Place:Roraima, Brazil

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source: Family History Library Catalog

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Roraima is one of the 26 states of Brazil. Located in the country's North Region, it is the northernmost and most geographically and logistically isolated state in Brazil. It is bordered by the state of Pará to the southeast, Amazonas to the south and west, Venezuela to the north and northwest, and Guyana to the east.

The state covers an area of approximately ,^[1] slightly larger than Belarus, being the fourteenth largest Brazilian state by area. The city of Boa Vista is the capital and largest city in the state, it is also the only capital in the country located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere. Antônio Denarium has been the governor of the state since 2019.

Roraima is the least populous state in the country, with a population of 631,181 inhabitants, according to 2020 estimates by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE).^[1] It is also the state with the lowest population density in Brazil, with 2.01 inhabitants per square kilometre. Its economy, based mainly on the tertiary sector, registers a high growth rate, although its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is the lowest in the country, with R$ 13.370 billion, representing only 0.15% of the Brazilian economy.^[2]

The history of Roraima is strongly linked to the Branco River. It was through this river that the first Portuguese settlers arrived in the region. The Branco River Valley was always coveted by the English and the Dutch, who entered Brazil through the Guiana Shield in search of indigenous people to be enslaved. The Spaniards also came to invade the northern part of the Branco River and the Uraricoera River by the territory of Venezuela. The Portuguese settlers defeated and expelled all invaders, establishing Portugal's sovereignty over the region of Roraima and part of Amazonas.

History

the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia

The first Portuguese settlers arrived in the region by the Branco River. Before the arrival of the Portuguese, the English and the Dutch were already attracted to the region, to explore the Branco River Valley through the Guyanas. Portugal's sovereignty over the region was only established after the Spaniards invaded the northern part of the Branco River, along with the Uraricoera River. From 1725, Carmelite missionaries began the task of converting the indigenous peoples in the region.

The Portuguese occupation intensified from the 1730s when it advances along the Branco River in search of consolidation of the borders and indigenous labour. For this, they organize rescue troops (purchase of indigenous people transformed into slaves during wars of opposing ethnic groups), war troops (punishment and enslavement of indigenous people who attacked Portuguese nuclei or prevented evangelization) and the search for Brazilian products for sale, the so-called sertão drugs. Also, they promoted descents – villages of missionaries and indigenous volunteers or compulsory.

In the middle of the 18th century, the Portuguese Crown became concerned with the constant Spanish expeditions to the western region of the Amazon. Thus, the idea of creating the Royal Captaincy of São José do Rio Negro was considered, which occurred through the Royal Charter of March 3, 1755. The main reason for the creation of the captaincy was the fear of the Spanish threat from the Viceroyalty of Peru, and the arising fear from the Dutch expeditions in Suriname to trade and imprison indigenous peoples.

The demarcations foresaw by the Treaty of Madrid, of 1750, also lead to a great extent: with the creation of a new administrative unit in the region, the intention was to implement, in practice, the colonization of the Upper Negro River, creating the necessary infrastructure for the meeting and the work of the Portuguese and Spanish demarcation committees, and this meeting never took place, having Portuguese moulds temporarily occupied the course of the lower Branco River in the meantime, carrying out plantations of manioc and other food, for the provisioning of the Commission.^[3]

The São Joaquim Fort, built in 1755 at the confluence of the Uraricoiera River with the Takutu River, was decisive in the conquest of the Branco River by the Portuguese. The Fort, which no longer exists today, had the main purpose of providing the Portuguese with the total sovereignty of Portugal over the lands of the Branco River Valley, which aroused international greed due to its little exploitation.^[4]

The Portuguese colonizers, after assuming the sovereignty and total control of the region, created several villages and towns in the locality, together with indigenous natives. Nossa Senhora da Conceição and Santo Antônio, on the Uraricoera River; São Felipe, on the Takutu River and Nossa Senhora do Carmo and Santa Bárbara, on the Branco River, were the main settlements created at the time, housing a significant population number. However, due to the conflicts between the indigenous and the colonizers, because the indigenous people did not accept to submit to the conditions imposed by the Portuguese, the villages did not develop.^[4]

To guarantee the presence of the Portuguese settlers in the lands of the Branco River Valley, commander Manuel da Gama Lôbo d'Almada started breeding cattle and horses in the territory, in 1789. The farms of São Bento, São José and São Marcos, on the Uraricoera and Takutu rivers, respectively, were the first to permanently introduce cattle and equine breeding, between 1793 and 1799. Currently, the São Marcos farm belongs to the indigenous people and is located in front of the place where Fort São Joaquim was located.^[4]

For a year, between 1810 and 1811, English soldiers entered the Valley but were expelled by the commander of São Joaquim Fort. The border between Brazil and Guyana, whose border demarcation process had already been closed, needed to be re-marked, due to the great English invasions that occurred in that period.^[4] Therefore, the colonization of the Branco River was divided into four periods: From 1750 to the beginning of the 19th century, with the discovery of the Branco River; from the mid-19th century until the creation of the municipality of Boa Vista, in 1890; from 1890 until the creation of the Federal Territory of Rio Branco; and the creation of the Federal Territory of Rio Branco to elevate it to the category of Brazilian federative unit renamed Roraima.^[4]

Decree-Law No. 5,812 of September 13, 1943, which dismembered the state of Amazonas, created the Federal Territory of Rio Branco. In 1962, the territory was called the Federal Territory of Roraima and elevated to the category of Brazilian federative unit by the Brazilian Constitution of 1988.^[3]

The colonization of the region was highly encouraged at the end of the 19th century, with the establishment of National Farms. However, the state's population only found stability after its emancipation, a century later, with the gold and diamond mines that attracted migratory waves from different regions of the country. This disorderly immigration and exploitation resulted in many conflicts and deaths due to illnesses and murders in the locality.^[3] Currently, almost all of the state's indigenous reserves are approved.^[3]

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