Barcelos, Amazonas

Barcelos
Municipality
Municipality of Barcelos
A view of the city A view of the city
Flag of Barcelos Flag
Nickname(s): "Capital do peixe ornamental" ("Capital of the ornamental fish") Cidade menina ("Girl City")
Location of Barcelos in the State of Amazonas Location of Barcelos in the State of Amazonas
Barcelos Location in Brazil
Coordinates:
Country	Brazil
Region	North
State	Amazonas
Founded	May 27, 1758
Government
• Mayor	José Ribamar Beleza (PMDB)
Area
• Total	122,475.728 km2 (47,288.143 sq mi)
Population (2012)
• Total	25,948
• Density	0.21/km2 (0.5/sq mi)
Time zone	AST (UTC-4)
• Summer (DST)	DST no longer used (UTC-4)
Area code(s)	+55 92
HDI (2000)	0.593 – medium
Website	Manaus, Amazonas

Barcelos, (also Barcellos), formerly Mariuá, is a municipality located in the State of Amazonas, northern Brazil. Its population was 32,169 (2005) and its area is 122,476 square kilometres (47,288 sq mi), making it the second largest municipality in Brazil (behind Altamira, Pará), equivalent in size to New York state in the United States and slightly larger than North Korea.

About

The city is served by Barcelos Airport with scheduled services to Manaus.

Since 1994, Barcelos has been the host of an annual festival celebrating ornamental fish, which is a significant source of income for the region. Project Piaba uses Barcelos as the starting point for their annual research expedition into the Rio Negro area.

History

Barcelos was originally named Mariuá, village of the Manaus Indians. When the captaincy of São José do Rio Negro was formed in 1755, Francisco Xavier de Mendonça Furtado, Governor General of state of Grao Para e Maranhao chose the aldeia de São José do Javari, a village founded by Carmelite Friar Matias São Boaventuras Jesuits in 1728 near the mouth of the Javari River, as its capital. It was the capital of the captaincy of São José do Rio Negro from 1755-1791, and again from 1799-1808.

External links

• City Hall official website