Macapá

Macapá
Macapá
	— Municipality —
The Municipality of Macapá
	Macapá equator
; Flag	; Seal
	Nickname(s): "A Capital do Meio do Mundo" ("The Capital of the Middle of the World")
	Location of Macapá in the State of Amapá
	Coordinates: 0°2′2″N 51°3′59″W / 0.03389°N 51.06639°W
Country	Brazil
Region	North
State	Amapá
Founded	February 9, 1758
	Government
- Mayor	João Henrique (PT)
	Area
- Total	6.563 km2 (2.5 sq mi)
	Population (2006)
- Total	368,397
- Density	56.1/km2 (145.3/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC-3
Postal Code	68900-000

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Macapá (Mekepah), (Good Thing) or (Maïtc Pia in Tupi) is the capital of the state of Amapá in Brazil, (2005 pop. 339,500), on the Amazon River. Mining is central to its economy. It exports tin iron, gold, and manganese, as well as lumber, oil, animal pelts, and fish. Manufactures include rubber products and food. Founded in 1688 by military men in the vicinity of a fortress protecting access to the mouth of the Amazon, Macapá grew very slowly until it became the capital of Amapá, which was created (as a federal territory) in 1943. The old fortress is now a regional museum.

The city lies exactly on the Equator, at 0° N, and hosts a monument to this, known as Marco Zero ("Zero Mark"). Next to it there are both a sambadrome and a football stadium (the Zerão), proud to be the only one in the world where each half of the field is located in opposite hemispheres.

[edit] History

Macapá is a corruption of the Tupi word macapaba, or place of many bacabas. A bacaba is the fruit of the local palm. The Spanish called it Adelantado de Nueva Andalucía when it was claimed for Spain by Francisco de Orellana in 1544.^[1] In 1738 a Portuguese military detachment was stationed in Macapá, and on 4 February 1758 Sebastião Veiga Cabral, the illegitimate child of the military governor of Trás-os-Montes, Sebastião Veiga Cabral, founded the town of São José de Macapá, under the authority of the governor of Pará, Francisco Xavier de Mendonça Furtado.

The fortress of São José de Macapá was first laid out in 1764, but it took 18 years to complete, due to illness among the Indian workers, and flight among the Black workers.^[1].

Macapá gained international notoriety in December 2001 when the International NZ yachtsman Peter Blake was murdered while at anchored on his explorer yacht Seamaster off the Port of Macapa. Peter Blake was best known for winning the Round the World Yacht Race and leading the yacht Team New Zealand to victory in 1995 and 2000 in the America's Cup, yachting's most prestigious team competition

A media relase of his death was given at the Paris boat show by the America's Cup sponsors:

"A group of seven or eight armed and hooded intruders boarded Seamaster at approximately 2215 local time on Wednesday," their statement said.

"Sir Peter was fatally shot and two other members of Seamaster's crew were injured, one with a gunshot wound across the back, the other with a blow to the face".

Seamaster was anchored off the port of Macapa near the mouth of the Amazon, waiting for customs clearance to leave Brazilian waters after two months' sailing in Amazonia.

The assailants were thought to be from a local gang of pirates known as the "Water Rats".

[edit] Geography

Macapá is located 345 km from Belém, but is accessible only by boat or airplane. There are no through roads ^[1] to "mainland Brazil", although it is possible to drive to Georgetown, Guyana.

[edit] Climate

Macapá has an equatorial climate; a type of tropical climate in which there is no dry season – all months have mean precipitation values of at least 60mm. It is usually found at latitudes within five degrees of the equator – which are dominated by the Intertropical Convergence Zone.

[edit] Vegetation

Macapá has a Tropical forest. Rainforests are characterized by high rainfall, with definitions setting minimum normal annual rainfall between 2,000 mm (about 78 inches or 2 meters) and 1700 mm (about 67 inches). The soil can be poor because high rainfall tends to leach out soluble nutrients. There are several common characteristics of tropical rainforest trees. Tropical rainforest species frequently possess one or more of the following attributes not commonly seen in trees of higher latitudes or trees in drier conditions on the same latitude.

[edit] Economy

The GDP for the city was R$ 2,826,458,000 (2005).^[2]

The per capita income for the city was R$ 7,950 (2005).^[3]

[edit] Education

Macapá is the most important educational centre of the state.

Portuguese is the official national language, and thus the primary language taught in schools. But English and French (due to the proximity with French Guiana) are part of the official high school curriculum.

[edit] Educational institutions

Universidade Federal do Amapá (Unifap);
Universidade Estadual do Amapá (UEAP);
Faculdade de Macapá (Fama);
and many others.

[edit] Transportation

[edit] International airport

The city is served by the Macapá International Airport.

[edit] Highways

The city is connected with the rest of the country through the following highways: AP-010, linking the capital to the city of Santana, southwest of Macapá; AP-030, linking Macapá to the city of Mazagão and BR-156, linking Macapá to the south of Amapá and to Pará, more specifically to the city of Laranjal do Jari, and to the north to the city of Oiapoque.