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Gurupá

Gurupá
Municipality
Location in the State of Pará
Location in the State of Pará
Coordinates: 01°24′18″S 51°38′24″W / 1.40500°S 51.64000°W / -1.40500; -51.64000Coordinates: 01°24′18″S 51°38′24″W / 1.40500°S 51.64000°W / -1.40500; -51.64000
Country  Brazil
Region North
State  Pará
Area
 • Total 8,540.032 km2 (3,297.325 sq mi)
Elevation 20 m (70 ft)
Population (2010)
 • Total 29,062
 • Density 3.4/km2 (9/sq mi)
Time zone BST (UTC-3)
Postal Code 68300-000

Gurupá or Santo Antonio de Gurupá is a municipality on the Amazon River in state of Pará, northern Brazil located near the world's largest river island, Marajó, 300 km upstream from the upper mouth of the river on the Atlantic coast.

The city is a center for palm heart extraction and commerce. It is a municipal seat and major river boat port.

Gurupá is derived from an indigenous language word or sound for the warble of a pica-pau bird, a species of woodpecker.

Gurupá was founded in 1609 as a Dutch trading post that they called Mariocai, after the indigenous peoples living there. It was the third of three trading posts established by the Dutch along the lower reaches of the Amazon and Xingu Rivers. The Dutch traded for dye, timber and mother-of-pearl. They also cultivated sugarcane along the Xingu river, to the south of Gurupa. It was subsequently conquered and occupied by the Portuguese in 1623, where they built the fort of Santo Antonio de Gurupá (St. Anthony of Gurupá). It became the royal captaincy of Gurupá in 1633 in recognition of its strategic military and trading position. It was absorbed into Grao-Pará in 1756.



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