Ilhas Marítimas Brasileiras: Lacunas De Geoinformação E a Importância Para a Gestão Territorial

Islands are territories with environmental, social, and economic peculiarities that differ from those on the mainland. Boundedness, small size, isolation, and coastal location reinforce or influence many natural and human processes on islands. This study aims to characterize Brazilian maritime islands based on location and territorial dimensions. Secondary national data from the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics was used to create a digital database using Geographic Information Systems (GIS). The 1,200 Brazilian maritime islands cataloged in the Continuous Cartographic Bases of Brazil cover a total area of 65,185.8 square kilometers, distributed across 15 Federal Units, 33 Intermediate Geographical Regions, 51 Immediate Geographical Regions, and 150 Brazilian municipalities. The analytical procedure revealed significant gaps in the available national databases on the Brazilian islands' territory. This study highlights the need for efforts to understand the territorial dynamics of Brazilian maritime islands. The database created from this study can serve as a reference source of information for further studies aiming at the analysis and characterization of the Brazilian maritime island territory.