The New International Encyclopædia/Amazonas (Brazilian State)

AMAZONAS, or ALTO AMAZONAS. The northernmost and largest of the Brazilian States, bounded by British Guiana, Venezuela, and Colombia on the north, State of Pará on the east, Bolivia and the State of Matto Grosso on the south, and Colombia and Peru on the west (Map: Brazil, E 4). Its total area is 732,250 square miles. The surface, with the exception of a few mountain chains on the Venezuelan border, is one alluvial plain, covered with impenetrable forests, and intersected by the River Amazon, with its numerous tributaries, including the Rio Negro and Madeira. The climate, although hot, is not unhealthful, and the soil is very fertile. Industrially, the State is very little developed, and its principal articles of trade are food products. With an area three and a half times as large as that of France, an abundance of fertile land, and excellent waterways, Amazonas had (1900) a population of 207,600, or less than one inhabitant for three square miles. Capital, Manãos, which is also the chief port. Amazonas formed a part of the State of Pará, and was constituted a separate State in 1850. Consult: J. Verissinio, Pará e Amazonas (Rio de Janeiro, 1899); C. L. Temple, The State of Amazonas (London, 1900).