In the middle of the 17th century, near of the
Amazon River, the foundation of a village by the
Jesuits was registered by the
Portuguese Empire. A military post and tax office were established near the site in 1766 to become a border region with
Colombia and
Peru. Fernando da Costa Ataíde Teives was responsible for the creation of a military post in the region and also created a border post between the domains of the
Kingdom of Portugal and
Spain, alongside other military posts. The town of São Francisco Xavier de Tabatinga was then established. Of the three main colonial border settlements (São Francisco Xavier de Tabatinga, Vila Ipiranga and Vila Bittencourt), only the first was actively developing. On June 28, 1866, near the village, the border between Brazil and Peru was drawn. Until then, the region was administratively subordinated to the municipality of São Paulo de Olivença, however many few municipalities were established in the region. In 1898, with the dismantling of the territory of
São Paulo de Olivença and the emancipation of the district of Benjamin Constant, the city of Tabatinga became part of the newly created municipality, including it as one of the subdivisions of the main district. A post between the borders of Tabatinga and
Leticia in 1924 consistently defined the borders between Brazil and Colombia. On 4 June 1968, under Federal Law 5.449, the entire area of the municipality of
Benjamin Constant, to which Tabatinga was subordinated, was classified by the
Brazilian government as a
National Security Area, due to its extensive open border with other countries and its poor border surveillance. For a long time Tabatinga was a district of Benjamin Constant. Tabatinga's political emancipation occurred on December 10, 1981, under the constitutional amendment of the State of
Amazonas No. 12, which now defines the Tabatinga district as an autonomous
municipality. The installation of municipal offices took place on January 1, 1983. ==Demographics==