The region was originally inhabited by the Toras, Barés, Muras, Urupás, Araras and other indigenous peoples.

The first records of European penetration to the Madeira River are from 1637, when Pedro Teixeira travelled from Belém to Quito in Ecuador.

The municipality contains 8% of the 2,467,244 hectares (6,096,690 acres) Apuí Mosaic, a jointly-managed collection of conservation units.

[9] The municipality contains about 45% of the 359,138 hectares (887,450 acres) Manicoré Biological Reserve, created by decree in May 2016 in the week before the provisional removal of president Dilma Rousseff.

[11] The municipality contains about 74% of the 751,302 hectares (1,856,510 acres) Aripuanã National Forest, a sustainable development unit also created at that time.