Brazilian Island

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This article is about a particular island named "Brazilian Island". For Brazilian islands in general, see List of islands of Brazil.
Map of Brazilian Island (Ilha Brasileira / Isla Brasilera), disputed between Brazil and Uruguay
Map showing the municipality of Barra do Quaraí within the state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil
Departments of Uruguay: Artigas

Brazilian Island (Portuguese: Ilha Brasileira; Spanish: Isla Brasilera1) is a small river island at the confluence of the Uruguay River and the Quarai (Cuareim) River, between the borders of Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay, at Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.. The island is approximately 2 km (1.2 mi) long by 0.5 km (0.3 mi) wide.

Overview

The island has long been claimed by both Brazil and Uruguay. Brazilian officials claim that the island is within their municipality of Barra do Quaraí, state of Rio Grande do Sul. Uruguayan officials claim that the island is part of their municipality of Bella Unión, in Artigas Department.[1] However, neither country has shown interest in actively enforcing its claims to the island, for example by sending troops there. Like the other territorial dispute between Brazil and Uruguay in the vicinity of Masoller, it has not prevented close and friendly diplomatic and economic ties between the two countries.

From 1964 to 2011, the island had a single house and a single inhabitant, a Brazilian farmer called José Jorge Daniel. In 2011, suffering from health problems, Mr. Daniel moved out of the island to live with relatives in the nearby city of Uruguaiana, Brazil, where he died shortly afterwards, aged 93 or 95 (sources differ).[2][3] Since then, the island has been uninhabited and unoccupied.

On 7 August 2009, the island suffered severe damage by a fire caused by unknown reasons (though arson was suspected), which burned at least 40% of the island's area. The fire was eventually put out by a joint transnational effort by the firefighters from Barra do Quaraí and Bella Unión. Mr. Daniel, who still lived there at the time, and his house were unscathed.[4] Since then, teams of biologists and students from nearby Brazilian universities, supported by Brazilian and Uruguayan ecological NGOs, have gone on occasional expeditions to the island to study the fire damage to local wildlife and try to restore its former ecosystem.[3]

Note

1. ^ In standard Spanish, the word for "Brazilian" is "brasileño/brasileña," but in the Southern Cone of South America, the forms "brasilero/brasilera" are more commonly used.

References

  1. ↑ ....uncontested dispute (between Brazil and Uruguay) over certain islands in the Quarai/Cuareim.....and the resulting tripoint with Argentina Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

  • Detailed information about the disputed island from an ultra-nationalist Brazilian professor's site (in Portuguese, Spanish and some texts in English; this site is presented as "the thoughts of the author").
  • YouTube video (audio in Portuguese), uploaded in 2011, showing Mr. José Jorge Daniel on Brazilian Island, where he was the sole inhabitant for 47 years. The younger man also featured was his visiting grandson.
  • Another YouTube video (audio in Portuguese), shot in February 2010, showing an expedition by a Brazilian ecological NGO to reforest Brazilian Island.

See also

  • Masoller - Uruguayan village located next to another disputed area on the Brazilian border.
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