Brazilian National Archives

National Archives

Arquivo Nacional
Former name	Public Archive of the Empire of Brazil
Established	January 2, 1838
Location	Praça da República, 173 – Centro, Rio de Janeiro – Rio de Janeiro, 20211-350, Brazil
Coordinates	22°54′23″S 43°11′27″W / 22.9065°S 43.1908°W / -22.9065; -43.1908
Type	National Archive
Parent	Ministry of Justice and Public Security
Director	Ana Flávia Magalhães Pinto
Website	arquivonacional.gov.br/br/

The National Archives of Brazil (Portuguese: Arquivo Nacional, AN) were created in 1838 as the Imperial Public Archives. The Archives were renamed in 1911, and are located in Rio de Janeiro. The National Archives of Brazil is the Brazilian institution responsible for the management, preservation and dissemination of federal government documents. Since 2011, it is subordinated to the Ministry of Justice and Public Security.

The AN has the following responsibilities, according to the Decree No. 9,360 of May 7, 2018, which grants it as the main body of Archival Documents Management System (in Portuguese: Sistema de Gestão de Documentos de Arquivo – SIGA^[1]) of the federal government: "to guide the main organizations and entities of the federal Executive Power in the implementation of document management programs; oversee the application of procedures and technical operations related to the production, registration, classification, control of the processing, use and evaluation of documents, to modernize government archival services; promote the collection of permanent guard documents for technical treatment, preservation and dissemination, to guarantee full access to information, in support of governmental decisions of a political–administrative nature and to the citizen in the defense of their rights, aiming to encourage the production of scientific and cultural knowledge; and supervise and apply the national policy archives, established by the National Council of Archives (Conselho Nacional de Arquivo – CONARQ)".^[2]

The National Archives of Brazil thus fulfills a double and essential function for the Brazilian State and society – both in the management of archival documents that are produced in all federal institutions and in safeguarding and giving access to fundamental fonds for history.