Fernando de Noronha (redirected from Isle Dauphine)

Fernando de Noronha (fərnän`d dĭ nrô`nyə), group of 21 islands, c.10 sq mi (26 sq km), in the Atlantic Ocean, c.225 mi (360 km) off the northeast coast of Brazil. A federal territory of Brazil from 1942 to 1988, when it was reannexed to the state of Pernambuco, it is administered as a state district and is the site of a national maritime park. The islands have been the site of a military base and a penal colony. The main resource of the islands is the guano deposits (c.1 million tons); there are salt deposits as well. Tourism has also been developed. The islands, discovered in 1503, were the first hereditary captaincy granted in Brazil by the Portuguese crown. A U.S. missile-tracking base was there from 1957 to 1962.