not necessarily coincide with the indigenous occupation of the geographical space; in many cases, there are people living on both sides of international borders, which were created long after they were already in the region. From the beginning of the colonization from the 17th century to the present day, the inhabitants of Amazônia dedicated themselves to extractive and mercantilist activities, inserting between 1840 and 1910 the monopoly of rubber, mainly in Amazonas and Acre. All this process of colonization has brought about changes such as the reduction of the indigenous population, the increase of the Caboclo identity, the mixing of whites, blacks and indigenous people, the reduction of species of plants and animals and other consequences. After World War II, the Brazilian Amazon became part of the national development process. The creation of the National Institute of Amazonian Research (INPA) in 1952, the establishment of regional development agencies such as the Superintendency of Development for the Amazon (SUDAM) in 1966 and the Free Economic Zone of Manaus in 1967 began to contribute to the settlement of region and in the execution of projects focused on the region. Geography The Amazon represents over half of the planet's remaining rainforests and comprises the largest and most species-rich tract of tropical rainforest in the world. Wet tropical forests are the most species-rich biome, and tropical forests in the Americas are consistently more species rich than the wet forests in Africa and Asia. As the largest tract of tropical rainforest in the Americas, the Amazonian rainforests have unparalleled biodiversity. More than 1/3 of all species in the world live in the Amazon Rainforest. The region is home to about 2.5 million insect species, tens of thousands of plants, and some 2000 birds and mammals species. To date, at least 40,000 plant species, 3,000 fish, 1,294 birds, 427 mammals, 428 amphibians, and 378 reptiles have been scientifically classified in the region. Scientists have described between 96,660 and 128,843 invertebrate species in Brazil alone. The diversity of plant species is the highest on earth with some experts estimating that one square kilometre may contain over 75,000 types of trees and 150,000 species of higher plants. One square kilometre of Amazon rainforest can contain about 90,790 tonnes of living plants. This constitutes the largest collection of living plants and animal species in the world. One in five of all the birds in the world live in the