Itatiaia National Park

Itatiaia National Park () is a park in Brazil. People made it a park in 1937. It was the first national park in Brazil.  It is Brazil's oldest national park now. It is in two of Brazil's states: Rio de Janeiro and Minas Gerais.

Name
Itatiaia means "many-pointed rock" in the Tupi language.

History

Itatiaia National Park, the oldest national park of Brazil, was created on 14 June 1937 by President Getúlio Vargas. It was the first of 76 such parks.

Place

The park is in the Mantiqueira Mountains. It is in municipalities of Itatiaia and Resende in Rio de Janeiro state and in Bocaina de Minas and Itamonte in Minas Gerais state.  It is mountainous and rocky. It is between  above sea level.
The highest place is the Black Needles peak (Pico das Agulhas Negras).

The higher part of the park has the starts of 12 river basins that go into Brazil's Rio Grande (Grand River), which goes into the Paraná River, and the Paraíba do Sul, the most important river in Rio de Janeiro state.
The lower part of the park has Atlantic Forest plants and wide rivers with pools and waterfalls.

Bird watchers come from all over the world to look at the park's birds. There are 350 species of birds in the park. People also hike and rock climb.
The park is surrounded by the Serra da Mantiqueira Environmental Protection Area.

People go to the high park of the park through an entrance about 35 km from the main entrance. They can go to the Pico das Agulhas Negras and Prateleiras from there.
The low area of the park is much closer to the city of Itatiaia. It has many waterfalls, for example as Véu da Noiva. The low area has also a natural history museum.

Pictures

References

Sources

Other books and websites

 Jorge Pádua, Maria Tereza e Coimbra Filho, Adelmar F. Os Parques Nacionais do Brasil. Instituto de Cooperação Iberoamericana. Madrid. José Olympio Editora, 1989. , pág. 122 a 129
 Corrêa, Marcos Sá "Itatiaia - O Caminho das Pedras" São Paulo. Metalivros, 2003. , 240 pág.
 Leite, Helton Perillo Ferreira - "Planalto do Itatiaia - Região das Agulhas Negras", Rio de Janeiro. Montanhar / Publit, 2007. Edição parcialmente trilíngue. , 232 páginas.

Category:National parks in Brazil