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PARA, or Grad Para, a northern state of. Brazil, bounded N. by the three Guianas and the Atlantic, E. by the Atlantic and the states of Maranhao and Goyaz,! S. by Goyaz and Matto Grosso and W. by Amazonas. It is the third largest state of the republic, having an area of 443,922 sq. m.;
All these rivers have their sources on the Guiana highlands within the limits of the state, and flow southward to the Amazon over numerous rapids and falls, with comparatively short navigable channels before entering the great river. From the south two great tributaries are received - the Tapajos and Xingu - both having their sources outside the state (see Amazon). The Para estuary, usually called the Para river, belongs to the Tocantins, although popularly described as a mouth of the Amazon. Very little Amazon water passes through it except in times of flood. It is connected with the Amazon by navigable tidal furos, in which the current is hardly perceptible. The estuary is about 200 m. long and 5 to 30 m. wide, and receives the waters of a large number of streams,
Para is crossed by the equator, and its climate is wholly tropical, but there is a wide variation in temperature and rainfall. In general, it is hot and dry on the Guiana plateau, and hot and humid throughout the forested region. In the latter, there are two recognized seasons, wet and dry, which differ only in the amount of rainfall, a strictly dry season being unknown. The trade winds, which blow up the Amazon with much force, moderate the heat and make healthy most of the settlements on the great river itself; but the settlements along its tributaries, which are not swept by these winds, are afflicted with malaria.
Transportation depends wholly on river craft The city is built on an alluvial forested plain only a few feet above the level of the river, and its streets usually end at the margin of the impenetrable forest.  but through defective drainage, insanitary habits and surroundings, and improper diet the death-rate is high
The river Amazon has a drainage area of 2,722,000 sq. m.
Since the mid-1970s, when gold was discovered in the Amazon basin, millions of prospectors have flocked to the region to try their luck. To capture the gold from river sediments, the miners use mercury, some of which is washed away. Two years ago officials estimated that 1200 tonnes of mercury had been flushed into local rivers.
Mercury is highly poisonous and can cause mental retar-dation and spontaneous abortions. Several studies have found that people living downstream who eat a lot of fish are accumulating dangerously high levels of the metal
The miners extract gold by flushing sediment down a sloping sluice over a series of wooden ridges. Mercury, held in troughs between the ridges, captures any gold in the sediments as a thick, pasty amalgam. But at least half the mercury is lost as the sediments are discharged straight into the river.
Amazon river basin is populated by 10 million people.
The Amazon basin, the largest drainage basin in the world, covers an area of some 6,915,000 square kilometres (2,670,000 sq mi),
Para is the location of the largest development project in the whole of the Amazon, the Grande Carajás Mining and Industrial Zone.
Pará is one of the largest states in the Amazon region covering 1,253,164 square kilometres. This is over five times the size of the UK or equal to the size of France, Spain and the UK combined. Like all Amazon states it has a relatively small population of 5,510,849 inhabitants, 52.45 per cent (2,596,388) of whom live in cities.
Belem has the largest industrial plant in Latin America, the Albrás/Alunorte aluminium and alumina complex. This is situated 40 kilometres from Belém. It uses 20 per cent of the energy produced by Pará’s largest dam at Tucuruí. It is responsible for supplying 15 per cent of Japan’s aluminium consumption needs. The start-up of the alumina plant was in October 1995 and in that year it produced 215,000 tonnes of alumina. In 1996 it produced 826,000 tonnes. Its full capacity of 1.1 million tonnes was expected to be reached in 1997.
Projeto Grande Carajás Mining and Industrial Zone project covers an area of approximately 400,000 square kilometres (France is 543,000 square kilometres). The original plan was for a total investment of US$62 billion. It contains one of the world’s largest mining operations: a huge system of open-cast mining operations, extracting iron ore, manganese, bauxite, copper, nickel, potassium and gold.