Gurupá

This article is about a city on the island of Marajó; for the island, see Ilha Grande do Gurupá; for the Portuguese colonial land grant, see captaincy of Gurupá.

Gurupá
Municipality
Location in the State of Pará
Coordinates: 01°24′18″S 51°38′24″W / 1.40500°S 51.64000°W / -1.40500; -51.64000Coordinates: 01°24′18″S 51°38′24″W / 1.40500°S 51.64000°W / -1.40500; -51.64000
Country	Brazil
Region	North
State	Pará
Area
• Total	8,540.032 km2 (3,297.325 sq mi)
Elevation	20 m (70 ft)
Population (2010)
• Total	29,062
• Density	3.4/km2 (9/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC-3 (BRT)
Postal Code	68300-000

Gurupá or Santo Antonio de Gurupá is a municipality on the Amazon River in state of Pará, northern Brazil located near the world's largest river island, Marajó, 300 km upstream from the upper mouth of the river on the Atlantic coast.^[1]

The city is a center for palm heart extraction and commerce. It is a municipal seat and major river boat port.

History

Gurupá is derived from an indigenous language word or sound for the warble of a pica-pau bird, a species of woodpecker.

Gurupá was founded in 1609 as a Dutch trading post that they called Mariocai, after the indigenous peoples living there. It was the third of three trading posts established by the Dutch along the lower reaches of the Amazon and Xingu Rivers. The Dutch traded for dye, timber and mother-of-pearl. They also cultivated sugarcane along the Xingu river, to the south of Gurupa. It was subsequently conquered and occupied by the Portuguese in 1623, where they built the fort of Santo Antonio de Gurupá (St. Anthony of Gurupá). It became the royal captaincy of Gurupá in 1633 in recognition of its strategic military and trading position. It was absorbed into Grao-Pará in 1756.

References