Fordlândia
Fordlândia (Portuguese pronunciation: [fɔʁdʒiˈlɐ̃dʒɐ], Ford-land) is a district and adjacent area of 14.268 km² in the city of Aveiro, in the Brazilian state of Pará. It is located on the east banks of the Tapajós river roughly 300 km south of the city of Santarém. It was established by American industrialist Henry Ford in the Amazon Rainforest in 1928 as a prefabricated industrial town intended to be inhabited by 10,000 people to secure a source of cultivated rubber for the automobile manufacturing operations of the Ford Motor Company in the United States. Ford had negotiated a deal with the Brazilian government granting him a concession of 10,000 km2 (3,900 sq mi) of land on the banks of the Rio Tapajós near the city of Santarém, Brazil, in exchange for a 9% share in the profits generated. Ford's project failed, and the city was abandoned in 1934.
The town was mostly deserted, with only 90 residents still living in the city until the late 2000s when it saw an increase of population, being home to around 2,000 people as of 2017[update].
In the 1920s, the Ford Motor Company sought to elude British monopoly over the supply of rubber, mainly used for producing tires and other car parts. Henry Ford looked for alternatives and a permanent place to establish a colony to produce rubber. Central America was considered; however, information about the rubber trees in the Amazon was uncovered and this, along with other factors, caused a change of plans.
Negotiations between the Brazilian government started when the then-governor of the State of Pará, Dionísio Bentes, traveled to the United States to meet Ford. An agreement was signed and the American industrialist received an area of about 2.5 million acres called "Boa Vista". The agreement exempted Ford from taxes to the exportation of goods produced in Brazil in exchange for 9% of the profits.
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