Bailique is a district in the

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

ian municipality of

Macapá Macapá () is a city in Brazil with a population of 512,902 (2020 estimation). It is the capital of Amapá state in the country's North Region. It is located on the northern channel of the Amazon River near its mouth on the Atlantic Ocean. The ...

, in the state of

Amapá Amapá () is one of the 26 states of Brazil. It is in the northern region of Brazil. It is the second least populous state and the eighteenth largest by area. Located in the far northern part of the country, Amapá is bordered clockwise by Fr ...

. Bailique is an

archipelago An archipelago ( ), sometimes called an island group or island chain, is a chain, cluster, or collection of islands, or sometimes a sea containing a small number of scattered islands. Examples of archipelagos include: the Indonesian Archi ...

of islands in the Amazon River. It consists of eight major islands. The district is limited to the north by the Araguari River, to the south by Canal do Norte, and to the east by the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the "Old World" of Afr ...

. In 1936, the islands became a district of the capital Macapá.

Islands

The islands of the archipelago are: * Ilha de Bailique * Ilha do Brigue * Ilha Curuá * Ilha do Faustino * Ilha do Franco * Ilha dos Marinheiros * Igarapé do Meio * Ilha Parazinho, an unhabitated island which nowadays contains Parazinho Biological Reserve. The majority of settlements are rural villages made of

stilt house Stilt houses (also called pile dwellings or lake dwellings) are houses raised on stilts (or piles) over the surface of the soil or a body of water. Stilt houses are built primarily as a protection against flooding; they also keep out vermin. The ...

s along the rivers and coast. The infrastructure on the islands is limited. There are several primary schools, and one high school, but there are no clinics, no clean drinking water, and no ferry to the mainland. The archipelago is positioned at a location where different

biome A biome () is a biogeographical unit consisting of a biological community that has formed in response to the physical environment in which they are found and a shared regional climate. Biomes may span more than one continent. Biome is a broader ...

s meet. The tropical rainforest and

mangrove A mangrove is a shrub or tree that grows in coastal saline or brackish water. The term is also used for tropical coastal vegetation consisting of such species. Mangroves are taxonomically diverse, as a result of convergent evolution in several ...

forests meet the

reef A reef is a ridge or shoal of rock, coral or similar relatively stable material, lying beneath the surface of a natural body of water. Many reefs result from natural, abiotic component, abiotic processes—deposition (geology), deposition of ...

of the mouth of the Amazon.

Economy

The economy of the islands is based on fishing in the rivers and the Atlantic Ocean,

subsistence farming Subsistence agriculture occurs when farmers grow food crops to meet the needs of themselves and their families on smallholdings. Subsistence agriculturalists target farm output for survival and for mostly local requirements, with little or no ...

, and cultivation and harvesting of the Açaí palm. Bee keeping is a recent addition.

Soil erosion

The Araguari River, a river north of the Amazon, was known for its

tidal bore Tidal is the adjectival form of tide. Tidal may also refer to: * ''Tidal'' (album), a 1996 album by Fiona Apple * Tidal (king), a king involved in the Battle of the Vale of Siddim * TidalCycles, a live coding environment for music * Tidal (servic ...

which created enormous waves. In 2013, three dams were built in the river to generate

hydroelectricity Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies one sixth of the world's electricity, almost 4500 TWh in 2020, which is more than all other renewable sources combined a ...

. The dams ended the tidal bore which altered the flow of water in the Amazon, and caused significant land erosion and damage to the archipelago. The Bosque School, the only high school on the islands, is at risk of collapsing. In 2018, an emergency was declared by the State of Amapá, because 700 people had been affected by the fallen land. The current rate of erosion is estimated at one metre a year.

References

Bibliography

* {{authority control Islands of the Amazon River islands of Brazil Populated coastal places in Amapá Populated places in Amapá

Islands

Economy

Soil erosion

See also

References

Bibliography