Altamira is one of one hundred and forty-four municipalities in the state of Pará, in northern Brazil. It has an area of , making it the largest municipality by area both in Pará state and Brazil, and until 2009 it was the world's largest municipal subdivision. It occupies 12.8% of the state's territory, 1.8% of Brazil's territory and 0.8% of South America. It also covers a more extensive area than 104 countries, and is comparable to the US state of Missouri or Florida. Altamira Municipality encompasses the Altamira city and district, the seat of local government, whose majority population lives in urban area, and nine other mostly rural districts (most of those covered by the Amazon rainforest), whose urban populations are minorities, and live in inhabited areas spaced by tens or hundreds of kilometers. According to the 2010 Brazilian National Census the municipality had 99,075 inhabitants which grew to 115,969 at the 2020 Census, making a density of only 0.73 inhabitants per square kilometer at the same year. It is home to hundreds of indigenous communities and environmental protection areas. The Belo Monte Dam, a hydroelectric dam complex is currently under construction in the area of the Xingu River in the municipality. History The history of Altamira traditionally includes the period from the installation of the Jesuit mission of the city to the present day. However, the municipal territory has been inhabited since time immemorial by nomadic and semi-nomadic indigenous peoples. Kuben-Kran-Keñ, an extinct Jê language belonging to the Kayapó group, was once spoken in the municipality. Mission Tavaquara Although it is well known that even before the eighteenth century former Jesuit Missions already inhabited the Xingu region, it was not until the 1750s that Father Roque Hunderfund entered the Xingu River until the Tucuruí Igarapé, later called Vitória. There, he made contacts with indigenous Xipaia and Kuruaya, who guided him towards Volta Grande do Xingu. There, near the mouth of the Panelas stream, they chose the foundation of the Tavaquara Mission, whose settlement formed the city of Altamira. The policies of the Portuguese Prime Minister Marquês de Pombal, still in the eighteenth century, shut down all Jesuit missions in the colonies, causing the Tavaquara Mission to close its activities. The parish of Souzel continued to assist the village, but only in 1841 did Fr. Antonio Torquato de Souza reopen the sting that linked the Victoria stream on the lower