Cabo de Santo Agostinho

The cape at Cabo de Santo Agostinho carries a contested claim to being the first point of land in Brazil sighted by Europeans — Spanish navigator Vicente Yáñez Pinzón is said to have anchored here on January 26, 1500, three months before Pedro Álvares Cabral's officially recognized discovery. The rocky headland is also a geological landmark, marking the last point of separation between South America and Africa when the ancient supercontinent Gondwana broke apart. The city south of Recife combines tropical beaches — including Chalets, Paraíso, and Gaibu — with the large Suape industrial port complex, and retains historic sugar mills from the era when Pernambuco led global sugar production.

• Population208,944
• Nearest water0.1 km
• Nearest mountain36.8 km
• UNESCO within 50 km1