The town can be accessed by boat along the Acre River or by land along the AC-010 highway which runs north from Rio Branco for 78 kilometres (48 mi).

That year, Luis Gálvez Rodríguez de Arias expelled the Bolivians and declared the Independent State of Acre.

He took a boat up the Acre River, ostensibly to conduct land surveys in the south but in practice carrying arms and ammunition.

He stopped off briefly in Puerto Alonso to meet the Bolivian governor Lino Romero and evaluate his future opponent.

[7] On 14 October 1902 the rebels captured some of the outer defences of Puerto Alonso and the armed Bolivian launch Rio Afua, which they renamed the Independencia.

[11][12] Porto Acre's economy is based on extraction of rubber, Brazil nut and wood processing, small-scale livestock, horticultural products and general commerce.