Dear Allan,
you asked me about Santarém. I know it is a city in Brazil, but it so far away from my reality, it could be in another country. Let me explain.
Brazil was invaded by the Portuguese in 1500. Around 1621, they divided the conquered territories into two States: the State of Maranhão and the State of Brazil.
In 1737, the State of Maranhão changed its name to State of Grão-Pará and Maranhão, and the capital city changed from São Luís, in the state of Maranhão, to the inner city of Belém, in the state of Pará, where Santarém is also located.
This vast territory includes the land where today are the states of Amazonas, Roraima, Pará, Amapá, Maranhão and Piauí. That is more than half of the entire Brazilian territory.
In September 7, 1882, Brazil declared its independence from Portugal, and thus the State of Brazil became the United States of Brazil. Only one year later did the other neighbour State of Grão-Pará join us.
These places are so far away from where I live, it’s even hard to describe. Just to give you an idea, from Belo Horizonte to Santarém, the linear distance is a few dozen kilometers longer than the distance from Kopenhagen to Madrid!
I often refer to the states in the northern region of Brazil as the Republic of Grão-Pará, because to my reality they are actually another country. Another culture, another food, another dialect. I can barely relate to it.
I’ve already been to New York and Uruguay, and it makes more sense to me than going to Pará. For me, the whole north of Brazil, specially the amazon forest, is practically another planet.
Yours truly,
Dan
