Macapá

關於Macapá

Macapá is the capital of the Brazilian state of Amapá, in the country's North Region, located on the northern channel of the Amazon Delta near its mouth on the Atlantic Ocean. Its population is estimated to be 512,902 (2020). The city is on a small plateau on the Amazon in the southeast of the state of Amapá. The only access by road from outside the province is from the overseas French department of French Guiana, although there are regular ferries to Belém, Brazil. Macapá is linked by road with some other cities in Amapá. The equator runs through the middle of the city, leading residents to refer to Macapá as "The capital of the middle of the world." It covers 6,407.12 square kilometres (2,473.80 mi2) and is located northwest of the large inland island of Marajó and south of the border with French Guiana.

Macapá is a corruption of the Tupi word macapaba, or "place of many bacabas", the fruit of the local palm tree. The Spaniard Francisco de Orellana claimed the region in 1544 and called it Nueva Andalucía (New Andalusia). The modern town began as the base of a Portuguese military detachment, stationed there in 1738. On...

Overview adapted from Wikipedia under CC BY-SA. Photography via Wikimedia Commons.