Rio Branco (Portuguese pronunciation: [ˈʁi.u ˈbɾɐ̃ku], White River) is a Brazilian municipality, capital of the state of Acre.

The capital of the state of Acre developed from the rubber plantation founded on December 28, 1882, by migrant settlers from the Northeastern Region of Brazil.

Almost 150 years ago, the construction of workers' shacks had begun, in lands previously occupied by the Aquiri, Canamari, and Maneteri Amazonian indigenous tribes.

By August 1904, Villa Rio Branco had become the main urban center of the entire Acre valley, and was the richest and most productive in the region.

During this period of the rubber boom, the streets around the Gameleira were the center of commercial and urban life in this part of the Amazon.

Bars, cafes, and casinos supplied the city's nightlife; commercial representatives came here of the chief national and foreign Aviation houses that handled thousands of Contos de Réis.

The political administration of the Territory was transferred to the left bank of the Acre River, because its lands were higher and not as subject to flooding as the old city centre.

Today, Rio Branco is seeking to find ways to reinvent itself, through relations with neighboring countries, developing heritage and eco-tourism, building on the local fish farming industry, and so on.

[4] The municipality contains part of the 931,537 hectares (2,301,880 acres) Chico Mendes Extractive Reserve, a sustainable use environmental unit created in 1990.

[5] The city of Rio Branco has the lowest average annual temperature among Legal Amazonian and Northeastern capitals.

Rio Branco experiences its heaviest rainfall from December through March, averaging over 200 millimetres or 8 inches of precipitation per month during that timeframe.

Currently, wood is the main product of export in the state of Acre, which it is also a major producer of açaí fruit, farinha, copaiba oil and beef.

Brazil's largest oil and gas company Petrobras, says the region has potential for future extraction of petroleum.

Rio Branco is the Brazilian state capital city with the largest proportional bike path network per inhabitant in the country.

[18] Rio Branco-Plácido de Castro International Airport is 18 kilometres (11 mi) away on the BR-364 highway in the rural area.

The BR-364 was twinned to facilitate access to the airport, which serves domestic and international aviation and military operations, with scheduled airlines and air taxis.

The BR-317 has a length of 330 kilometres (210 mi), and links the capital to the south of the state, through the municipalities of Senador Guiomard, Capixaba, and Epitaciolândia, on the border with Republic of Bolivia.

From Brasiléia the road continues for another 110 kilometres (68 mi) to reach the city of Assis Brasil on the border with Peru.

The Autonomists Memorial has a museum, exhibitions of paintings by regional artists, a coffee shop, and a drama theatre.

The Museum of Rubber includes sections on archeology and paleontology, and a historical collection of manuscripts and documents relating to the history of Acre.

In spite of its remote location, Rio Branco is a pleasant town with a good urban organization, as it is one of the oldest cities in the region, predating other Brazilian inland state capital cities, like: Goiânia, Belo Horizonte, Porto Velho, Brasília, Palmas and Boa Vista.

The Index of Basic Education Development for elementary schools was 4.9, ranked 10th among Brazilian capitals, and above the national average of 4.6.

Rio Branco was one of 18 candidates shortlisted to host games of the 2014 FIFA World Cup, for which Brazil was the only South American bidder.