The Acre River (sometimes called Aquiry) (locally, Rio Acre) is a 650 km long river in central South America. The river rises in Peru, and runs eastwards, forming part of the border between Bolivia and Brazil. It runs through the Brazilian states of Acre and Amazonas before eventually running into the Purus River It rises on the Bolivian frontier and flows easterly and northerly to a junction with the Purus at 8° 45' South latitude. The name is also applied to a district situated on the same river and on the former boundary line of 1867, between Bolivia and Brazil. This region's area is estimated at about 60,000 square miles. It is navigable from the mouth until the Xapuri River (480 km), even farther in the wet season from January until May. The river was an important transportation artery at the end of the 19th Century due to newly discovered rubber tree forests.
History
The region was settled by Bolivians between 1870 and 1878, but was invaded by Brazilian rubber collectors during the next decade and became tributary to the rubber markets of Manaus and Para. In 1899, the Bolivian government established a custom-house at Puerto Alonso, on the Acre river, for the collection of export duties on rubber, which precipitated a conflict with the Brazilian settlers, and finally brought about a boundary dispute between the two republics. In July 1899 the Acreanos declared their independence and set up a republic of their own, but in the following March they were reduced to submission by Brazil. Various disorders followed until Brazil decided to occupy Puerto Alonso with a military force. The boundary dispute was finally settled at Petropolis on November 17, 1903, through the purchase by Brazil of the rubber-producing territory, south to about the ninth parallel.
Resources
Aquiry abounds in valuable rubber forests. This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.
