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PARA

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Originally appearing in Volume V20, Page 746 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.

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PARA , or Gino PARA, a See also:

NORTHERN

northern See also:

state of-See also:

Brazil, bounded N. by the three Guianas and the See also:

ATLANTIC

Atlantic, E. by the Atlantic and the states of See also:

MARANHAO, or MARANHAM (Span. Maranon, the name given to the upper Amazon)

Maranhao and See also:

GOYAZ

Goyaz,' S. by Goyaz and Matto Grosso and W. by See also:

AMAZONAS

Amazonas. It is the third largest state of the See also:

REPUBLIC (Lat. respublica, a commonweal or common-wealth)

republic, having an See also:

AREA

area of 443,922 sq. m.; pop. (189o), 328,455, (1900), 445,356. The See also:

AMAZON

Amazon valley has its outlet to the ocean through the central See also:

PART

part of the state, the outlet, or See also:

NECK (O. Eng. hnecca; the word appears in many Teutonic languages; cf. Dutch ride, Ger. Nacken; in O. E. the common word was heals; cf. Ger. Hals)

neck, being comparatively narrow and the territory on both sides rising to the level of the See also:

ancient See also:

plateau that covered this part of the See also:

CONTINENT (from Lat. continere, "to hold together "; hence " connected," " continuous ")

continent. In the See also:

north is the See also:

GUIANA (Guyana, Guayana')

Guiana plateau, sometimes called Brazilian Guiana, which is " blanketed " and made semi-arid by the See also:

mountain ranges on the Brazil-Guiana frontier. In the See also:

south the See also:

COUNTRY (from the Mid. Eng. contre or contrie, and O. Fr. cuntree; Late Lat. contrata, showing the derivation from contra, opposite, over against, thus the tract of land which fronts the sight, cf. Ger. Gegend, neighbourhood)

country rises in forested terraces and is broken by escarpments caused by the erosion of the northern slope of the See also:

GREAT

great central plateau of Brazil. With the exception of the Guiana See also:

HIGHLANDS, THE

highlands, and some grassy plains on the See also:

ISLAND (O.E. ieg =isle, +land')

island of Maraj6 and in some other places, the state is densely forested, and its lowest levels are covered with a network of See also:

rivers, lakes and connecting channels. The rivers of the state may be grouped under three See also:

general systems: the Amazon and its tributaries, the Tocantins and its tributaries and the rivers flowing See also:

DIRECT

direct to the Atlantic. The Amazon crosses the state in a general E.N.E. direction for about 500 M. Its channels, tributaries, furos (arms), igarapes (creeks, or literally, " See also:

CANOE (from Carib. candoa, the West Indian name found in use by Columbus; the Fr. canot, boat, and Ger. Kahn, are derived from the Lat. canna, reed, vessel)

canoe paths "), by-channels and See also:

RESERVOIR

reservoir lakes See also:

FORM (Lat. forma)

form an extremely complicated hydrographic See also:

SYSTEM

system. From the north seven large tributaries are received—the Jamunda (which forms the boundary See also:

LINE

line with Amazonas), Trombetas, Maecuru, Jauary, Parfi, Jary and Anauera-pucfi. The first is, strictly speaking, a tributary cf the Trombetas, though several furos connect with the Amazon before its See also:

main channel opens into the Trombetas.

All these rivers have their See also:

SOURCES

sources on the Guiana highlands within the limits of the state, and flow southward to the Amazon over numerous rapids and falls, with comparatively See also:

SHORT, FRANCIS JOB (1857– )

short navigable channels before entering the great See also:

RIVER

river. From the south two great tributaries are received—the Tapajos and Xingu—both having their sources outside the state (see AMAZON). The Path See also:

ESTUARY (from the Lat. aestuarium, a place reached by aestus, the tide)

estuary, usually called the Path river, belongs to the Tocantins, although popularly described as a mouth of the Amazon. Very little Amazon See also:

