Foz do Iguaçu is a city with a lot of history to tell. From the passage of the Spaniard Cabeza de Vaca to recent transformations, the H2FOZ prepared a timeline with some of the important dates in the Land of the Falls.
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Infographic: Vacy Alvaro.
1542 – First record
It is estimated that the first humans arrived at what is now Foz do Iguaçu around eight thousand years ago. The first written historical record, however, is from 1542, when the Spaniard Alvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca revealed the existence of the Iguaçu Falls to the world.
1750 – Rivers as borders
With the Treaty of Tordesillas (1494) obsolete, Portugal and Spain signed the Treaty of Madrid in 1750, which redefined the borders in South America. In the region, the boundaries between the two colonial empires were the Paraná and Iguaçu rivers.
1889 – Military Colony
The year in which the Brazilian monarchy gave way to the republic marked, for the 324 residents of the border, the founding of the Iguaçu Military Colony, responsible for occupying and marking Brazil's presence in the confines of its territory.
1903 – Landmark of the Three Borders
Two famous Brazilians, Marshal Cândido Rondon and engineer Dionísio Cerqueira, were at the mouth of the Iguaçu River in July 1903 to build and inaugurate the Marco das Três Fronteiras obelisk, a symbol of national sovereignty.
1914 – Emancipation of the municipality
On March 14, 1914, the government of Paraná created the municipality of Vila Iguassú (current Foz do Iguaçu), separating the territory of Guarapuava. The anniversary is celebrated on June 10, the date on which the City Hall and the Chamber were installed.
1925 – Prestes Column
With the warning that revolutionaries were on their way, part of the population of Foz do Iguaçu fled to Argentina. The city is considered the starting point for the emergence of the Prestes Column, a movement that lasted until 1927.
1939 – National Park
In 1916, Brazilian inventor Alberto Santos Dumont passed through Foz and used his influence to have the lands around the Falls declared for public use. The current Iguaçu National Park was created in 1939 by Getúlio Vargas.
1941 – First airport
The year 1941 marked a new era for the isolated Foz do Iguaçu: the opening of the city's first airport, at the current Gresfi Club. Until then, the only ways to reach the city were by river (via Argentina) or by a muddy road.
1943 – Territory of Iguaçu
Another milestone of the 1940s was the creation of the Federal Territory of Iguaçu (West and Southwest of Paraná and West of Santa Catarina), extinguished in 1946. Foz do Iguaçu was the largest city, but the government chose to create a new capital, in what is now Laranjeiras do Sul.
1965 – Friendship Bridge
The 1960s brought with it the paving of BR-277 and the inauguration of the Ponte Internacional da Amizade, in 1965, as a way of integrating Foz do Iguaçu with the rest of Brazil and Paraguay.
1974 – Itaipu Binacional
The project to build a hydroelectric plant on the Paraná River, discussed since the 1950s, began to take shape on May 17, 1974, when Brazil and Paraguay created the Itaipu Binacional company. Construction on the plant would begin in 1975.
1979 – First college
Itaipu attracted thousands of workers and changed the face of the once quiet city, which quadrupled in size (from 30 to 120 in less than ten years). In 1979, Foz gained its first higher education institution, Facisa (now Unioeste).
1982 – Itaipu Lake
In October 1982, after seven years of construction, what was once a river became a lake with the formation of the Itaipu reservoir. Below the plant, the Paranazão River dried up for 14 days. Above it, it flooded lands whose owners had been previously compensated.
1985 – Tancredo Neves Bridge
In the year of Brazil's redemocratization, Foz do Iguaçu gained the Fraternidade Bridge, renamed Tancredo Neves Bridge due to the death of the Brazilian politician. Before 1985, the connection with Argentina was by ferry, boarding at Porto Meira.
1985 – Mayoral election
During the military dictatorship, voters in Foz were prevented from voting for mayor. The last election was in 1962, with the victory of Ozires Santos. In 1985, with the return of democracy, the people of Iguaçu elected Dobrandino Gustavo da Silva (MDB).
1986 – World Heritage
In 1986, Iguaçu National Park was declared a Natural World Heritage Site by UNESCO, the United Nations (UN) agency for culture. The distinction was in recognition of the preservation policies.
1991 – End of work
The labor-intensive phase at the Itaipu dam ended in 1991, with the installation of the 18th turbine. Many dam workers left, but many others stayed and gave rise to a new generation of Iguaçu residents.
1994 – Solar Eclipse
On November 3, 1994, hotels along the border were filled with tourists who came to the region to see a unique phenomenon: a total solar eclipse. Day turned to night and images of the darkness in places like the Falls spread around the world.
1997 – Informal trade
Without the jobs in Itaipu, thousands of residents found work in “border trade,” reselling or transporting goods from Paraguay. Ciudad del Este’s boom occurred between 1994 and 1997, when sales began to decline.
2005 – Tourism cycle
In December 2005, Iguaçu National Park surpassed the one million visitor mark for the first time. This achievement was obtained six years after the handover of tourist services at the park to the concessionaire Cataratas do Iguaçu SA.
2010 – Federal University
From the 2000s onwards, Foz do Iguaçu experienced a phase of expansion in university education, with new colleges and the arrival of thousands of Brazilians to study in Paraguay. In 2010, the Federal University for Latin American Integration (UNILA) was created.
2016 – Operation Peculio
In April 2016, the Federal Police (PF) launched Operation Pecúlio, which investigated allegations of corruption in the municipal administration. In its various phases, the operation resulted in the arrest of the then mayor, Reni Pereira, as well as 12 of the 15 city councilors.
2019 – Record number of tourists
In the last full year before the pandemic, Iguaçu National Park reached its record number of visitors: 2.020.358 Brazilians and foreigners. In 2023, the number of visitors was still 9% lower compared to pre-COVID levels.
2020, 2021 and 2022 – Covid-19 pandemic
During the pandemic years, the local population had to adapt to a new routine, marked by closed borders, a drop in tourism and restrictions on movement. According to the Municipal Health Department, COVID-19 caused the deaths of 1.312 residents.
2023 – Integration Bridge
Officially completed in August 2023, but still closed to vehicle traffic, the Brazil-Paraguay Integration Bridge symbolizes a new cycle of works in the city, such as the Perimetral Leste, the duplication of BR-469 and the extension of the airport runway.
Check the date of Itaipu, it is not 1974.
On May 17, 1974, Brazil and Paraguay created the company Itaipu Binacional, which celebrated its 50th anniversary now, in May 2024. This is the date included in the Timeline, as it was the decisive step in putting into practice the Iguaçu Act (1966) and the Itaipu Treaty itself (1973).
The road that connects Foz to Curitiba was called strategic, the current 277. And in the center the avenue had the affectionate nickname Botafogo climb, as you can see in the photo because
Cool, a summary of our region's timeline!
I really liked what I read, I already knew some things and others were new.
I just didn't see it being from the Treaty of Rio de Janeiro, which talks about the separation of the falls and demarcates the division of Argentina with Brazil, if I'm not mistaken. I almost became a citizen of Foz do Iguaçu and it's a place I'd like to live, but lately I've seen very rapid growth.