Óbidos, Brazil
| Óbidos | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Municipio | |||
| The Municipality of Óbidos | |||
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 Location in the State of Pará |
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| Country |
 Brazil
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| Region | Northeast | ||
| State |
 Pará
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| Founded | September 23, 1867 | ||
| Government | |||
| • Mayor | Jaime Barbosa da Silva(PTB) | ||
| Area | |||
| • Total | 28,021.287 km2 (10,819.079 sq mi) | ||
| Population (2010) | |||
| • Total | 49,254 | ||
| • Density | 1.76/km2 (4.6/sq mi) | ||
| Time zone | UTC-3 (UTC-3) | ||
Óbidos is a municipality in Pará, Brazil located at the narrowest and swiftest part of the Amazon River. It's an old town founded in 1697, and located between Santarém and Oriximiná. The town is the seat of the Diocese of Óbidos. The town was named after Óbidos, Portugal.
The north of the municipality contains part (7.36%) of the 4,245,819 hectares (10,491,650 acres) Grão-Pará Ecological Station, the largest fully protected tropical forest conservation unit on the planet. It contains 10% of the 3,172,978 hectares (7,840,600 acres) Trombetas State Forest, created in 2006.
Óbidos was the scene of the sinking of the Sobral Santos II in September 1981, one of the worst maritime tragedies in the history of the Amazon River. The riverboat was making its weekly trip between Santarém and Manaus and was claimed to be overcrowded when it sank in Óbidos harbour. It is assumed over 300 people died in the disaster, with hundreds of bodies and body parts never identified. In 2014, British angler Jeremy Wade went to Óbidos to investigate the role that local fish species may have played in the loss of life during this disaster; his findings were documented in the River Monsters episode entitled "Amazon Apocalypse."
Coordinates: 1°54′S 55°31′W / 1.900°S 55.517°W
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