Coastline of Brazil - From South To North

From South To North

The southernmost point of Brazil is located near the sea, at the border with Uruguay, at the city of Santa Vitória do Palmar. A few kilometers to the north, lies the Praia do Cassino, which is 245 km long (though other sources measure it as 212 km long). It is considered (especially by those within the country) to be the longest beach in the world, although other beaches around the globe are also claimed as the record keepers. Nevertheless, it is indeed the longest in Brazil.

Florianópolis, the capital of Santa Catarina, is located at one of the largest coastal islands of Brazil, the Ilha de Santa Catarina, with an area of 424,4 km². The Serra do Mar mountain range starts in Santa Catarina, and runs along the coastlines of Paraná, São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Espírito Santo.

The coastline of Paraná is small if compared to other states. However, it is very diverse geographically, with a considerable number of islands and bays.

In São Paulo, there are famous coastal cities like Guarujá, São Sebastião and Ilhabela. The northern half of the coastline of São Paulo, as well as half the coastline of Rio de Janeiro are the only ones in Brazil to face the south (if small bays and islands spread in the rest of the country are not taken into account).

The state of Rio de Janeiro's coastline is remarkable for the worldwide known beaches in the capital city, like Ipanema and Copacabana. Also, the state features the Campos Basin, the largest petroleum rich area in Brazil, measuring 100,000 km² and producing 1.49 million barrels of oil every day. The basin extends to the coastline of Espírito Santo. 1,200 km east of Vitória, in Espírito Santo, lie the islands of Trindade and Martim Vaz.

Bahia has the longest coastline of the Brazilian states, and also the greatest number of coastal municipalities. Porto Seguro is regarded as the first place in which Pedro Álvares Cabral, discoverer of Brazil, set foot. Salvador was the first capital of Brazil, and still boasts well-preserved buildings of the colonial and imperial periods of Brazil.

From Sergipe to Ceará, the landscape changes little. The majority of the coastal areas have few or no mountains, whereas most of the islands are separated from the continent only by narrow channels. Temperatures are rather warm during most of the year, with moderate winds blowing frequently.

Piauí has a coastline of only some 60 km, the shortest of the country. Four cities (Cajueiro da Praia, Ilha Grande Luís Correia and Parnaíba) make up the coast of the state.

In Maranhão, some unique geographical features (like the Lençóis Maranhenses) are present. The area between Maranhão and Pará is dominated by the "Reentrâncias Maranhenses", a landform similar to a fjord but shorter, narrower and lower. Because of this particular geography, there are almost no beaches at this section of the Brazilian coastline.

Half the coastline of Pará is composed of the mouth of the Amazon River, which flows towards the sea around the Marajó island, the largest island surrounded by fresh water in the world. The outflow of the Amazon river is so strong that the ocean waters in the north and northeast faces of the island have almost no salt.

Amapá's coastline is almost 600 km long, but there are only three beaches: Fazendinha, Boca do Inferno and Goiabal. The coastline of Brazil ends at Cape Orange, in the city of Oiapoque.