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IBGE recalculates altitude of Mount Roraima

Section: Geosciences

July 29, 2005 09h00 AM | Last Updated: February 27, 2018 06h50 PM

(Updated on 07/29/2005 at 4:36 p.m.)

More precise measures, obtained by IBGE with the help of GPS (the abbreviation for Global Positioning System), and in partnership with the Military Institute of Engineering (IME), revealed that the seventh highest peak in the country is 5.24m shorter than imagined before. The campaign, carried out between June 24 and 26 this year, was the fourth and last expedition of the project Pontos Culminantes (Culminating Points), which has already provided updated information on the height of other six peaks in Brazil.

See the list of previous and updated altitudes below:

To measure the highest mountains in Brazil precisely is an audacious project which has been planned for a log time. It promotes the updating of cartographic data all over the Brazilian territory, whose precise description is one of IBGE’s (Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics) main objectives. The expeditions started in 2004 and their results were released in September and December that year. There are no other expeditions scheduled after this one to Mount Roraima.

Mount Roraima is the landmark of the frontier of Brazil, Venezuela and Guiana

Mount Roraima is a huge plateau located in the middle of the Amazon Forest. It is a sign of the triple frontier, which extends over the territories of Venezuela - where most of it is located - Guyane and Brazil territories – which contain 15% of its overall area, and where the measure of the peak was obtained. According to the Caribé Indians, the mount is the home of the god Macunaíma. In order to protect the area of the peak, the National Park of Mount Roraima was created in 1989. In the end of the 19th century, English botanist Everard Im Thurn reached the peak of the Mount for the first time. The expedition reports are believed to have been used by writer Arthur Conan Doyle (creator of Sherlock Holmes) as inspiration for the book "Lost World".