poaceae, grass that produces cereal grain. It was domesticated by indigenous peoples of Mexico, indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 9,000 years ago ...

bean A bean is the seed of some plants in the legume family (Fabaceae) used as a vegetable for human consumption or animal feed. The seeds are often preserved through drying (a ''pulse''), but fresh beans are also sold. Dried beans are traditi ...

s, and

cassava ''Manihot esculenta'', common name, commonly called cassava, manioc, or yuca (among numerous regional names), is a woody shrub of the spurge family, Euphorbiaceae, native to South America, from Brazil, Paraguay and parts of the Andes. Although ...

for the domestic market.

Cupuaçu ''Theobroma grandiflorum'', commonly known as cupuaçu, also spelled cupuassu, cupuazú, cupu assu, or copoazu, is a tropical rainforest tree related to cacao. Native and common throughout the Amazon basin, it is naturally cultivated in the jung ...

pineapple The pineapple (''Ananas comosus'') is a Tropical vegetation, tropical plant with an edible fruit; it is the most economically significant plant in the family Bromeliaceae. The pineapple is indigenous to South America, where it has been culti ...

orange Orange most often refers to: *Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis'' ** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower ** Orange juice *Orange (colour), the color of an orange fruit, occurs between red and yellow in the vi ...

banana A banana is an elongated, edible fruit – botanically a berry – produced by several kinds of large treelike herbaceous flowering plants in the genus '' Musa''. In some countries, cooking bananas are called plantains, distinguishing the ...

s, and

melon A melon is any of various plants of the family Cucurbitaceae with sweet, edible, and fleshy fruit. It can also specifically refer to ''Cucumis melo'', commonly known as the "true melon" or simply "melon". The term "melon" can apply to both the p ...

s are grown for local consumption. Per capital income in Amapari is R$ 24,782 (US$9629), as compared to the Brazilian national average of R$20,988 (US$12,536).

Gold mining Gold mining is the extraction of gold by mining. Historically, mining gold from Alluvium, alluvial deposits used manual separation processes, such as gold panning. The expansion of gold mining to ores that are not on the surface has led to mor ...

has become a major part of the economy, and resulted in a steep population growth. The biggest concession is the Tucano mine which is operated by Great Panther Mining.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pedra Branca Do Amapari Municipalities in Amapá Populated places in Amapá