How a shape-changing island in the Amazon became the center of a decades

In the heart of the Amazon Basin , where the borders and cultures of Peru, Colombia and Brazil converge, a tiny, shape-shifting island has become the unlikely setting for a diplomatic tug of war.

Santa Rosa is an island in the Amazon River. There’s no agreement on when it emerged from the water, but official settlement began in the 1970s. Today, it’s home to around 3,000 people. But the land they live on isn’t stable; Santa Rosa’s shape and size shifts with the river’s flow. Each year, sandbanks form and disappear, as the main channel carves new paths.

“If God wanted, the river would change and even Santa Rosa could disappear,” said Gladys Hari Leiva, a hotel owner who has lived on the island for 21 years.

The island’s mercurial geography makes it a difficult place to settle; families