With a population of about 175,000, Castanhal is the fifth largest city in the Brazilian

Brazil

Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...

 state of Pará

Pará

Pará is a state in the north of Brazil. It borders the Brazilian states of Amapá, Maranhão, Tocantins, Mato Grosso, Amazonas and Roraima. To the northwest it also borders Guyana and Suriname, and to the northeast it borders the Atlantic Ocean. The capital is Belém.Pará is the most populous state...

. It is located some 65 km east of the state´s capital Belém

Belém

Belém is a Brazilian city, the capital and largest city of state of Pará, in the country's north region. It is the entrance gate to the Amazon with a busy port, airport and bus/coach station...

and is accessed by car or bus via federal highway BR-316 . The climate is equatorial tropical.
coordinates: 1° 18′ S, 47° 55′ W

History

Castanhal was officially founded on January, 28th of 1932 (date of certification) and received its name due to the common nut trees (portug: Castanha) around the train station of the Bragança - Belém railway. Workers from the Brazilian Northeast started settling around the station. Local farmers started selling their products at the new market. Though, the new marketplace Castanhal was founded. The Bragança railway was shut down in 1964 and the rails were removed. The government of the state of Pará gave Castanhal the nickname "cidade modelo" (Model Town).
In 2004, Pope John Paul II erected the diocese of Castanhal, which is subordinated as a suffragan diocese to the archdiocese of Belém, Pará.

Education

Castanhal has become an regional center for education in the state of Pará. The educational level is well above the national average. There are eight secondary schools and three universities:

• Federal University of Pará, UFPA. Faculties of veterinary medicine, mathematics, sports, literature, pedagogy, computer science.
• University of Pará Uepa: mechanical engineering, agriculture, agricultural technology, physics, biology, pedagogy.
• FCAT Castanhal College. Agronomy faculties, business administration and marketing, computer science, pedagogy, history, biology.

Economy

Due to its convenient geographic location, Castanhal has become an important trading spot for food and agricultural products (cereals, corn, maniok, pepper, palm oil), affecting the entire Northeastern part of the state and beyond.


Likewise Castanhal is becoming a hot spot for technology.


There are energy companies, specialized in high-voltage and high tech well drilling. Further, there is a factory producing work boots for food industry as well as an industry producing metallurgical equipment for mining companies.