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 showing the municipality of Barra do Quaraí within the state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil
Departments of Uruguay: Artigas

Brazilian Island (in Portuguese Ilha Brasileira; Spanish Isla Brasilera) 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 30°10′56″S 57°37′43″W / 30.18222°S 57.62861°W / -30.18222; -57.62861. The island is approximately 2 km (1.2 mile) long by 0.5 km (0.4 mile) wide.

The island has long been claimed by both Brazil and Uruguay. Brazilian officials claim that the island is within the municipality of Barra do Quaraí, in the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul. Uruguayan officials claim that the island is in their Artigas Department. [1]

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. Neither Uruguay nor Brazil have shown interest in asserting their claims there, for example by sending troops there.

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 effort of firefighters from the nearby towns of Barra do Quaraí (Brazil) and Bella Unión (Uruguay). Mr. Daniel, who still lived there at the time, and his house were unharmed.[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

^ In standard Spanish, the word "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 CIA. "CIA World Factbook: Uruguay: Transnational Issues". U.S. Government. Retrieved 2009-12-26. 
  2. ↑ Griswold, Clark (2013-03-10). "The current territorial disputes of Brazil". Férias do Clark (personal blog) (in Portuguese). Retrieved 2014-01-09. 
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "An island without a guardian waiting to be preserved". Central Sul de Jornais (in Portuguese). 2011-07-04. Retrieved 2014-01-09. 
  4. ↑ "Fire destroys vegetation on the triple border between Brazil, Argentina, and Uruguay". Globo.com (G1 portal) (in Portuguese). 2009-08-08. Retrieved 2014-01-09. 

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.
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