Santana

Santana’s development is tied to the Amazon River and the old settlement on Ilha de Santana, established during the colonial period. In the twentieth century, the Serra do Navio manganese industry transformed the region: the railway and port infrastructure connected inland mining with trade routes and attracted new residents. Santana became a municipality separate from Macapá in 1987.

This history helps explain a city of arrivals and departures, where port activity exists alongside island and riverside communities. Ilha de Santana preserves religious traditions and memories of early settlement, while boat traffic shows how important the waterways remain for work, travel and connections with other Amazonian communities.

On Ilha de Santana, colonial history brings together Tucuju Indigenous people, enslaved people and migrants from Pará. Historians invited by the municipality identify a settlement in 1753 and its formal recognition in 1758, administrative milestones in a territory with a much older human presence.