JARI RIVER

also spelled Jary, river, northern Brazil, rising on the southern slopes of the Tumuc-Humac Mountains and flowing in a generally southeasterly direction for about 350 miles (560 km) to join the Amazon River at Bca do Jari, opposite Grande de Gurup Island. The Jari forms the border between Par and Amap states, and its lower course is navigable. An American entrepreneur, Daniel Ludwig, began large-scale development of the Jari River valley in the late 1960s to exploit its potential for lumber production. As part of the development project, in the late 1970s the Japanese built a floating cellulose factory on the Jari River. After the project ran into financial difficulties in the early 1980s, the Brazilian government took it over.