The Oyapock runs through the Guianan moist forests ecoregion. It rises in the Tumuk Humakmountain range and flows into the Atlantic Ocean, where its estuary forms a large bay bordering on Cape Orange. The mouth of the Oyapock is the northern end of Brazil's coastline, as it is where the border between Brazil and French Guiana meets the ocean, but nearby Cape Orange, which separates the Bay of Oyapock from the Atlantic Ocean, is the northernmost point of the Brazilian coast. In Brazil, both the cape and the mouth of the Oyapock are often mistaken for the whole country's northernmost point, and in the past this information could even be found in geography schoolbooks. Yet the true northernmost point in Brazil is actually far inland, on Monte Caburaí, in the state of Roraima, hundreds of kilometers from the Oyapock and almost a full degree more to the north.
History
was said to be the first European person to see the Oiapoque River in the first years of the 16th century. It has been rendered Japoc, Yapoc, Iapoco, Wiapoco, and even called the Vicente Pinzón River. Early European colonists referred to the river as the Wiapoco, and it was the site of early settlements by Briton Robert Harcourt in 1608 and Dutchman Jan van Ryen in 1627. The name Oiapoque has been officially used from 1900, when a territorial dispute between Brazil and France was resolved through Swiss diplomatic arbitration.
The Oyapock River Bridge has been built across the river to connect the Brazilian town of Oiapoque and the French town of Saint-Georges-de-l'Oyapock. It is the first internationalland border connection of French Guiana, but although completed since 2011, as of February 2017 it remains closed to traffic, due to delays in making the final payments to the construction company, building and staffing the Brazilian customs facilities, and some minor disagreements between the Brazilian and French governments.The inauguration ceremony of the bridge finally took place on 18 March 2017. Starting from 08:00 on 20 March 2017, the bridge has been open to members of the public.
The widespread Brazilian Portuguese expression "do Oiapoque ao Chuí" is used to refer to the whole nation, by mentioning the waterways that mark respectively the northern and southern extremities of the Brazilian coastline. Thus, the saying is used in the same way as Americans use the expression "from coast to coast."