WATER

water passes through it except in times of See also:

flood. It is connected with the Amazon by navigable tidal furos, in which the current is hardly perceptible. The estuary is about 200 M. See also:

long and 5 to 30 M. wide, and receives the See also:

WATERS, TERRITORIAL

waters of a large number of streams, the largest of which is the Guama and its See also:

CHIEF (from Fr. chef, head, Lat. caput)

chief tributary, the Capim. A number of small rivers See also:

DISCHARGE (adapted from the O. Fr. discharge, modern decharge, from a med. Lat. discargare, to unload, dis- and earn care, to load, cf. " charge ")

discharge into the Atlantic north and south of the Amazon, the largest of which are the Gurupy, which forms the boundary line with Maranhao, the Araguary, which drains a large area of the eastern slope of the Guiana highlands, and the Oyapok, which forms the boundary line with See also:

French Guiana. Lying across the mouth of the Amazon and dividing it into three channels are the islands of Caviana and Mexiana, the first 47 M. and the second 27 M. in length, north-See also:

west to south-See also:

east, both traversed by the See also:

EQUATOR (Late Lat. aequator, from aequare, to make equal)

equator, and both devoted to See also:

CATTLE (Norman Fr. catel, from Late Lat. capitale, wealth or property, a word applied in the feudal system to movable property and particularly to live stock, and surviving in its wider meaning as " chattel " or " chattle ")

cattle-raising. Somewhat different in See also:

CHARACTER (Gr. xapareri7p, from xap&crew, to scratch)

character is the island of Maraj6, or Joannes, which lies between the Amazon and Path estuary. It is 162 m. long by 99 M. wide, and its area is about 15,000 sq. m. This island is only partly alluvial in character, a considerable area on its eastern and See also:

SOUTHERN

southern sides having the same See also:

GEOLOGICAL

geological formation as the neighbouring mainland. The larger part, the north-western, belongs to the flood-plains of the Amazon, being covered with swamps, forests and open meadows, and subject to See also:

ANNUAL

annual inundations.

There are several towns and villages on the island, and stock-raising, now in a state of decadence, has long been its See also:

PRINCIPAL

principal See also:

INDUSTRY (Lat. industria, from indu-, a form of the pre, position in, and either stare, to stand, or struere, to pile up)

industry. Of See also:

INTEREST

interest to archaeologists is the largest of its several lakes, called Arary, in the centre of which is a small island celebrated for its See also:

INDIAN

Indian antiquities, chiefly pottery. On the Atlantic See also:

COAST (from Lat. costa, a rib, side)

coast the principal island is Maraca (See also:

lat. 2° N.), 26 m. long by 20 M. wide, which lies, in part, off the entrance to the Amapa river. Path is crossed by the equator, and its See also:

CLIMATE

climate is wholly tropical, but there is a wide variation in temperature and rainfall. In general, it is hot and dry on the Guiana plateau, and hot and humid throughout the forested region. In the latter, there are two recognized seasons, wet and dry, which differ only in the amount of rainfall, a strictly dry See also:

SEASON (0. Fr. seson, seison, mod. saison, Lat. satio, sowing time, the spring, from serere, to sow; in Late Lat. the word is found with its present meaning, the spring being considered as particularly the season of the year)

season being unknown. The See also:

trade winds, which See also:

BLOW, JOHN (1648-1708)

blow up the Amazon with much force, moderate the See also:

HEAT (0. E. haktu, which like " hot," Old Eng. hat, is from the Teutonic type haita, hit, to be hot; cf. Ger. hitze, heiss; Dutch, hitte, heet, &c.)

heat and make healthy most of the settlements on the great river itself; but the settlements along its tributaries, which are not swept by these winds, are afflicted with See also:

MALARIA

malaria. The See also:

POPULATION (Lat. populus, people; populare, to populate)

population is concentrated at widely separated points on the coast and navigable rivers, except on Maraj6 island, where open country and See also:

