Litoral Norte
Municipalities
The microregion consists of the following municipalities:
History
The first city to be settled was São Sebastião, in 1636. Ubatuba came next, in 1637, and then Ilhabela in 1805. Caraguatatuba was the last one, in 1857. However, it is important to note that the channel between Ilhabela and São Sebastião had already been sailed by the Portuguese in 1502.
All four cities relied on agriculture and fishing as its main economic activities for most of the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, whereas São Sebastião served as a major sugar cane, coffea and tobacco production site. In the second half of the 20th century, the cities started to receive several tourists, mostly from São Paulo and nearby cities. This made it possible for the region to make money out of tourism, via hotels, restaurants, handicraft stores and nightclubs.
Geography
The Serra do Mar mountain range dominates the landscape of the microregion. Urbanization took place in the plains between the mountains and the sea. The highest point is the Pico de São Sebastião (Saint Sebastian's Peak), in Ilhabela, at 1,378 metres (4,521 ft) above sea level. The oceanic climate sets the temperatures around the region between 20 and 30 °C for most of the year. Rain falls moderately, but it falls more frequently particularly in Ubatuba, which is the reason of the city's nickname Ubachuva (lit. Ubarain).
Transportation
Highways
The only road crossing all the microregion (except for the island municipality of Ilhabela) is the BR-101, which runs near the sea and serves as the main connection between the cities. São Sebastião is the only city not to have a connection to the countryside. Caraguatatuba is connected to São José dos Campos via the Tamoios Highway. From Ubatuba, it is possible to reach Taubaté via the Oswaldo Cruz Highway.
To reach Ilhabela, the island is only accessible via the ferry boats departing from São Sebastião. The crossing takes 15 minutes, although sometimes people must wait more than an hour to take the boat.
Air
Ubatuba Airport is the only one in the microregion. It operates from sunrise to sunset only, and it is used mainly for non-commercial flights. It has a single 930 m asphalt 09/27 runway.
References
- ^ Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística, territorial division.
- ^ "Airport information for SDUB". World Aero Data. Archived from the original on 2019-03-05.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) Data current as of October 2006.