ABSTRACT
This chapter presents the key moments in the emergence and transformation of the urban cross-border continuum using a historical standpoint. The urban cross-border continuum of Tabatinga and Leticia, along with the little Peruvian village of Santa Rosa and other small settlements, are part of this. They gather slightly over 105,000 inhabitants according to the latest census data. The basic outlines of the paired cities of Leticia and Tabatinga emerged from the treaties of Madrid and San Idelfonso, and from work undertaken by the expeditions organized by the border mixed commissions in charge of turning these treaties into reality on the ground. El Marco pinpointed the new border between Columbia and Brazil fixed by an agreement in 1928. Several kilometers of creeks, swamps, paddocks, plus the settlement of El Marco, then separated Tabatinga and Leticia. Most Amazon border cities originated from the dissolution of the Hispanic–Lusitanic colonial order, and the simultaneous emergence of new nation-states.
