(Redirected from Acre State):''For other meanings of the word 'Acre', see also:
Acre (disambiguation)''
'Acre' (
pron. IPA: //
[1]) is a
state of
Brazil, located in the north-western part of the country. To the north is the state of
Amazonas, to the east is a short border with the state of
Rondônia, to the south is
Bolivia and to the west is the
Ucayali Region of
Peru.
History
On hearing the name "Acre", some people believe it is derived from either
Akko, the last of the historical
Crusader states of Palestine, and others speculate that it is a corruption of the Portuguese word for alligator, ''Jacarés'', the name of a local river; however, historical evidence shows that the name originates from the local native word ''Akiri''.
The territory was assigned to Bolivia in 1867 by the
Treaty of Ayacucho with Brazil. In 1899-1900, the Spanish journalist and former diplomat Luiz Galvez Rodrigues de Aria led an expedition that sought to seize control of what is now Acre from Bolivia. The expedition was secretly financed by the Amazonas state government and aimed to incorporate Acre into Brazil after its independence from Bolivia. Galvez declared himself president of the first 'Republic of Acre' on
July 14 1899. That first republic lasted until March 1900, when the Brazilian government sent troops to arrest Galvez and give Acre back to Bolivia. Galvez was deported to Spain and the inhabitants of Acre saw themselves against Bolivia and Brazil. In spite of a second attempt at creating an Acre Republic (November 1900 -
December 24 1900), Acre remained part of
Bolivia until
1903. After the failure of the second attempt to seceed Acre from Bolivia, a veteran soldier from
Rio Grande do Sul who had fought in the
Federalist Revolution of 1893, José Plácido de Castro, was approached by the Acrean Revolution leaders and offered the opportunity to lead the independence movement against the Bolivians. Plácido, who had been working in Acre since 1899 as a chief surveyor of a surveying expedition and was about to go back to Rio de Janeiro, accepted the offer. He imposed strict military discipline and reorganized the revolutionary army, which reached 30,000 men. The Acrean army won battle after battle and on
January 27, 1903,
José Plácido de Castro declared the 'Third Republic of Acre'. President
Rodrigues Alves of Brazil, ordered Brazilian troops into Northern Acre in order to replace Plácido as the president of Acre. Through
Rodrigues Alves' most able minister's diplomacy,
Barão do Rio Branco, the question was settled. After negotiations a treaty was signed. The
Treaty of Petrópolis, which was signed on
November 11 1903, gave Brazil Acre (191,000 km²) in exchange for lands in Mato Grosso, payment of two million pounds sterling and an undertaking to construct the Madeira-Mamoré railroad that would allow Bolivia access to the outside world. It should be noted that for forty years, since around 1860, Acre had been overrun by Brazilians, who made up 99% of the population. On
February 25,
1904 it was officially made a federal territory of Brazil, and a federal state in
1962. Acre is best known for being the home of the world's first ecomartyr, the rubber tapper
Chico Mendes, who was murdered at the orders of powerful cattle ranchers in 1988.
Geography
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.
See also:
★
List of cities in Brazil (all cities and municipalities)
Indigenous population
Acre is inhabited by various indigenous groups of the
Panoan language family, including Kashinawa,
Jaminawa and
Xanenawa. There are also three groups of other language families,
Madiha (
Kulina) of the
Arawan family as well as
Yine (
Manchineri) and
Ashaninka (
Kampa) of the
Arawakan family.
Flag
The flag was adopted on
March 15,
1921. It is a variation of the flags used by the secessionist state of Acre, with the yellow and green parts exchanged and mirrored. The yellow color symbolizes peace, green hope, and the star symbolizes the light which guided those who worked to make Acre a state of Brazil.
Notes
1. The presented pronunciation is in Brazilian Portuguese. The European Portuguese pronunciation is: //.
External links
★
Acre's location on a 3D globe (Java)
★
Governamental official homepage (Portuguese)
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