Oiapoque is a municipality in the north of the state of Amapá, Brazil. Its population is 11,449 and its area is 22,625 km². Oiapoque is also a major river in the same state, forming the international border with French Guiana.

Lying on the northern coast of Brazil, Oiapoque is popularly considered the northernmost point of Brazil, but there are more northerly points in Roraima state such as the municipality of Uiramutã.

The Oiapoque River is said to have been found by Vicente Yáñez Pinzón in the first years of the 16th century. It has been called Japoc, Yapoc, Iapoco, and even Vicente Pinzón River. The name Oiapoque was officially used from 1900, when a territorial dispute between Brazil and France was resolved through Swiss diplomatic arbitration.

At the beginning of the twentieth century, the village of Oiapoque hosted a political and criminal concentration camp called Clevelândia. Many Brazilian anarchist militants were sentenced to hard labour here. (See Anarchism in Brazil.)

External links

• Oiapoque, Brazil Weatherunderground