Manaus - Amazonia

The city of Manaus and the 1998 World Championships Course

Located 1450km inland from the Atlantic coast, Manaus is situated in the very heart of the Amazon rain forest. Lying on the north bank of the Rio Negro, this city of 1.5 million inhabitants is located just 18km from the Rio Negro's confluence with the Amazon River. It is a major inland port and a collection and distribution centre for the upper areas of Amazonia.

The first European settlement of the site took place in 1669, with the establishment of a small fort - San José do Rio Negrinho - and in 1850 it became the capital of the Amazonas Region and the centre of the then thriving rubber industry. It was at this time that the great opera house was constructed. The rubber industry declined from the 1920s on, with the development of rubber plantations in South East Asia (planted with pirated seeds from the wild rubber trees of the Amazon forest).