Calçoene () is a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality ...

located in the east of the state of

Amapá Amapá () is one of the 26 states of Brazil. It is in the northern region of Brazil. It is the second least populous state and the eighteenth largest by area. Located in the far northern part of the country, Amapá is bordered clockwise by Fr ...

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

. It is located on the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the "Old World" of Afr ...

in the

Amazon jungle The Amazon rainforest, Amazon jungle or ; es, Selva amazónica, , or usually ; french: Forêt amazonienne; nl, Amazoneregenwoud. In English, the names are sometimes capitalized further, as Amazon Rainforest, Amazon Forest, or Amazon Jungle. ...

basin near

French Guiana French Guiana ( or ; french: link=no, Guyane ; gcr, label=French Guianese Creole, Lagwiyann ) is an overseas departments and regions of France, overseas department/region and single territorial collectivity of France on the northern Atlantic ...

. Calçoene covers and has a population is 11,306. The name Calçoene is a corruption of "Calço N" (North Wedge, one of four mining zones defined by the Brazilian Government at the beginning of the 20th century). The city has the highest rainfall of any in Brazil, with an annual average of . Calçoene is noted for its ancient megalithic observatory, often referred to as the "Amazon Stonehenge".

History

The borders between French Guiana and Brazil were not clear, and in the 19th century, it was decided that the area between the

Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek mythology * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon (company), an American multinational technolog ...

and the Oyapock River was a neutral territory. Paul Quartier had a meeting with the village chiefs of Cunani and Carsewenne (nowadays: Calçoene) in 1885. In 1886, the

Republic of Independent Guiana The Republic of Independent Guiana (french: République de la Guyane indépendante) commonly referred to by the name of the capital Counani (rendered "Cunani" in Portuguese by the Brazilians), was a short-lived unrecognized state in South America ...

was founded by a group of French adventurers and two village chiefs with Cunani as the capital. The unrecognised republic lasted until 1891. In 1900, the territory was awarded to Brazil. Calçoene became a municipality in 1956.

Geography

Calçoene is bordered on the north and east by the

, to the south by the municipalities of

and Pracuúba, and to the west by the municipalities of Oiapoque and

Serra do Navio Serra do Navio (), (''Mountain range of the Ship'') is a municipality located in the center of the state of Amapá in Brazil. Its population is 5,488 (2020 est.) and its area is 7,713 km². In the 1947, Manganese was discovered in the area. Se ...

. Calçoene is from the state capital of Macapá. The municipality contains 23.23% of the Amapá State Forest, a sustainable use conservation unit established in 2006.

Tourism

One of the most popular tourist attraction is the Goiabal beach on the

, which is located 14 kilometers from the town of Calçoene. The beach is 4 kilometres long and the water is dark due to the influence of the Amazon.

Calçoene megalithic observatory

In May 2006, archeologists announced they had found a pre-colonial astronomical observatory, possibly 500 to 2,000 years old, near Calçoene. The age is based on pottery sherds on site that have been dated to 2,000 years old. The site is on a hill and has 127 large stones blocks of granite, each high, and dug firmly into the ground. Archaeologist Mariana Petry Cabral of the Amapa Institute of Scientific and Technological Research (IEPA) said that the observatory has been designed to align with the winter

solstice A solstice is an event that occurs when the Sun appears to reach its most northerly or southerly excursion relative to the celestial equator on the celestial sphere. Two solstices occur annually, around June 21 and December 21. In many count ...

. Other agricultural societies also developed sophisticated ways to track important times in the solar calendar. At one time, researchers did not think any cultures in the Amazon Basin had developed such complexity as to build such a site. This has altered their thinking.

Subdivisions

The municipality of Calçoene contains three districts: * Calçoene (town) * Cunani * Lourenço

References

External links

Official website
(in Portuguese)
'Amazon Stonehenge'
- Yahoo story
Photos

"Calcoene, the Brazilian Stonehenge"
Archaeoastronomy, 14 May 2006 {{DEFAULTSORT:Calcoene Populated places in Amapá Municipalities in Amapá