Belém, Pará, Northern Region, Brazil

🇧🇷 Belém often called Belém of Pará, is a Brazilian city, capital and largest city of the state of Pará in the country's north. It is the gateway to the Amazon River with a busy port, airport, and bus/coach station. Belém lies approximately 100 km upriver from the Atlantic Ocean, on the Pará River, which is part of the greater Amazon River system, separated from the larger part of the Amazon delta by Ilha de Marajó (Marajo Island). It is the 11th most populous city in Brazil, as well as the 16th by economic relevance. It is the second largest in the North Region, second only to Manaus, in the state of Amazonas.

Founded in 1616 by the Kingdom of Portugal, Belém was the first European colony on the Amazon but did not become part of Brazil until 1775. The newer part of the city has modern buildings and skyscrapers. The colonial portion retains the charm of tree-filled squares, churches and traditional blue tiles. The city has a rich history and architecture from colonial times. Recently it witnessed a skyscraper boom.

Belém is also known as the Metropolis of the Brazilian Amazon region or the Cidade das Mangueiras (City of Mango Trees) due to the vast number of those trees found in the city. Brazilians often refer to the city as Belém do Pará ("Belém of Pará") rather than just Belém, a reference to an earlier name for the city, Santa Maria de Belém do Grão Pará ("Saint Mary of Bethlehem of Great Pará"), and also to differentiate it from a number of other towns called Belém in Brazil, as well as the city of Bethlehem in the West Bank of Israel. It is named after Santa Maria de Belém in Lisbon, also better known by its shortened name, Belém.

Belém is served by Val de Cans International Airport, which connects the city with the rest of Brazil and other cities in South America, North America (United States) and Europe (Lisbon). The city is also home to the Federal University of Pará and the Pará State University.

History In 1615, Portuguese captain-general Francisco Caldeira Castelo Branco of the captaincy of Bahia commanded a military expedition sent by the Governor General of Brazil to check the trading excursions of foreigners (French, Dutch, English) up the river (Amazon) from the Cabo do Norte in Grão Pará.

On January 12, 1616, he anchored in what is now known as Guajará Bay, formed by the confluence of the Para and Guamá Rivers, called by the Tupinambás, "Guaçu Paraná". Caldeira mistook the bay for the main channel, and thirty leagues (178 km) upstream, he built a wooden fort, covered with straw, which he called "Presépio" (nativity scene), now known as "Forte do Castelo". The colony formed by the fort was given the name Feliz Lusitânia, "Fortunate Lusitania". It was the embryo of the future city of Belém. The fort failed to suppress Dutch and French trading, but did ward off colonization.

Feliz Lusitânia was later called Nossa Senhora de Belém do Grão Pará (Our Lady of Bethlehem of Grao-Para) and Santa Maria de Belém (St. Mary of Bethlehem). Belém was given city status in 1655 and was made capital of the State when Pará state was split off from Maranhão in 1772. The early decades of the 19th century were marked by political instability. Uprisings and internecine strife finally ended in 1836, after considerable loss of life.

The sugar trade in the Belém region was important up to the end of the 17th century. Thereafter the city's economic importance alternately rose and fell. Cattle ranching supplanted sugar until the 18th century, when cultivation of rice, cotton and coffee became profitable. With the settlement of southern Brazil, where such crops could be produced more efficiently, Belém declined again. The city subsequently became the main exporting centre of the Amazon rubber industry, and by 1866 its position was further enhanced by the opening of the Amazon, Tocantins and Tapajós rivers to navigation. The rubber era ended after the boom of 1910–12, but Belém continued to be the main commercial centre of northern Brazil and the entrepôt for the Amazon valley.

Geography The municipality includes the islands of Mosqueiro, fringed by 14 freshwater beaches, and Caratateua which receive a large number of visitors in summertime. In addition to these and also near Belém, is the island of Tatuoca which is the location of one of the seven geophysical stations in the world, and the only station in Latin America.

Economy Many valuable products now exported from the Amazon by way of Belém are aluminium, iron ore, and other metals, nuts (chiefly Brazil nuts), pineapples, cassava, jute, wood veneers, and hardwoods. Japanese immigration after the 1930s was an important factor in developing jute and black pepper, notably at Tomé-Açu, just south of Belém, and near Santarém. Marajó Island, the largest fluvial island in the world, which lies just across the Rio Pará from Belém, has some livestock grazing. Electricity is provided by the massive Tucuruí Dam, some 300 km south-west of the city on the Tocantins River.

