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Rio Branco
Rio Branco
Flag Seal
Location of Rio Branco in Acre
Coordinates: 9°58′29″S 67°48′36″W / -9.97472, -67.81
Country	Brazil
Region	North
State	Acre
Founded	28 December 1882
Government
- Mayor	Raimundo Angelim (PT)
Area
- Total	9,233 km² (3,564.9 sq mi)
Elevation	41 m (136 ft)
Population (2005)
- Total	305,731
- Density	33.11/km² (85.8/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC-5 (UTC-5)
HDI (2000)	0.754 – medium
Website: Rio Branco, Acre

Rio Branco (lit. White River) is the biggest city and the capital of the Brazilian state of Acre. The city of Rio Branco has many different names in the past. It has origins when the seringalista Neutel Maia arrived in the region of Acre, in end of 1882, with his family and workers who for the rubber production, where established its first seringal at the right edge of the Rio Acre, initiating there the constructions of large cabins and tents, giving the name of Seringal Volta da Empresa. After that, he opened another seringal at the left edge of the Rio Acre, where today the Palace of the Government of the Acre is installed, with the name of Seringal Empresa. Rio Branco has a strategic location, about 2 hours from Manaus by air and has borders with Peru and is the only city (State) close to the important eco touristic centers of Cuzco, Pucalpa and Puerto Maldonado.

Contents 1 Geography 1.1 Climate 1.2 Vegetation 2 Economy 3 Curiosity 4 Education 4.1 Colleges and universities 5 Culture 5.1 Festa Junina (Saint John Festival) 5.2 Carnival 6 Infrastructure 6.1 International Airport 7 Sports 8 External links

Acre has a territory covered mostly by jungle of the Amazon Rainforest. The state is a well-known producer and exporter of rubber. The Acre River runs along the southern boundary of the state, forming the border with Bolivia.

An equatorial climate is a type of tropical climate in which 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. The equatorial climate is denoted Af in the Köppen climate classification. Tropical rainforest is the natural vegetation in equatorial regions.

The Amazon represents over half of the planet's remaining rainforests and comprises the largest and most species-rich tract of tropical rainforest in the world. Wet tropical forests are the most species-rich biome, and tropical forests in the Americas are consistently more species rich than the wet forests in Africa and Asia.^[1] As the largest tract of tropical rainforest in the Americas, the Amazonian rainforests have unparalleled biodiversity. More than 1/3 of all species in the world live in the Amazon Rainforest.^[2]

The GDP for the city was R$ 1,976,493,668 (2004).^[3]

The per capita income for the city was R$ 6,909 (2004).^[4]

Vehicles: 58,531 (jun./2006); Daily newspapers: 3 (jul./2006); Established: 12/28/1882.

Portuguese is the official national language, and thus the primary language taught in schools. But English and Spanish are part of the official high school curriculum.

• Universidade Federal do Acre (Ufac);
• Faculdade da Amazônia Ocidental (Faao);
• Faculdade de Ciências Jurídicas e Sociais Aplicadas Rio Branco (Firb);
• Instituto de Educação, Ciência e Tecnologia do Vale do Juruá (Ieval);
• Instituto de Ensino Superior do Acre (Iesacre);
• União Educacional do Norte (Uninorte).

Festa Junina was introduced to Northeastern Brazil by the Portuguese for whom St John's day (also celebrated as Midsummer Day in several European countries), on the 24th of June, is one of the oldest and most popular celebrations of the year. Differently, of course, from what happens on the European Midsummer Day, the festivities in Brazil do not take place during the summer solstice but during the tropical winter solstice. The festivities traditionally begin after the 12th of June, on the eve of St Anthony's day, and last until the 29th, which is Saint Peter's day. During these fifteen days, there are bonfires, fireworks, and folk dancing in the streets (step names are in French, which shows the mutual influences between court life and peasant culture in the 17th, 18th, and 19th-century Europe). Once exclusively a rural festivity, today, in Brazil, it is largely a city festival during which people joyfully and theatrically mimic peasant stereotypes and clichés in a spirit of joke and good time. Typical refreshments and dishes are served. It should be noted that,

like during Carnival, these festivities involve costumes-wearing (in this case, peasant costumes), dancing, heavy drinking, and visual spectacles (fireworks display and folk dancing). Like what happens on Midsummer and St John's Day in Europe, bonfires are a central part of these festivities in Brazil.

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.

Rio Branco International Airport is located in a rural zone of the municipality of Rio Branco, in the state of Acre. It was opened on November 2, 1999 with a unique characteristic: it moved 22 kilometers from the previous airport site.

Rio Branco Airport serves domestic and international flights (by scheduled carriers and air taxi firms) along with general and military aviation. The terminal can receive 270 thousand passengers a year and serves an average of 14 daily operations.

Rio Branco provides visitors and residents with various sport activities.

• Stadiums
• Arena da Floresta stadium;
• José de Melo stadium;
• Federação Acreana de Futebol stadium;
• Dom Giocondo Maria Grotti stadium;
• Adauto de Brito stadium;
• and many others.

Rio Branco is one of the 18 remaining candidates to host games of the 2014 FIFA World Cup, for which Brazil is the only South American bidder.

• Rio Branco is at coordinates 9°58′41″S 67°48′43″W / -9.978, -67.8118Coordinates: 9°58′41″S 67°48′43″W / -9.978, -67.8118

v • d • e Capitals of Brazilian states
Brasília Federal Capital (DF)
North	Belém (PA) · Boa Vista (RR) · Macapá (AP) · Manaus (AM) · Palmas (TO) · Porto Velho (RO) · Rio Branco (AC)
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South	Curitiba (PR) · Florianópolis (SC) · Porto Alegre (RS)