Manaus, Brazil’s remotest city
-
Manaus, one of Brazil’s 2014 FIFA World Cup host cities, is the remotest metropolitan area in a country the size of a continent. Brazil, all of 8,514,877 square kilometers, is the world’s fifth largest country in terms of land area and the largest nation in South America. Of Brazil's cities, Manaus is the most remote, tucked away as it is squat in the middle of the Amazon rainforest.
The city takes its name from the Manaós indigenous people, the inhabitants of the forest, and during its history was briefly named by its Portuguese overlords as Cidade da Barra do Rio Negro - City of the Margins of Black River.
Manaus stands at the confluence of two of the mighty Amazon’s major tributaries — the Rio Negro and Solimões, which meet here to form the Amazon River. With a population of 1.9 million people, the country's seventh most populous city, it is the gateway to the Brazilian Amazon, a paradise for naturalists and biodiversity buffs.
A free port and a duty-free zone, Manaus made its profits from the cultivation and sale of rubber in the 1800s and was settled by wealthy European families. For its architecture, European arthouses and culture, Manaus is often known as The Paris of the Tropics.
The only way to reach Manaus from any of the major destinations such as Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo or Brasilia is by flight. In fact, Brazil’s lack of a railroad system places a high dependency on air transport.
The 'Teatro Amazonas' (State Opera House) in the city of Manaus, in the Brazilian rain forest. It is the most remote opera house in the world
Boats are the most common way of transporting goods and people in the Amazon province in northern Brazil. It's a hub for the regions extensive river systems and a departure point for tourists visiting the Amazon region
A boy eats a watermelon in front of hammocks on a transport riverboat in the Brazilian Amazon from Maues to Manaus in Amazonas State,
A transport riverboat navigates at dawn in the Brazilian Amazon from Maues to Manaus
Cook Rosa prepares lunch in the kitchen aboard a transport riverboat in the Brazilian Amazon from Maues to Manaus
Passengers depart a transport riverboat in the Brazilian Amazon after arriving in Maues from Manaus.
-
A lone remaining Amazon rainforest tree stands as seen from a transport riverboat in the Brazilian Amazon from Maues to Manaus in Amazonas State, Brazil
The Rio Negro is seen at dusk from the Hotel Tropical near Manaus, Brazi
Visitors can stop by the African House for cool drinks and snacks after a bike tour in Manaus, Brazil
Lanchas rapidas serve as taxis on the waterways of the Amazon region and dock at the floating restaurant on Lake Janauari near Manaus, Brazil
A modern high rise shares the skyline with the old opera house in Manaus, Brazil
The Metropolitan Cathedral of Our Lady of Conceicao is located near the waterfont in Manaus, Brazil
Trees in the Amazon have acclimated to flooding in the jungles near Manaus
The broad street in front of the opera house is open only to pedestrian traffic in Manaus, Brazil
-
Amazon River in Manaus, Brazil
Gero Mesquita's Ararinha Jungle Hotel lodge in the Amazon in Brazil, about 100 miles from the city of Manaus. Guests can choose from individual huts or beds or hammocks in a communal sleeping area above the lodge dining room. Manaus
anaconda snake that he poses with for tourists on an island off the Rio Negro near the city of Manau
visitor on a tour of the Amazon in Brazil displaying her first piranha catch as guide Shane Zammette, who provided beef for bait, looks on.
-
