Marabá is a municipality in the state of Pará, Brazil. Its greatest geographic reference is the confluence of two large rivers near the historic city center, the Itacaiunas River and the Tocantins River, forming a "Y" if seen from space. It basically consists of six urban centers linked by five highways.
Marabá is the fourth-most-populous municipality in the state of Pará, approximately 283,542 inhabitants according to the IBGE/2020, and the fourth largest GDP in the state of Pará, with US$1.543.254,34 according to the IDESP/2010.Produto Interno Bruto dos Municípios do estado do Pará em 2010 - Instituto de Desenvolvimento Econômico, Social e Ambiental do Pará - 13 de março de 2012 It's the main center of political, social, and economic development in southern of Pará and one of the most dynamic municipalities in Brazil.
Marabá has a strategic position and is crossed by five highways. It also has a large logistics infrastructure, with a port, airport, and railway. The municipality has a growing industrial park. The steel industry is especially important to Marabá's vast agricultural frontier. Marabá also has a strong trade and services sector.
Marabá is characterized by its broad mix of peoples and cultures that do justice to the meaning of the town's nickname: "Son of Miscegenation."
Etymology The word "Marabá" derives from the indigenous vocable "Mayr-Abá", which simply means "son of the indigenous woman with a white man."
A poem written by poet Gonçalves Dias inspired by the merchant Francisco Silva to its commercial name of "Casa Marabá" (Maraba House). This was located the banks of the Tocantins River, and served as a strategic business point for exchanging all kinds of products and services.
History The settlement of the river basin Itacaiunas played an important factor in shaping the city, because even though this region was later colonized by the Portuguese Empire in the sixteenth century, remained without a permanent settler occupation for almost 300 years. Only in 1894 is, in fact, the space was occupied by settlers.
Colonization The first to participate in the colonization of the territory of Marabá, in 1894, were the political leaders who had escaped from political guerrillas in the northern Province of Goiás, specifically the city of Boa Vista.Carlos Gomes Leitão - Maraba Online. One of those leaders was Carlos Leitao, who traveled with his group to the southeast of the province of Grão-Pará and established its first camp in downstream Itacaiunas River, in December 1894. A definitive village was established on the left bank of the Tocantins River, about 10 km downstream from the other camp, the place that Carlos Leitao called "Burgo do Itacayúna" (Burgo's Itacayúna). After a few months, the extraction of rubber latex began in the "Burgo's Itacayúna" region.
In 1895 Carlos Gomes Leitão asks the President of the Province of Grão-Pará, José Paes de Carvalho, funding for the extraction and commercialization of rubber in addition to getting drugs to be used specifically to combat tropical diseases. To get funding, Carlos Leitão disseminating information on the extraction of rubber in small colony of Burgo's Itacayúna and its surroundings. Immediately there is the first population explosion of the locality where the rubber tappers, fishermen and hunters settle in the village of Burgo.Clipping de notícias do jornal "O Liberal" sobre o centenário de Marabá - Instituto de Estudos Superiores da Amazônia
Foundation of Pontal do Itacayúna The merchant Francisco Coelho da Silva would have been the first to settle in the area downstream of Rio Itacaiunas, crucial to the foundation of the village of "Pontal do Itacayúna" (Pontal of Itacayúna). The goal of Francisco Silva, while riding the village of Pontal of Itacayúna, was to negotiate with the rubber tappers who sought to sell the rubber collected in the region.
The official historiography Francisco Silva assigns the authorship of the current name of the city. He had installed in the village of Pontal of Itacayúna a commercial point called "Casa Marabá" (House Marabá), which years later would be used to name the until then village Pontal of Itacayúna.
With the death of Colonel Carlos Leitão in 1903, the village of Burgo's Itacayúna is disabled and Leitão family along with other residents move to the village of Pontal do Itacayúna. In 1904 the village of the Pontal shall be called "Marabá" and host the borough, with the installation of the police detachment.História - Prefeitura de Marabá.
Formation of the municipality
The economy of the village of Marabá grew considerably supported by the extractive base, anchored in exports of rubber and Brazil-nut to U.S. and European markets. The economic importance gained, influenced the political aspects, so that in the years 1908 to 1909 a major rebellion occurred in Maraba, called of "Revolta dos Galegos" (Revolt of the Galicians).MONTARROYOS, Heraldo Elias. História Social e Econômica da Casa Marabá: Reconstruindo o Cotidiano de um Barracão na Amazônia Oriental entre 1898 e 1906 - Revista História e-História, 2013 The rebellion was demanding political autonomy from the county of Baião, and the low prices paid for rubber and the highest interest rate on loans for collecting nuts and rubber.TEIXEIRA, M. Marabá 100 anos: A revolta dos galegos e a declaração de emancipação . Blog A Urbe, 2013
Retaliating against the rebellion of Maraba the government of the province of Grão-Pará does not meet demands by emancipation. However the enormous pressure and influence of the local society has made the provincial government gave in and finally initiate negotiations for the creation of the municipality of Marabá.
