Belem Brazil

"Belem, located some 90 miles from the open sea and slightly south of the equator, is the great port of the Amazon. The city was founded by the Portuguese in 1616 as the City of Our Lady of Bethlehem (Belém), and its original role was to protect the mouth of the river and establish Portugal’s claim to the region. However, Belém rapidly became established as an Indian slaving port and a source for cacao and spices from the Amazon region. Because of the export of slaves, the local population went into such decline that by the mid-18th century a royal decree was issued to encourage and reward every Portuguese who married an Indian woman.
Not until the great rubber boom at the end of the 19th century did the city experience its great revival, still evident in the wide avenues that lead from the impressive Praça da Republica down to the port. This part of the city contains a historical sector, replete with Portuguese colonial architecture.

Belém became a very rich town from where almost half of all Brazil’s rubber was exported. Thousands of migrants moved into the city from the northeast, bringing with them new cultural contributions such as music and dance, plus the Afro-Brazilian religions of candomblé and macumba. With the end of the rubber boom, decline set in again until new resources were explored, based on lumber and Brazil nuts. During World War II, an important base for the American fleet was established here.

Today, visitors enjoy an atmosphere of intriguing and exotic ambiance plus colonial architecture mixed with a surprisingly modern skyline. Cultural events take place in the splendid Teatro da Paz, and the Goeldi Museum and Zoological Gardens are well worth a visit. There are good restaurants to try some local cuisine, and shops and markets offer a wide variety of Amazonian arts and crafts.

Belem Brazil News

Drinks: Acai (Seattle Post-Intelligencer)
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- When a mysterious biblical philosopher wrote what would become Ecclesiastes 1:9, he may as well have been staring into the liquor cabinet: "What has been done will be done again," his thoughts roughly went. "There is nothing new under the sun."

Quiz Time! Todayâ€™s Problem: Chasing Daylight (New York Times)
Assuming a plane never had to stop to refuel, could it fly around the equator so fast that it never saw the sun set? Before I reveal his reply, want to take a minute to answer the question in your head, so you can see how you did?

Thursday, August 28th (New York Times)
Itâ€™s not easy being green. The first time that realization hit me was when I first heard someone answer the age-old eco-awareness question, â€œPaper or plastic?â€

Amazon Indian Iron, Diamonds in Brazil May Turn Legal to Mine (Bloomberg.com)
Aug. 21 (Bloomberg) -- For decades, Valeria Paye Pereira and her tribe of Tiriyo Indians in Brazil's Para state have fought wildcat miners who slip across the northern border from Suriname and French Guiana to illegally extract gold.

Cosipar building 2Mt/y slab plant in ParÃ¡ with or without partner - Brazil (Business News Americas)
Brazilian pig iron producer Cosipar has been in talks with North Carolina-based Nucor (NYSE: NUE) to partner on a 2Mt/y steel mill project in northern Brazil's ParÃ¡ state, the state's economic development office reported.

Hostelling in Brazil (Gringoes)
Budget Travel from Rio to the Rainforest With its chaotic cities, glamorous beaches and expanses of rainforest, Brazil is excitingly diverse.

Yahoo! News Search Results for Belem Brazil