The Chuí, or Chuy'', ''Stream ( Portuguese: ''Arroio Chuí'' ,

Rioplatense Spanish Rioplatense Spanish ( , ), also known as Rioplatense Castilian, or River Plate Spanish, is a variety of SpanishAlvar, Manuel, "''Manual de dialectología hispánica. El español de América''", ("Handbook of Hispanic Dialectology. Spanish Lan ...

: ''Arroyo Chuy'' ), is a short stream on the

Brazil–Uruguay border The Brazil–Uruguay border is a strip of land located south of the southern Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul. It stretches for 985 km from the triple border Brazil-Argentina-Uruguay west to the mouth of Arroyo Chuí, the southernmost poi ...

that is Brazil's southernmost point.

Geography

The Chui rises in a small

swamp A swamp is a forested wetland.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p. Swamps are considered to be transition zones because both land and water play a role in ...

in the sandy

coastal plain A coastal plain (also coastal plains, coastal lowland, coastal lowlands) is an area of flat, low-lying land adjacent to a sea coast. A fall line commonly marks the border between a coastal plain and an upland area. Formation Coastal plains can f ...

s of the far southern

Brazilian state The federative units of Brazil () are subnational entities with a certain degree of autonomy (self-government, self-regulation, and self-collection) and endowed with their own government and constitution, which together form the Federative Repu ...

Rio Grande do Sul Rio Grande do Sul (, ; ; "Great River of the South") is a Federative units of Brazil, state in the South Region, Brazil, southern region of Brazil. It is the Federative units of Brazil#List, fifth-most populous state and the List of Brazilian s ...

. It runs initially southward, then turns east before flowing into the Atlantic Ocean. In its final course, the stream marks the last stretch of the Brazilian border with

Uruguay Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast, while bordering the Río de la Plata to the south and the A ...

. In Brazil, it lies mostly in the municipality of

Santa Vitória do Palmar Santa Vitória do Palmar (lit. "Saint Victoria of the Palms") is a Brazilian city and municipality. It is the southernmost municipality in Brazil, located in the state of Rio Grande do Sul. To the west of the municipality is the Lagoa Mirim an ...

, with a short section in Chuí. The Uruguayan side belongs to the city of

Chuy Chuy () is a city in the extreme east of Uruguay, in the Rocha Department, northeast of Montevideo. It lies on the border with Brazil, separated from its Brazilian sister town of Chuí only by a shared avenue that serves as the border, and by the ...

, in the department of

Rocha Rocha may refer to: * Rocha (surname), a Portuguese surname * Rocha, Moca, Puerto Rico, a barrio in the municipality of Moca, Puerto Rico * Rocha, Rio de Janeiro, a neighborhood in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil * Rocha, Uruguay, capital city of the R ...

. The Chuí spans only a few tens of kilometres long and its water volume is relatively weak. This is why it is called an ''arroio'' or ''arroyo'', which in Portuguese and Spanish means "stream", respectively. It would be unremarkable, were it not for the fact that it is known throughout Brazil and mentioned in all Brazilian geography schoolbooks as being the country's southernmost point. The most southerly point of Brazil is on a bend of the stream approximately upstream from its mouth, near the twin coastal villages of Barra do Chuí (Brazil) and

Barra del Chuy Barra del Chuy is a resort (''balneario'') in the Rocha Department of southeastern Uruguay. Its name means Mouth of Chui (stream). It is the last coastal resort of Uruguay, bordering Brazil to the southeast with the stream Arroyo Chui as the natura ...

(Uruguay), at . The mouth of the Chuí Stream is not only the southernmost, but also the westernmost point of the Brazilian coast, as well as both the northernmost and easternmost point of the Uruguayan coast. It also marks the southern end of Cassino Beach, the world's longest uninterrupted stretch of sandy ocean shore, stretching over from the stone

breakwater Breakwater may refer to: * Breakwater (structure), a structure for protecting a beach or harbour Places * Breakwater, Victoria, a suburb of Geelong, Victoria, Australia * Breakwater Island, Antarctica * Breakwater Islands, Nunavut, Canada * ...

s of

Rio Grande The Rio Grande ( or ) in the United States or the Río Bravo (del Norte) in Mexico (), also known as Tó Ba'áadi in Navajo language, Navajo, is one of the principal rivers (along with the Colorado River) in the Southwestern United States a ...

in its northern end.

In popular culture

The widespread Brazilian Portuguese expression ''"do Oiapoque ao Chuí"'' ("from the

Oiapoque Oiapoque () is a municipality in the north of the state of Amapá, Brazil. Its population is 27,906 and its area is . Oiapoque is also a major river in the same state, forming the international border with French Guiana. The Oyapock River Bridge, ...

to the Chuí

ivers Ivers is the Name of the following people: *Alice Ivers (1851 - 1930), professional saloon poker player and faro player *Donald L. Ivers (born 1941), former judge of the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims *Eileen Ivers (born 1965), ...

) is used to mean the whole nation, by mentioning the waterways that mark respectively the northern and southern extremities of the Brazilian coastline (the mouth of the Oiapoque River is often mistakenly thought to be the entire country's northernmost point, not only of its coast). The saying is used in the same way as Americans use the expression "from coast to coast."

Gallery

Image:Barra do Chuí.jpg, The mouth of Arroio Chuí on the Atlantic Ocean. Brazil on the left, Uruguay on the right.
The stone breakwater on the left is both the southernmost and the westernmost point of the Brazilian coast; the one on the right is both the northernmost and the easternmost point of the Uruguayan coast. Image:Farolchui.jpg, Lighthouse on the Brazilian side. Image:Pontearroiochui.jpg, International bridge near the mouth, seen from the Brazilian side. Image:Arroio_Chuí_07.JPG, The exact southernmost point of Brazil, seen from the Uruguayan side.

References

External links

Barra del Chuy
(in Spanish) - site of the neighbouring Uruguayan beach resort village, with many photographs of the mouth of the Chuí and neighbouring beaches and villages on both the Brazilian and Uruguayan sides. {{DEFAULTSORT:Chui Stream Rivers of Rio Grande do Sul Rivers of Uruguay Brazil–Uruguay border Extreme points of Brazil Rivers of Rocha Department

Geography

In popular culture

Gallery

See also

References

External links