manaus is considerated as the entrance door to the biggest ecological reservation in the planet: the amazon rainforest. its name come from a tribe called manaós that lived in this area and means "mother of god". the colonization started on 1669, with a small fort, and around it grew a settlement. in 1833 it became a village, with the name of manaus. on october 24th of 1848 it receive the name of city and became the capital of the state.