The Federative Republic of Brazil, the largest country in South America and fifth largest in the world, has a lengthy coastline, a large number of lighthouses, and a distinguished lighthouse history. Colonized by Portugal, Brazil declared its independence in 1822. Uniquely among American nations it was a monarchy as the Empire of Brazil until 1889. Brazil is a federation of 26 states and a federal district. This page covers lighthouses on the coast of Brazil's North Region including the states of Amapá, Pará, and Amazonas. It is a tropical coastline, quite low in most areas. Belém in Pará is the major port. Tourism has increased in the region in recent years and some of the major lighthouses are becoming much better known. Portuguese is the official language of Brazil. The Portuguese word for a lighthouse is farol, plural faróis. In Brazilian use the word farol generally applies to all light towers, regardless of size and whether they are enclosed structures or not. In Portuguese ilha is an island, ilhéu is an islet, cabo is a cape, ponta is a promontory or point of land, rocha is a rock, recife is a reef, baía is a bay, estreito is a strait, rio is a river, and porto is a port or harbor. Active lighthouses in Brazil are owned by the navy (Marinha do Brasil) and maintained by the Centro de Auxílios à Navegação Almirante Moraes Rego (CAMR) in the Diretoria de Hidrografia e Navegacão (DHN). Many of the larger lighthouses are staffed by resident keepers or by rotating crews of naval personnel. Only a small number of Brazilian lighthouses are open to the public. ARLHS numbers are from the ARLHS World List of Lights. BR numbers are from the official Brazilian Lista de Faroís. Admiralty numbers are from volume G of the Admiralty List of Lights & Fog Signals. U.S. NGA numbers are from Publication 110.
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Lighthouses of Amapá
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Pau Cavado Light, Amapá photo copyright Capt. Theo Hinrichs; used by permission |
Lighthouses of Pará
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Lighthouses of the Amazon River
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Adjoining pages: North: French Guiana | South: North Northeast Coast
Return to the Lighthouse Directory index | Ratings keyPosted February 16, 2004. Checked and revised June 19, 2024. Lighthouses: 38. Site copyright 2024 Russ Rowlett and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.