The Federal University of Amazonas (Universidade Federal do Amazonas, UFAM) is a public university located in Manaus, state of Amazonas, Brazil. It is the largest university in the state o fAmazonas and in the northern region of Brazil. It offers a wide array of degrees, with 645 research groups and 65 graduate courses.
The UFAM is the oldest university in Brazil. It was founded on January 17, 1909 as the Free University School of Manáos, born of the same late-19th century economic boom that gave Manaus its rubber barons. The school later becoming the University of Manáos. The economic downturn that followed the collapse of the rubber market, as well as the logistical problems of being located in the Amazon Rainforest, led the school to curtail its academic offerings down to just a law program. On June 12, 1962, Brazilian federal law 4.069-A under the authorship of Senator Arthur Virgílio Jr. reinvigorated the school as the state-owned University of Amazonas. In June 2002, the school