Fernando de Noronha

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Fernando de Noronha

Fernando de Noronha, an island 200 miles northeast of Cape São Roque, Brazil. Covering 10 square miles and supporting a population of 2,051 (2000 est.), the island, of volcanic origin, is dominated by a 1,050-foot peak and is known for interesting wildlife. The archipelago consists of twenty-one islands, islets, and rocks of volcanic origin. The main island, from which the group gets its name, makes up 91 percent of the total area.

Discovered about 1503 by Fernando de Noronha, a Portuguese participant in the dyewood trade, the island later became a dependency of Pernambuco and in 1942, together with neighboring islets, a territory of Brazil. Strategically positioned off the bulge of Brazil, the island suffered several attacks, none of them successful, in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. It served as a penal colony in the 1700s and continued to receive a few political prisoners as late as the 1980s. During 1957–1962, the United States Air Force used the island as a tracking station for guided missiles based at Cape Canaveral, Florida. The Brazilian military controlled the territory, and the population consisted primarily of fishermen or civilian employees of the military. In 1989, surrounding waters were declared a Marine National Park. It is home to two endemic birds, the Noronha Elaenia and the Noronha Vireo. Though much of the natural vegetation has been lost, there are several sea animals that are a principal attraction of the island. Its economy is heavily dependent on tourism, although its delicate ecosystem makes it difficult to support heavy traffic. In 2001 UNESCO declared the island a World Heritage Site.

See alsoBrazil, Geography; Noronha, Fernão de.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Additional Bibliography

Fernandes, Hélio. Recordaçoes de um desterrado em Fernando de Noronha. Rio de Janeiro: Editora Tribuna da Imprensa, 1967.

Teixera, Wilson. Arquipélago Fernando de Noronha: O paraíso do vulcao. São Paulo: Terra Virgem Editora, 2003.

                                             Cara Shelly