The North Region of Brazil (; ) is the largest region of Brazil, corresponding to 45.27% of the national territory. It is the second least inhabited of the country, and contributes with a minor percentage in the national GDP and population. It comprises the states of Acre, Amapá, Amazonas, Pará, Rondônia, Roraima and Tocantins. Its demographic density is the lowest in Brazil considering all the regions of the country, with only 3.8 inhabitants per km2. Most of the population is centered in urban areas. Belém International Airport and Manaus International Airport connect the North Region with many Brazilian cities and also operate some international flights. The North is home to the Federal University of Amazonas and Federal University of Pará, among others. History The first inhabitants of the North Region, as in the rest of Brazil, were the Native Brazilians, who shared a diverse number of tribes and villages, from the pre-Columbian period until the arrival of the European people. The Spaniards, among them Francisco de Orellana, organized exploratory expeditions by the Amazon river to know the region. After long journeys alongside Francisco de Orellana, Gonzalo Fernández de Oviedo y Valdés wrote a letter addressed to Cardinal Pedro Bembo in Venice, extolling the fauna and flora existing in the region at the time of the expedition. The 17th century marked the arrival of the Portuguese people, where they built military strongholds to defend the region against the invasion of other peoples, in 1616, causing in the foundation of Belém do Pará. The richness of the Amazon Rainforest has also become interesting for the Portuguese Crown. With the Portuguese explorers, the Catholic missionaries came to the region, in order to catechize the natives. The natives were assembled by missionaries in villages, called missions, many of which gave birth to several cities, such as Borba and Óbidos. Some of the Region's oldest towns: Bragança, Xapuri, Tefé, Natividade and Amapá. In order to work on rubber extraction, Brazilians from other states, mainly from the Northeast Region, moved to the region. Also many Japanese families came to work in the agricultural colonies. During the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, military governments implemented a major plan to integrate the region with other regions of Brazil, including the construction of several highways (such as the BR-010), the installation of industries and the creation of the Free Economic Zone of Manaus. Settlement The territorial division into countries does