Ceará-Piauí border dispute
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A vast region of 3,000 km2 at Serra de Ibiapaba is claimed by the Brazilian states of Ceará and Piauí.[1] The regions became popularly known as Cerapió and Piocerá.[2]
The dispute dates back to the colonial government of Manuel Inácio de Sampaio e Pina Freire in Ceará, when engineer Silva Paulet presented a map of the then-province which showed the west coastline border reaching the mouth of Igaraçu River. As such, the location known as Amarração, currently Luís Correia, would be part of Ceará's territory.
During the 19th century Amarração was assisted by the neighboring Ceará city of Granja, until 1874, when the state deputies decided to grant Amarração village status. This caught the attention of politicians from Piauí, who claimed the territory. A solution arose with the General Decree 3.012, of 22 November 1880, determining that there would be an exchange in which Piauí would reestablish its coastline and Ceará would incorporate the municipalities of Crateús and Independência.[3]
Since then, the border of Ceará and Piauí features several points of indefiniteness[4] and both states keep claiming those places. According to Ceará state deputy Neto Nunes (PMDB), the indefiniteness persists because "Piauí wants a part of the range that is fertile and has good weather, inns, a touristic region of the state", while the land exchanged for the coastline would be of pure sertão.[5]