Manaus

Manaus, capital of the state of Amazonas, is the largest city in the Brazilian Amazon, with an estimated population of 2.28 million inhabitants in 2024. Located at the confluence of the Negro and Solimões rivers, 1,500 kilometres from the Atlantic, Manaus combines the immensity of the tropical rainforest — 98% of the state is Amazon forest — with a powerful industrial and technological structure derived from its Free Trade Zone, a special customs regime created in 1967 that has made it the main manufacturing hub in northern Brazil.

In 2024, the ACES Europe Committee awarded Manaus the title of South American City of Sport, making it the first city in Brazil's Northern Region to receive this recognition, endorsed by the European Parliament and UNESCO. This award crowns years of municipal investment in inclusive sports programmes and infrastructure that have brought physical activity closer to its more than two million inhabitants. Manaus reports 3,400 active participants in the ACES Activa ecosystem.