Acre‵

• Location: Brazil, Israel

1. Brazil: a state named after the River Acre, formerly the Aquiri. Disputed territory, it became part of Bolivia in 1866 before being transferred to Brazil in 1903 under the terms of the Treaty of Petrópolis.
2. Israel: the city has had several names including Accho, Ptolemais, and St Jean d'Acre. The name may be derived from a Hebrew word for 'enclosed', given its position at the northern end of the Bay of Haifa. The Old Testament name was Accho. The city was conquered in 336 bc by Alexander III the Great^† and by Ptolemy II Philadelphus^† who renamed it Ptolemais. Later it came under Roman, Persian, and Arab rule before falling to the Crusaders during the First Crusade in 1104. They held it until Saladin, the Muslim Sultan of Palestine, recaptured it in 1187. The Third Crusade, led by Guy of Lusignan, Richard I of England, and Philip II of France, won it back in 1191 and they gave it to the Knights of St Jean, who located their headquarters here. It was renamed St Jean d'Acre, Acre being the French version of Akko. It was captured in 1291 by the Mamlūks. From 1516 to 1917 the city was mainly under Ottoman Turkish control, before being taken over by the British, becoming part of the British mandate in 1922. Acre was captured by Israeli troops in 1948. Locally it is known as Akko.

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