Acre (Brazil)

Acre is a state in the North of Brazil, on the border with Peru. Acre is the greenest state of Brazil, with over 50% of its territory protected somehow. Important figures on the national environmentalist movement, such as Chico Mendes and Marina Silva, come from here.

Cities

 * — the capital and the biggest city of the state is a pleasant town with interesting architecture, usually inspired by forest or native culture elements
 * — across the Xapuri River from the Bolivian city of Cobija
 * — most important tourist and economic center in the interior of Acre, it has many buildings and monuments that symbolize and preserve the history of Acre
 * — on the right bank of the Envira River, which is the main means of transporting production for riverside dwellers
 * — on the left bank of the Abunã River, across from the Bolivian town of Puerto Evo Morales
 * — it has the oldest church in Acre, built in 1910
 * — known as "the land of the giant pineapple", where the fruit weighs around 15 kg
 * — it draws visitors to its monuments to the Acre War and the house of Chico Mendes, and it has an eco-lodge at the Seringal Waterfall

Other destinations

 * — in the extreme west of the state, most of its territory is covered by the Amazon rainforest. The main rivers are the Juruá and the Moa, on the banks of which the Nukini Indians live. Authorization from Ibama is required for visitation.
 * — with an important area covered by forest, it preserves the local flora and fauna, in the same place where the Itucumã rubber plantation was located, 10 km from Rio Branco.

Understand
Acre lives in Brazilian popular culture as "the state that doesn't exist", as in a conspiratory theory. Nothing could be more unfair, given this was the one state in the federation that went through an armed struggle to become part of the country.

Acre is inhabited by various indigenous groups of the Panoan language family, including Kashinawa, Jaminawa and Xanenawa. There are also three groups of other language families, Madiha (Kulina) of the Arawan family as well as Yine (Manchineri) and Ashaninka (Kampa) of the Arawakan family.

History
Until the beginning of the 20th century, the territory occupied by Acre belonged to Bolivia. Intense extractive activity in the rubber industry attracted Brazilians from many regions to the state. In 1899, Brazilian settlers from Acre created an independent state in the region called the Republic of Acre. Bolivians tried to gain control of the area, but Brazilians revolted and there were border confrontations. This resulted in what was known as the Acre War. On November 17, 1903, with the signing over and sale in the Treaty of Petrópolis, Brazil received final possession of the region.

By plane
Flights from Rio Branco, state capital. Connect in Brasilia on Gol and Porto Velho  on Trip.

Cruzeiro do Sul International Airport provides helps access to the Alto Juruá region. .

By bus
Buses connect Rio Branco to Puerto Maldonado in Peru (9 hours) and with Porto Velho in Rondônia state (6 hours).

By car
The highways that run through Acre are the BR-364, which connects the state to Rondônia and the Center-West, passing through the capital and reaching the extreme west, in Cruzeiro do Sul, and the BR-317, which goes from Rio Branco to Assis Brasil, on the triple border (Brazil, Bolivia, Peru).

Get around
There are only 200 km of state highways, mostly near Rio Branco.

By boat
River transport, concentrated on the Juruá and Moa rivers, in the western part of the state, and the Tarauacá and Envira rivers in the northwest, is the principal form of transportation, especially between November and June. Heavy seasonal rains frequently make the BR-364 impassable in those months; it usually connects Rio Branco to Cruzeiro do Sul.

See
In Rio Branco, visit the Palácio Rio Branco and Museu da Borracha museums to learn about the region's history.

Do
Serra do Divisor has a range of undeveloped terrains and wildlife. In one month, ecologists counted: 43 large mammal species, more than 100 amphibian and 30 reptile species, 485 bird species, 55 species of bats, and 29 spider families.

Eat
Acre cuisine mixes Northeastern, Pará, Bolivian, indigenous and Arab cuisine. From this mixture came duck in tucupi, tacacá, sun-dried meat with baião de dois, fish stew, tapioca, spicy chicken and cigars. Exotic fruits yield excellent juices and desserts: graviola, cajá, cajarana, cupuaçu, etc. From the forest come peach palm, Brazil nut, guarana, buriti and açaí.

Acre state is one of the biggest producers of açaí in Brazil. This purple juice extracted from the fruit of a palm tree gained international fame as a superfood, consumed in form of a frozen cream to which fruits or nuts are added. However, the local way to consume it is to mix the fresh unsweetened juice to a bit of manioc flour (for crunchiness) and then add sugar, condensed milk and/or powdered milk.

Another local delicacy is tacacá, a broth made with manioc water and jambu, a leaf that causes an effect between hotness and light numbness of the mouth. When asked how much goma you want, start with "little" because this goey paste is an acquired taste, but don't skip it as it dissolves into the broth, giving it a nice thickness. It is served in a bowl, and you are supposed to drink directly from it, Japanese-style.