Pacaraima is a municipality in the northwest of the state of Roraima in Brazil, situated on the frontier with Venezuela. It is the second most northern municipality in Brazil, behind only Uiramutã. The town is remote, and its population was estimated at 12,000 as of 2018.
Historically, Pacaraima's main draw was its proximity to Monte Roraima in Venezuela, the mountain believed to have inspired Arthur Conan Doyle's The Lost World; tourists came for the nearby mountains. From around 2017–2018 the town became a focal entry point for Venezuelan refugees fleeing economic collapse and political violence. Between 500 and 1,200 Venezuelans arrived daily, swelling the population by roughly a third, and arrivals were designated refugees by the UN. Many slept in the streets or in overcrowded shelters, and a Catholic priest, Father Jesus Lopez, ran a soup kitchen for arrivals.
The effects on the local economy were mixed: tourism-dependent businesses such as food vendors saw sales fall, while currency dealers selling Brazilian reais and supermarkets benefited. Most refugees moved on to Boa Vista, the nearest sizable city and the center of refugee aid, 215 km (134 mi) away.