São Vicente

São Vicente souN vēsĕnˈtĭ [key], city (1996 pop. 279,620), São Paulo state, SE Brazil, off the mainland on an island in the Atlantic. It was the first permanent Portuguese settlement (1532) in Brazil and during the 16th and parts of the 17th cent. was capital of the São Vicente captaincy. It was sacked in 1591 by the English pirate Thomas Cavendish. São Vicente is now a residential suburb of Santos (which is also on the island) and an ultramodern beach resort.

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