The Lencois Maranhenses is located in Maranhao state, in northeastern Brazil, just east of the Baia de Sao Jose. It is an area of low, flat, occasionally flooded land, overlaid with large, discrete sand dunes. It encompasses roughly 1,500 km2 (580 sq mi), and despite abundant rain, supports almost no vegetation. The area became a National Park on June 2, 1981.