Barcarena

Barcarena is a Brazilian municipality in the state of Pará, next to the Tocantins River, and part of the Belém metropolitan area. It has a population of about 127,027. Its economy relies largely on agriculture and bauxite, and there are pig iron facilities nearby. The city and its port are developing into a major transshipping point for goods bound for international export, linked by rail to inland ports across Brazil, which speeds up shipments and reduces costs compared with the traditional megaports of the Southeast. The area was first inhabited by the Aruã people and Jesuits came in 1709. In 2015 the livestock vessel Haidar capsized at the Vila do Conde port, and in 2018 floods led to heavy metal contamination of water from the nearby Alunorte facilities. The climate is tropical rainforest with heavy rain for most of the year.