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Acre River

1911 Encyclopedia Britannica

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Or AQUIRY, a river of Brazil and principal tributary of the Purus, rising on the Bolivian frontier and flowing easterly and northerly to a junction with the Purus at 8° 45' S. lat. The name is also applied to a district situated on the same river and on the former (1867) boundary line between Bolivia and Brazil. The region, which abounds in valuable rubber forests, 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 Manaos 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 the 17th of November 1903 through the purchase by Brazil of the rubber-producing territory south to about the 11th parallel, estimated at more than 60,000 sq. m.