RECIFE or PERNAMBUCO, a city and seaport of Brazil, capital of the State of Pernambuco, in 8° 3' S. and 55' W., near the extreme eastern point of South America. Pop. (1933 est.) 438,159. Recife is frequently called the "Venice of Amer ica"; it is at the mouths of the rivers Beberibe and Capibaribe which unite to form a small lagoon or bay inside the sea beach. In the angle between the two rivers is the delta island of Antonio Vaz. The city is built on the southern extremity of the sandy sea beach, on the island of Antonio Vaz, and on the mainland to the westward, the river channels being crossed by numerous bridges. With the exception of the hills on which Olinda is built about 5m. northward, the surrounding country is low and flat, the general elevation averaging 1 o feet. As the tide rises about 6ft., the general level of the city and neighbouring coast, which is wet and swampy to the southward, is too low to be generally healthy. The climate is hot, although agreeably tempered by the south-east trade winds ; the temperature ranges from an absolute minimum of 61° to an absolute maximum of 99°. The rainfall (1901 to 1919) is 74-8 inches. Federal, State and municipal gov ernments, in co-operation with the Rockefeller Foundation (1919), the erection of modern hospitals, a new water system (1917) and the extension of sanitation, have improved health conditions. The death-rate has been reduced to about 34 per i,000. Yellow fever and smallpox have been practically eradicated. Paving of old and narrow streets has advanced and in the newer parts of Recife wide modern avenues are extending. The three principal parishes of the city are known as sac. Jose do Recife, occupying the sandy peninsula or beach north of the outlet of the united rivers; Santo Antonio, on the island of Antonio Vaz, which was called Mauritia or Mauritzstad during the Dutch occupation; and Boa Vista, on the mainland to the westward, which is the most modern and the most rapidly growing part. The first is the oldest and most crowded section, and is now devoted chiefly to the commercial and financial interests of the port; here are the custom house, merchants' exchange (Praca do Commercio), shipping offices, banks and wholesale houses. Santo Antonio dates from the Dutch occupation. Prince Maurice of Nassau, when governor general, built here his private residence (Fribourg House) and made it his capital. Its business edifices and residences are largely Dutch architecture, with many storeys and steep roofs. The older part of Boa Vista dates from the 17th century. The older buildings are of the Portuguese type, usually plain, low and heavy, con structed of broken stone and mortar and plastered and coloured on the outside. Among new public buildings are fine municipal and State offices, a law college, a commercial museum, schools and theatres. New business buildings and private homes add to the city's attractiveness. Electric light and street car services have extended further into the suburbs. Good roads are multiplying
and the use of motor cars is growing.
The port of Recife is one of the most important of Brazil, on account of its proximity to Europe and its convenience for vessels passing around the east shoulder of the continent. It is the land ing-place for one coastwise and two transatlantic cable lines. Its harbour consists of an outer and inner anchorage, the former an open roadstead, which are separated by a remarkable stone reef running parallel with the shore-line, leaving an inside passage 400 to sooft. wide. The entrance to the inner anchorage, which has a depth of about 23ft., is opposite Ft. Brum in the northern part of the city, and is marked by a small Dutch fort (Pick)) and a lighthouse at the northern extremity of the reef. This remark able natural breakwater, which is about 5oft. wide on top and has been repaired with masonry in some places, covers a considerable part of the coast-line in this part of Brazil. It is not a coral reef, as is sometimes stated, but is a consolidated ancient beach, now as hard and firm as stone. Port construction, now well advanced, has already cost $20,000,000; additional construction is in prog ress, including a new light system (1925) and the deepening of the inner harbour. The exports include sugar, rum, cotton, lumber, hides, skins, rubber, wax, fibres, dyewoods, caucan, mandioca flour, pineapples and other fruits. The total commerce handled in a recent year amounted to 363,00o tons. More than i,000m. of railways radiate to interior regions, providing outlet through Recife. Pernambuco is the principal sugar-producing State of Brazil, and Recife is therefore an important centre for this prod uct. Its railway communications with the interior are good, and include the Sul de Pernambuco, Recife and Sao Francisco, Cen tral de Pernambuco, and the Recife to Limoeiro lines, the first three now being under the management of the Great Western of Brazil Company. There are also suburban lines to Olinda and Caxanga, the latter providing communication with some of the prettiest suburbs about the city.
Recife was settled about 1535, when Duarte Coelho Pereira landed there to take possession of the captaincy granted him by the Portuguese crown. The site of Coelho's capital was Olinda, but Recife remained its port and did not become an independent villa (town) until 1710. Down to the close of the 18th century, when Rio de Janeiro became important, Recife was the second city of Brazil, and for a time its most important port. It was captured and plundered in 1595 by the English privateer James Lancaster. It was also captured by the Dutch in 1630 and remained in their possession till 1654, during which time the island of Antonio Vaz was occupied and the town greatly im proved. At the end of the Dutch War the capital was removed from Olinda to Recife, where it has since remained.