Emílio Goeldi Museum

Founded in 1866 and known world-wide as the most important center for the study of and research into the natural history of the Amazon Rain Forest, the Emílio Goeldi Museum, in Belém has more than two thousand species of plants and around six hundred animals that are native to Amazônia, living free or in captivity in an area covering 52 thousand m2. Lynxes, monkeys, macaws, parrots, sparrow hawks, parakeets, vultures, wild fowl, alligators and a wide variety of fish, otters, turtles and snakes are amongst the residents. The flora has turned the area into a miniature Amazon rain forest. The Museum also has a lake resplendent with giant water lilies, a library specializing in material relating to Amazônia and a vast archaeological and ethnological collection including the different aspects of culture indigenous to the region.