Isla Martín García is an Argentine island off the Río de la Plata coast of Uruguay. The enclave island is within the boundaries of Uruguayan waters; in 1973 both countries reached an agreement establishing Martín García as an Argentine territory and also as a nature reserve.
The island of 1.84 km2 (0.7 sq mi) has a permanent population of about 150 people (50 families), and belongs to the Buenos Aires Province.
The strategically located island was the site of a fortification built in the 1820s by Argentine forces to deny the Brazilian navy access to the Uruguay River. This fort, named Constitucion, succeeded in keeping Brazilian reinforcements at bay during the Battle of Juncal between 8 and 9 February 1827, allowing the Argentines to destroy the Brazilian squadron operating on the Uruguay River during the Argentina-Brazil War. In more modern times, several Argentine political figures were kept in the island under arrest by different military governments, including Presidents Hipólito Yrigoyen (1930), Juan Perón (1945), and Arturo Frondizi (1962).
The island is accessible by air at Martín García Island Airport.
The island's biome is that of forests, and its predominant species include the ceiba and the creole laurel, as well as xerophytic species (similar to the Gran Chaco) that include gorse, cacti, and lapachillo. The island's beaches are populated with reeds, fig trees (ibopehay), and more than 800 species of plants.
The median and greater wildlife, excluding fish, is composed at present mainly by over 250 bird species which highlights the hummingbirds that have eight species, sparrowhawk, lapwings, herons, vultures, parrots, cardinals, pigeons, sparrows, finches, larks, pygmy owls (caburé), and great horned owls, among others. The island is also home to a variety of reptiles, lizards, geckos, turtles, frogs, coypu (or pseudonutrias), capybaras, alligators, red deer. The once-large population of giant river otters (ariray) was exterminated by the late 1950s.
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