The first inhabitants of the North Region, as in the rest of Brazil, were the Native Brazilians, who shared a diverse number of tribes and villages, from the pre-Columbian period until the arrival of the European people.

The natives were assembled by missionaries in villages, called missions, many of which gave birth to several cities, such as Borba and Óbidos.

The territorial division into countries does not necessarily coincide with the indigenous occupation of the geographical space; in many cases, there are people living on both sides of international borders, which were created long after they were already in the region.

From the beginning of the colonization from the 17th century to the present day, the inhabitants of Amazônia dedicated themselves to extractive and mercantilist activities, inserting between 1840 and 1910 the monopoly of rubber, mainly in Amazonas and Acre.

The existence of heat and the enormous liquid mass favor evaporation and make the region a very humid area.

Dominated by an equatorial climate, the region presents high temperatures throughout the year (averages from 24 °C to 26 °C), a low thermal amplitude, with the exception of some areas of the states of Amazonas, Rondônia and Acre, where the phenomenon of "friagem" occurs, due to La Niña's activity, allowing cold air masses coming from the South Atlantic Ocean to penetrate the states of the South Region of the country, pass through the Central-West region and reach the Amazonian states, causing rapidly falling temperature.

With its own folklore, the main attractions are the Parintins Folklore Festival, Círio de Nazaré in Belém, Rio Branco and Macapá; Sairé Festival, in Santarém, ExpoAcre (the largest in the North region)[11][12][13][14] and typical dances, Marujada, Carimbó, Brazilian Calypso, Tecno brega and Cirandas such as Samba lelê and others.

In the region, there are some of the most beautiful theaters and palaces in Brazil: The Amazon Theatre, located in Manaus, Palácio Rio Branco, in Rio Branco, Palácio Senador Hélio Campos, in Boa Vista, Teatro das Bacabeiras, in Macapá and the Peace Theatre, located in Belém.

The gastronomic culture of the northern region of Brazil is quite rich, has Indigenous, African and Portuguese roots, in addition to other influences from both within Brazil and other cultures outside the country, the strong Amazonian indigenous influence in its main dishes is remarkable, among the main highlights are delicacies such as duck in tucupi sauce, maniçoba, tacacá and a menu of a wide variety of species of Amazonian fish, such as pirarucu, tambaqui, jaú, piramutaba, among other species; a huge menu of fruits, such as the local açaí, pupunha, tucumã, cupuaçu, buriti, abiu, urucu, Malay apple, cumaru, guaraná, and ingá, among other fruits.

The population of northern Brazil is largely made up of Caboclos, descendants of Native Brazilians and Europeans - mostly Portuguese, French and Spanish.

The economy of the North Region is essentially based on the vegetal plantation and extraction, such as latex, açaí, woods and Brazil nuts; and mineral extraction of gold, precious stones, cassiterite and tin (metal); as well as mining exploitation, mainly iron, at Carajás Mountain Range (in the State of Pará) and manganese, at Navio Mountain Range (in the State of Amapá).