Located approximately 1,100 km from the coast of Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil, the São Pedro and São Paulo Archipelago (SP&SP) is the only group of Brazilian oceanic islands above the equator, and is made up of small rocky islands formed from the geological evolution associated with the São Paulo tectonic fault. It is an outcrop of the oceanic mantle that rises from abyssal depths, around 4,000 meters, with a total emerged area of 17,000 square meters.
Despite its extremely inhospitable nature, SP&SP has unique characteristics that provide the country with unparalleled opportunities in the economic, scientific and strategic fields.
– Economic interest – SP&SP is located on the migratory route of fish with extremely high commercial value, proving to be a very promising region for national fishing activity.
– Scientific interest – ASPSP has always aroused great scientific interest. This is a very rare case of the formation of islands, surrounded by rich biodiversity, which provides unique conditions for conducting research in various branches of science.
– Strategic interest – The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), signed by Brazil in 1982 and subsequently ratified in December 1988, changed the international legal order regarding maritime spaces, establishing the right of coastal States to explore and exploit the natural resources of the water column, the soil and subsoil of the oceans, present in their Exclusive Economic Zone. However, in relation to the “Island Regime”, Article 121 of the Convention, in its paragraph 3, states that: “rocks that are not in themselves suitable for human habitation or economic life shall not have an Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) or Continental Shelf”. By ensuring the continued habitability of that remote region, the country is able to add an impressive area of 450,000 km2 to its original EEZ, which is equivalent to approximately 13% of the entire Brazilian EEZ or 6% of the national territory.
