Monte Dourado is a town and district in the

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

ian municipality of

Almeirim Almeirim () is a city and a municipality in Santarém District, Portugal. The population in 2011 was 23,376, in an area of 222.12 km2. The city proper had a population of 10,520 in 2001. History There are vestiges of mid-Paleolithic to Mesol ...

, in the state of

Pará Pará () is a Federative units of Brazil, state of Brazil, located in northern Brazil and traversed by the lower Amazon River. It borders the Brazilian states of Amapá, Maranhão, Tocantins (state), Tocantins, Mato Grosso, Amazonas (Brazilian st ...

. Monte Dourando is a planned town established in 1967 to house the workers for the

Jari project The Jari project was an attempt to create a tropical tree farm in Brazil for producing Wood pulp, pulp for paper. Background The Jari project was a brainchild of US entrepreneur and billionaire Daniel K. Ludwig. In the 1950s he noticed that dema ...

. The city is located on the

Jari River The Jari River, or Jary River (), is a northern tributary of the Amazon River on the border between the states of Pará and Amapá in northeastern Brazil. It is in the most downstream regions of the Amazon Basin and borders the Guiana Highlands ...

History

In 1964, Daniel K. Ludwig, an American billionaire, purchased of rainforest in Brazil. In 1967, he conceived the

. The plan was to replace the

rainforest Rainforests are forests characterized by a closed and continuous tree Canopy (biology), canopy, moisture-dependent vegetation, the presence of epiphytes and lianas and the absence of wildfire. Rainforests can be generally classified as tropi ...

with ''

Gmelina arborea ''Gmelina arborea'', (in English beechwood, gmelina, goomar teak, Kashmir tree, Malay beechwood, white teak, yamane ), locally known as gamhar, is a fast-growing deciduous tree in the family Lamiaceae. Distribution and habitat ''Gmelina arborea ...

'' for the

pulp Pulp may refer to: * Pulp (fruit), the inner flesh of fruit * Pulp (band), an English rock band Engineering * Pulp (paper), the fibrous material used to make paper * Dissolving pulp, highly purified cellulose used in fibre and film manufacture ...

industry. A planned city called Monte Dourado (English: Golden Mountain) was built in Almeirim to house the workers. Ludwig started building schools, hospitals, roads, and ports. He wanted the Brazilian government to finance the construction of the city, but they refused. The city was unable to provide housing for all the workers, and a

shanty town A shanty town, squatter area, squatter settlement, or squatter camp is a settlement of improvised buildings known as shanties or shacks, typically made of materials such as mud and wood, or from cheap building materials such as corrugated iron s ...

called

Beiradão Laranjal do Jari () (''Jari Orangery'') is a Municipalities of Brazil, municipality located in the west of the state of Amapá in Brazil. It is the only municipality in the west boundaries of Amapá, except for a small part of Vitória do Jari. It ...

(nowadays: Laranjal do Jari) emerged on the other side of the

. The project turned into a major money-losing failure, and in 1982, the land was sold. In 1983, Monte Dourado became a district of Almeirim.

Transport

Monte Dourado is linked to Almeirim via the PA-473 road. The city of

Laranjal do Jari Laranjal do Jari () (''Jari Orangery'') is a Municipalities of Brazil, municipality located in the west of the state of Amapá in Brazil. It is the only municipality in the west boundaries of Amapá, except for a small part of Vitória do Jari. It ...

can be reached by ferry. Monte Dourado can be reached by air via the

Monte Dourado Airport Serra do Areão Airport is the airport serving the district of Monte Dourado in Almeirim, Brazil. History The airport was built as a support facility to Jari project. Airlines and destinations Access The airport is located from downtown ...

Munguba

Munguba is the port and industrial centre for the Jari project. It is located 17 kilometres from Monte Dourado, and contains the power plant and pulp mill. Munguba is connected to Monte Dourado and the industrial sites by 75 kilometres of rail road track. Munguba is located on the

References

{{authority control Populated places in Pará 1967 establishments in Brazil Planned communities in Brazil