Xingu-Tocantins-Araguaia moist forests Xingu-Tocantins-Araguaia moist forests The Xingu-Tocantins-Araguaia moist forests (NT0180) is an ecoregion in the eastern Amazon basin. It is part of the Amazon biome. The ecoregion is one of the most severely degraded of the Amazon region, suffering from large-scale deforestation and selective extraction of timber, particularly along the Trans-Amazonian Highway and in the higher and more populated southern portions. The Xingu-Tocantins-Araguaia moist forests ecoregion has an area of . It lies to the south of the Amazon River in eastern Brazil. The Xingu River defines the western boundary and the Tocantins River defines the eastern boundary. To the south the
Xingu peoples number had been reduced by foreign epidemic diseases such as flu, measles, smallpox and malaria to less than 1,000. Only an estimated 500 Xingu peoples were alive in the 1950s. The Brazilian Villas-Bôas brothers visited the area beginning in 1946, and pushed for the creation of the Parque Indígena do Xingu, eventually established in 1961. Their story is told in a film, "Xingu". The number of Xingu living there in 32 settlements has risen again to over 3000 inhabitants, half of them younger than 15 years. The Xingu living in this region have similar habits and social systems, despite different