During the Age of Exploration, the old world countries embarked on a competitive quest to conquer new lands.

In 1540, on his way from Peru to Spain, an explorer by the name of Francisco de Orellana discovered a river which he christened the Orellana River. Later however, after being attacked at the mouth of Nhamundá River by a group of warrior women, he changed its name to Amazonas. Yet before Orellana navigated its waters, the Amazon was known as Amaru Mayu, or "the Serpent Mother of the World".

The stories told by Orellana's expedition awakened keen interest in the Portuguese, Spanish, Dutch, English and French and around 1600, incursions on the region were underway.

As a result, the Portuguese began a fierce campaign to attempt to defend their conquests. Setting out from Pernambuco, they reached Amazonas around 1616 and fought against the French who had invaded the coast of Maranhão. Around the same time, the city of Belém was founded on what was then Fort Presépio.

In 1669, São José da Barra Fort (top) was built in order to defend and explore the region and to guarantee Portuguese control. Around the fort, a small village began to grow which later became the city of Manaus.

At that time, the entire Amazon region, known as Grão-Pará, was governed from Belém. Naturally, due to the vastness of the region, it was practically impossible to attend to the needs of population and at the same time maintain the peace between the colonists and the natives. So, on March 3rd, 1755 the Captaincy of São José do Rio Negro was created to address the problems and guarantee Portuguese control.

In 1833, the small village obtained Vila status and was given the name Manaus, a homage to the Manaós peoples. In the local native language, Manaus means "Mother of God".

On October 24, 1848 Manaus was granted city status and became the Capital of the Province of Amazonas.

Attempts to occupy the entire territory were unsuccessful and soon Peru, with US support, attempted to expand its borders. With this new pressing need to permanently occupy the region, on September 5, 1850 the Province of Amazonas was created, separating itself from Grão-Pará.

Years later, one of the most important economic booms hit the state: the Rubber Trade. During these years, northern immigrants fled the droughts and settled down near the rubber plantations. There was only one dream: to get rich. At the same time, English alliances played an important role in improving the city infrastructure. A sewer system, plumbing, electricity, a port, and electric streetcars contributed to the city's development. Many of these services did not even exist yet in other parts of the country.

The Rubber Boom was an era of great luxury during which time merchants sent their children off to Europe to study and the local buildings were built entirely of material imported from Europe. The famous Teatro Amazonas opera house and the Mercado Municipal market are highlights of this time and even today remain proud landmarks of a local architecture whose style denotes neoclassicism and art nouveau influences.

Later, for half a century the city suffered from the drastic plunge in rubber prices brought about by Asian competition. As a solution to this problem and to ensure that regional development would continue, a Free Trade Zone was created in Manaus in 1967. As a result, Manaus experienced a massive influx of tourists and a number of hotels were constructed to cater to the growing tourist industry. Today, the Free Trade Zone is still the State's main source of income.