Bananal Island

Bananal Island (Portuguese: Ilha do Bananal, IPA: [banaˈnaw]) is a large river island formed from the bisection of the Araguaia River, in southwestern Tocantins, Brazil. The island is formed by a fork in a very flat section of the Araguaia; the western stream of the fork retains the name Araguaia and the eastern one is called the Javaés River. By reuniting later, both streams form Bananal Island, which is the second largest river island in the world and the largest without an ocean coastline, at 320 kilometres (200 mi) long and 55 kilometres (34 mi) wide. Its total area is 19,162.25 square kilometres (7,398.59 mi). The Jaburu do Bananal is the largest of several rivers flowing within the island, parallel to the Araguaia.

Environmental and cultural protection