Education • Universidade Federal do Pará (UFPA); • Universidade do Estado do Pará (UEPA); • Federal Rural University of Amazonia (UFRA); • Universidade da Amazônia (UNAMA); • Centro de Instrução Almirante Brás de Aguiar (CIABA); • Centro Universitário do Pará (Cesupa); • Amazon Valley Academy International School (AVA); • Escola Superior da Amazônia (ESAMAZ); • Instituto Federal de Educação, Ciência e Tecnologia do Pará (IFPA).

Sports The three main football teams in Pará are based in Belém: Paysandu, Remo and Tuna Luso. Paysandu based in São Braz, play at the 16200 capacity Estádio da Curuzú, the oldest stadium of Pará state; Remo, based in Travessa Antônio Baena, play at the 17250 capacity Baenão; and Tuna Luso-Brasileira based in Souza play at the much smaller 6500 Estádio Francisco Vasques. The latter stadium is currently the home of Clube Municipal Ananindeua who represent the very large suburb of Ananindeua.

The Estádio Olímpico do Pará is the biggest in the city and hosts 45,000 spectators, the stadium hosts the Grande Premio Brasil de Atletismo, that is part of the IAAF World Challenge as well as Sport Club Belém and the aforementioned teams for large matches.

União Esportiva used to be a relatively successful club based in the city but was disbanded in 1965.

Tourist Industry Belém has a modern appearance with tree-lined streets, several plazas and public gardens, and many noteworthy buildings. The north's leading educational and cultural centre, it is the seat of a bishopric, and its cathedral (Igreja da Sé, founded in 1917) is one of Brazil's largest. Santo Alexandre, the oldest of Belém's churches, was built in 1616. The Museu (museum) Paraense Emílio Goeldi, the Teatro da Paz (a classical theatre), and the public library and archives are other notable institutions. The Universidade Federal do Pará (1957), a teacher-training school, an agricultural institute, and an institute for research on tropical diseases are also in the city. The Ver-o-Peso (Portuguese: "see the weight") market in the old port centre is a major tourist attraction. The city is also home to a large football stadium, the Estádio Olímpico do Pará.

Airports Belém International Airport (Val de Cans) is the major airport serving the city of Belém. The building design uses plane curves on its roof to permit light to enter its entire large terminal hall.

The architect Sérgio Parada used adopted multiple-use totems integrated with light projectors, a sound system, air conditioning, and public telephones. Currently Belém International Airport serves 2.7 million passengers a year, in a constructed area of 33,255.17 square metres (357,955.67 square feet).

Traditionally called Val-de-Cães Airport, it is responsible for increasing tourism in the Amazon region, as well as for the outflow of products and attracting new investments. The passenger terminal is fully air conditioned on two levels and has "futuristic" architecture, designed to take advantage of natural lighting. People with special needs have individualized service with own equipment at specific locations to facilitate their access. The terminal's interior is decorated with plants native to the Amazon region and is enclosed by a source able to imitate the sound of the rains that fall every day in the region.

There also used to exist a smaller Brig. Protásio de Oliveira Airport (Júlio César), also administrated by Infraero, which was used for general aviation, in January, 1st, 2022 it was taken out of service and the area it occupied is going to be turned into a park, its functions were transferred to the main Val-de-Cães airport.

Belém Air Force Base - ALA9, one of their most important bases of the Brazilian Air Force, is located in Belém.

Highways BR-316 is the major access highway for those coming from the Northeastern Brazil. For visitors from the Southern, Southeastern, and Mid-Eastern Regions, the best route is BR-010, which originates in Brasília in the South, and also PA-150, a route that links Belém to Southern Pará.

Waterways Belém can be reached by the Tocantins River and Amazonas River and by the Atlantic Ocean.

Railways The EF-151 railway, known as "Ferrovia Norte-Sul", literally meaning "North-South Railway", is being extended to run until the city of Barcarena, that is about 111 km away by road. When construction is finished, Barcarena will be linked with important cities, like Imperatriz, Porto Nacional, Anápolis and Panorama.

Distances • São Paulo: 2,933 km (1,822 mi) • Rio de Janeiro: 3,250 km (2,020 mi) • Brasília: 2,132 km (1,325 mi) • Manaus: 1,489 km (925 mi) • Teresina: 923 km (574 mi) • São Luís: 806 km (501 mi) • Santarém, Pará: 807 km (501 mi) • Rio Branco: 2,135 km (1,327 mi) • Florianópolis: 3,577 km (2,223 mi) • Cuiabá: 2,970 km (1,850 mi) • Belo Horizonte: 2,824 km (1,755 mi).