Source: WTL photograph© on site in Manaus.
Comment: This is a view to the east overlooking Manaus in the afternoon. Manaus is on the Rio Negro, which you can see to the upper right. In 1669 the Portuguese built a defensive fort here named São José da Barra to protect the Portuguese empire from Spanish raids along the Amazon River. By 1832, the fort had grown to a town, and the name was changed to Manaus, from the local indigenous tribe called the Manaós, who, by the 19th century had disappeared. After 1920, synthetic rubber replaced natural rubber from the Amazon, and the resultant drop in price ruined Manaus. Until the late 20th century.