| Pará
The
state Pará is located in the north part of Brazil..
Neighbor
states are Amapá,
Aranhão, Mato
Grosso, Tocantins,Roraima and Amazonas.
To the north it borders Guyana and Suriname (which has a region
named Para).
Pará is the second largest state of Brazil in area,
second only to Amazonas.
It was the third until Mato
Grosso do Sul broke away from Mato
Grosso in 1977. In the northern area, it has the largest
population, more than 6 million inhabitants. Its most famous
icons are the Amazon
River and the Amazon
rain forest. Well known Amazonian products include: firstly,
rubber extracted from the natural rubber tree groves, tropical
hard woods such as mohogany, and most recently minerals such
as iron ore and bauxite.
The capital city Belém, receives every October, tens
of thousands of tourists for the year's most important religious
celebation, the procession of the "Círio de Nazaré."
Another important attraction of the capital is the marajó
style ceramics, based on pottery from the extinct Marajó
Indian civilization and whose designs have gained international
fame.
Climate
An
equatorial climate is a type of tropical climate which means
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. Tropical rainforest is
the natural vegetation in equatorial regions.
Events
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Carnival
The four-day period before Lent leading up to Ash Wednesday
is carnival time in Brazil. Rich and poor alike forget
their cares as they party in the streets.
Indigenous
communities
Besides all the natural wealth, the State of Pará
also shelters a valuable cultural treasure, about 40
indigenous groups, scattered through and area of over
23 million hectares. Of these, more than eight million
have been delimited by Funai (National Foundation of
the Indian), ensuring security and preservation of that
space. Among the biggest indigenous communities there
are the Andira Marau, Munduruku and the Kayapó.
Círio
de Nazaré
The biggest feast in Pará State happens there,
Círio de Nazaré(Nazareth Taper). Festivities
start on the second Sunday in the month of October and
pay homage to Our Lady of Nazareth, patron saint of
the State. Organised since 1793, at present it gathers
around 1,5 million of followers, who go on a procession
through the city on a huge suite to the Nazaré
Basilica, where the image is worshipped |
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