Altamira (Pará)

Altamira is one of one hundred and forty-four municipalities in the state of Pará, in northern Brazil. It has an area of 161446km2, making it the largest municipality by area both in Pará state and Brazil and until 2009 it was the world's largest municipal subdivision. It occupies 12.8% of the state's territory, 1.8% of the Brazilian territory and 0.8% of the South American territory. It also covers a more extensive area than 104 countries, and is bigger than Bangladesh, which covers 147570km2.Altamira Municipality encompasses the Altamira city and district, the seat of local government, whose majority population lives in urban area, and nine other mostly rural districts (most of those covered by the Amazon rainforest), whose urban populations are minorities, and live in inhabited areas spaced by tens or hundreds of kilometers. According to the 2010 Brazilian National Census the municipality has 99,075 inhabitants, making a density of only 0.65 inhabitants per square kilometer at the same year. It is home to hundreds of indigenous communities and environmental protection areas.EconomyThe municipal GDP is around US$450 million and is mainly linked to agricultural activities, trade and since 2010 has been driven by the construction of the Belo Monte Dam.The municipality is served by Altamira Airport.Belo Monte DamIn Altamira the third-largest dam in the world by generating capacity, with a capacity of 11.233 GW, is being built; the construction work was started in 2010 and should be completed in 2019.