Manaus,
the capital of the State of Amazonas, located 18km from the meeting
of the waters of Negro and Amazonas Rivers, gateway to
the largest tropical forest of the planet, is the most important tourist destiny
of the north of Brazil.
The city has gone through great transformations in
the last decades, adopting contemporary features, that consolidate through
an excellent infrastructure: road complex with wide avenues, overpasses and
level passages; airport and port of international category; shopping-centers,
theaters, restaurants, bars, museums, cultural centers, spaces for great events,
night clubs, car rentals; besides efficient electric power services and basic
sanitation.
Manaus adjusts itself to its time, perfectly connected to the globalized
world through an efficient communication net, making available to visitors
and residents great services of Internet, cellular telephones, pagers, fast
package delivery, etc.
Born with the name of Lugar da Barra, in 1669, during
the construction of Fortaleza de São José da Barra (Fort of Barra),
erected with the goal of containing invasions of the Dutchmen and Spanish,
enemies of the Portuguese Crown.
In 1755, the Portuguese government determines
the creation of the Captaincy of São José do Rio Negro, installed
initially in Mariuá (Barcelos, Amazonas) and in 1804 the headquarters
of the Captaincy was transferred definitively to Lugar da Barra (today Manaus).
Lugar da Barra is elevated to the category of Villa, in 1832, starting to be
called Our Lady of Conception of Barra do Rio Negro; and, on October 24, 1848,
the Villa of Barra is elevated to the category of City.
Finally, on September
05, 1856, the City of Vila da Barra, with almost 1.300 inhabitants, starts
to be called Manáos.
|
The
city booms and lives a spectacular cycle of development starting
in 1890, as a result of its wealth generated by the production
and exportation of natural rubber (hevea brasiliensis), a golden
era in which time great workmanship was performed: Port of Manaus,
Amazonas Theater, Palace of Justice, Mocó Reservoir, the
first electric power plant, public transportation (trams), the
beginning of construction of sewage, hotels, show houses, squares,
schools, libraries, etc.
Manaus
became an international reference, symbol of prosperity and civilization,
stage for many important artistic and cultural events. Commerce
opened up for luxury and superfluous products. Men and women from
all over the world parade through the streets and avenues, in a
frenesi to buy “black gold”, that is how the natural
rubber was called, for resale with great profit at the main capitals
of Europe and the United States of America.
In
1910, hard times started for the city, due to the strong competition
for natural rubber planted in Asia, which arrived at European and
American markets with great advantage, bankrupting the local economy.
|
The
Manaus Free Trade Zone is a project of social development created
by Law No.3.173 of June 6th, 1957, reformulated and widened by
Decree No. 288, of February 28th, 1967, establishing fiscal incentives
for the implantation of an industrial, commercial and ranching
pole, in an area of 10,000 km2.
The
benefits of this project extend to the Western Amazon, formed by
the states of Amazonas, Acre, Rondonia, Roraima and Macapá Free
Area of Commerce. In 36 years of activities the Manaus Free Trade
Zone (ZFM) has gone through several phases: in the first decade,
commerce was predominant, attracting buyers from all over the country,
which gave the city an infrastructure of transports, communications,
hotels and services.
From the second decade on, it was created
the structure of the Industrial Pole of Manaus (PIM), where the
electric electronics sector is predominant, responsible for 55%
of the industrial invoicing, with an annual average of US$10 billions.
The actual phase is marked by the search of foreign markets for
the products of PIM; the investment on research, including new
technology; the study of regional potentialities, among them Ecotourism,
and the ways of sustainable use of raw material from the Amazonian
biodiversity in order to interiorize development.
|
The
City of Manaus
Rubber
Cycle
