Arraial do Cabo

Arraial do Cabo
Municipality
Municipality of Arraial do Cabo
Flag of Arraial do Cabo
Flag
Official seal of Arraial do Cabo
Seal
Location in Rio de Janeiro
Location in Rio de Janeiro
Coordinates: 22°57′57″S 42°01′40″W / 22.96583°S 42.02778°W / -22.96583; -42.02778
Country Brazil
RegionSoutheast
State Rio de Janeiro
Government
 • MayorMarcelo Magno (Solidarity)
Area
 • Total152.305 km2 (58.805 sq mi)
Elevation
8 m (26 ft)
Population
 (2020)[1]
 • Total30,593
 • Density200/km2 (520/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC-3 (UTC-3)
HDI (2010)0.733 – high[2]
Websitearraialdocabo.rj.gov.br

Arraial do Cabo (Portuguese pronunciation: [ɐʁɐjˈaw du ˈkabu]) is a municipality located in the Brazilian state of Rio de Janeiro. Its population was 30,593 as of 2020 census and its total area is 160 square kilometres (62 sq mi).[3]

It was founded in 1503 by the conqueror Amerigo Vespucci. In 1960 a documentary film was made directed by Mário Carneiro and Paulo Cesar Saraceni about the local fishing industry.[4]

Its geography made Arraial do Cabo an important and dangerous point in the age of sail. From the arrival of the Portuguese Navy in 1503 through the nineteenth century, many shipwrecks occurred. Due to this fact (and other biological factors) Arraial do Cabo is well known as the "Dive Capital".

The municipality operates the Ilha do Cabo Frio Biological Reserve, a fully protected conservation unit on an Atlantic island in the south east of the municipality.[5] It contains the 56,769 hectares (140,280 acres) Arraial do Cabo Marine Extractive Reserve, created in 1997.[6]

  1. ^ IBGE 2020
  2. ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). Archived from the original (PDF) on July 8, 2014. Retrieved August 1, 2013.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  3. ^ "Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics Website". Retrieved November 20, 2013.
  4. ^ Arraial do Cabo, film by Mário Carneiro and Paulo Cesar Saraceni on YouTube
  5. ^ Unidades de Conservação da Região dos Lagos (PDF) (in Portuguese), Petrobras, retrieved 2016-04-26[permanent dead link]
  6. ^ RESEX Marinha do Arraial do Cabo (in Portuguese), ISA: Instituto Socioambiental, retrieved 2016-09-13