PASTORAL (from Lat. pastor, a shepherd)

pastoral pursuits have opened up inland districts. The principal occupation is the See also:

COLLECTING

collecting and marketing of See also:

FOREST

forest products such as See also:

RUBBER, INDIARUBBER

rubber (from Hevea brasilicnsis), See also:

GUTTA (Latin for " drop ")

gutta-percha, or balata (Mimusops elata), Brazilnuts (Bertholetia excelsis), See also:

SARSAPARILLA

sarsaparilla (Smilax), cumaru or tonka beans (Dipterix odorata), See also:

COPAIBA, or COPAIVA (from Brazilian cupauba)

copaiba (Copaifera officinarum), guarani (Paulinia sorbilis), cravo (an aromatic bark of Dicypellium caryophillatum) and many others. In earlier days See also:

cotton, See also:

SUGAR

sugar-See also:

CANE

cane, See also:

rice, See also:

TOBACCO

tobacco, cacao and even See also:

COFFEE (Fr: cafe, Ger. Kaffee)

coffee were cultivated, but the demand for rubber caused their See also:

ABANDONMENT (Fr. abandonnement, from abandonner, to abandon, relinquish; abandonner was originally equivalent to mettred banddn, to leave to the jurisdiction, i.e. of another, bandon being from Low Latin bandum, bannum, order, decree, " ban ")

abandonment in most places. Cacao (Theobroma cacao) is still widely cultivated, as also mandioca (Manihot utilissima) in some localities.

Path produces many kinds of fruits—the See also:

orange, See also:

BANANA

banana, abrico, cajit, abacate (See also:

ALLIGATOR (Spanish el lagarto, " the lizard ")

alligator See also:

PEAR (Pyrus communis)

pear), See also:

MANGO

mango, sapotilha, fructa de See also:

Conde, See also:

GRAPE

grape, &c., besides a large number hardly known beyond the Amazon valley. The pastoral See also:

INDUSTRIES

industries were once important in Para, especially on the islands of Maraj6, Caviana and Mexiana, and included the rearing of horses, cattle, and See also:

sheep. At See also:

PRESENT

present little is done in these industries, and the See also:

PEOPLE

people depend upon importation for draft animals and fresh See also:

MEAT

meat. There remain a few cattle ranges on Maraj6 and other islands, but the industry is apparently losing ground. See also:

MINING

Mining receives some See also:

ATTENTION (from Lat. ad-tendo, await, expect; the condition of being " stretched " or " tense ")

attention on the Atlantic slope of the Guiana plateau, where See also:

gold washings of no great importance have been found in the Counani and other streams. There are no manufactures in the state outside the See also:

CITY (through Fr. cite, from Lat. civitas)

city of Path (q.v.). Transportation depends wholly on river See also:

CRAFT (a word common to Teutonic languages for strength, or power; cf. Ger. Kraft)

craft, the one railway of the state, the Path & Braganca, not being able to meet expenses from its See also:

TRAFFIC

traffic receipts. The See also:

capital of the state is Path, or Belem do Para, and its See also:

HISTORY

history is largely that of this city. Other important towns are Alemaquer (pop. about 1500; of the municipio in 1890, 7539), on a by-channel of the Amazon; Breves (See also:

mun. 12,593 in 189o), a river See also:

PORT

port in the south-west part of Maraj6, on a channel connecting the Amazon with the Para estuary; Braganca (mun. 16,046 in 1890), a small See also:

TOWN

town in one of the few agricultural districts of the state, 147 M. by See also:

RAIL

rail north-east of Path, on the river Caete, near the coast; Obidos (about 1000; mun. 12,666 in 1890), on the north See also:

BANK

bank of the Amazon at a point called the Pauxis narrows, a little over r m. wide, attractively situated on a hillside in a healthful locality; and See also:

SANTAREM

Santarem (12,062 in 1890), on the right bank of the Tapajos, 21 M. from the Amazon, dating from 1661, and the most prosperous and populous town between Path and Mangos.

End of Article: PARA

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