10 Amazing Artificial Islands of the World: Islands of the Uros, Peru

Islands of the Uros, Peru

The Uros people of Peru live on floating islands made from the reed that grow along the edges of Lake Titicaca, Puno. The Uros harvested the reeds, bundled them together tightly and built floating island platforms. Each island has a collection of simple, reed houses and the biggest island has a watchtower, according to Atlas Obscura. The larger islands house about 10 families, while the smaller ones (about 98 feet wide) house only two or three. According to the Spanish Ministry of Industry, Energy and Tourism's report on Puno, the Uros islands sit at 1,246 feet above sea level and are about 3 miles west from Puno port.

A view of one of the many floating Uros islands on Lake Titicaca near Puno, Peru, on May 30, 2009. (Credit: Jaime Razuri/AFP/Getty Images)

Environmental and health issues are affecting the islands and the culture of the Uros people. "Thewaters of the Uros have been overfished by commercial fishermen, tourists are affecting their traditional culture and sewage from Puno is causing environmental and health problems," anthropologist Arrufo Alcantara Hernandez, director of the faculty of social sciences at the Universidad Nacional del Altiplano in Puno, told National Geographic.

Houses of Uros residents on one of the Floating Islands on Lake Titicaca, Peru. (Credit: Wikimedia Commons/Cmunozjugo)

Uros people on one of the Floating Islands on Lake Titicaca in Peru. (Credit: Wikimedia Commons/Leon Petrosyan)