That culminated on February 27, 1913 Maraba achieved political autonomy and became a municipality. The first mayor of Maraba was the military Antonio Maia, who took office as appointed by the President of the Province of Grão-Pará.
In subsequent years the migratory flow to the region of Marabá increased considerably. During the 1920s, immigrants moved to Maraba mainly to participate in the extraction and sale of Brazil nuts, andiroba, copaiba oils and rubber. And from the 1930s moved to Maraba, in order to work in the diamond mines that were on the banks of the Tocantins River.
In 1929, Marabá becomes illuminated by a power plant that operated the base from burning wood. In November 1935 the local airport is opened and the first plane lands in this. Maraba in this period consists of 450 houses and 1.500 inhabitants fixed.
The 1970s With the construction of Highway PA-70, in 1969, Maraba is connected to the Belém-Brasília Highway. The implementation of road infrastructure was part of the Brazilian military government's strategy to integrate the Amazon region to the rest of the country. All this was part of the integration strategy of the Amazon territory, especially the region of Marabá, where was undertaken mainly the official plan of agricultural colonization, the construction of the Tucuruí Hydroelectric Power, the implementation of "Projeto Grande Carajás" (Greater Carajas Project), and even the discovery of large gold deposits of the Serra Pelada. All these projects were centered in Marabá, and contributed to the economic and population boom that occurred in the city between 1970 and 1980.DA SILVA, Idelma Santiago. Migração e Cultura no Sudeste do Pará - Universidade Federal de Goiás, 2010
In 1970 the city was declared a National Security Area (legal position allowing direct intervention of the Brazilian central government), a condition that lasted until the end of the Brazilian military dictatorship in 1985. Besides having strategic importance to the policy of national integration, Marabá region was the only region of Brazil where there was fighting between the army and the guerrillas of the PCdoB party who want to topple the military regime and establish a communist regime in Brazil. Then performed an Araguaia guerrilla movement, which forced the Brazilian government to Marabá to send a large contingent of troops of the Brazilian Army. The city has become since then one of the bases for military operations troops of the Brazilian Armed Forces.NASCIMENTO, Durbens. A Guerrilha do Araguaia: Paulistas e Militares na Amazônia - Universidade Federal do Pará
In 1970 it launched the "Programa de Integração Nacional" (National Integration Program), which, among other things, provided for the construction of the Trans-Amazon Highway, whose first section opened in 1971, along with the creation of a post of the National Institute of Colonization and Agrarian Reform in Marabá. With the completion of construction of the Trans-Amazon Highway, the flow of immigrants towards Maraba became very large, and in less than a decade the city has been radically transformed, from a small urban center on the banks of the Tocantins River (in Maraba time had only 20,000 inhabitants), a main city in the region with over 100,000 inhabitants.O Plano de Integração Nacional de 1970 e as rodovias na Amazônia - FAU/Universidade de São Paulo
The 1980s In 1980 the city was devastated by the biggest flood in its history, when the Tocantins River rose 17.42 meters. As a result, there was a redesign of the city's expansion, with the construction of urban areas planned of the "Cidade Nova" (New City) and "Nova Marabá" (New Marabá), to the detriment of traditional urban area of the "Velha Marabá" (Old Marabá). New urban areas have also emerged over the decade, highlighting the "São Félix" (St. Félix) and the "Morada Nova" (New Morada).Variabilidade na precipitação na Amazônia: Implicações socioeconômicas - Congresso Brasileiro de Meteorologia
In 1984, comes into operation the Carajás Railway, which has Marabá as center of operations; in 1988 and come into operation the first two steel mills for the production of pig iron.Siderúrgicas aquecem economia regional - Revista Pólo Sustentável
In 1987 there was a conflict that became known as the Massacre of St. Boniface. The battle took place between the miners of Serra Pelada and the battalion of the "Polícia Militar" (Military Police of the state of Pará), with the support of the Brazilian Army. The event that preceded the massacre was blocking access to the Mixed Bridge of Marabá, in demonstration of the reopening of Serra Pelada mine and the lowering of the mining pit. A Police battalion was sent to unlock the bridge, but on reaching the spot shot with firearms against protesters to force their withdrawal. Officially nine people died in the conflict.Guerra de São Bonifácio - MSN Estadão
The municipality contains part of the Tapirapé Biological Reserve, a strictly protected conservation unit created in 1989.
Recent facts
In 2008, the industrial park of Marabá reaches its peak with the onset of steel production,Cidade de Marabá cresce e assombra o Brasil - Diário Online declining in the same year due to the Great RecessionSetor guseiro de Marabá-PA em crise - Sindicato dos Trabalhadores das Indústrias Petroquímicas do Estado do Paraná that has hit the European, American and Chinese markets, which were the targets of local production.Viagem a Canaã - A pública
The crisis greatly affected the collection of taxes and other local businesses, forcing layoffs and major disruptions of projects and investments. The effects in industrial park of Marabá were very large, forcing the closure of 10 of the 11 steel-metallurgical industries. - Portal Marabá The city's economy is slowly recovering, with the reopening of some steel mills since 2013.