The population of the city proper was 1,, in The city is located at the confluence of the Beberibe and Capibaribe rivers before they flow into the South Atlantic Ocean.
It is a major port on the Atlantic. Its name is an allusion to the stone reefs that are present by the city's shores. The many rivers, small islands and over 50 bridges found in Recife city centre characterise its geography and led to the city being called the "Brazilian Venice ".
The Metropolitan Region of Recife is the main industrial zone of the State of Pernambuco ; major products are those derived from cane sugar and ethanol , motor vehicles, ships, oil platforms, electronics, software, and others. With fiscal incentives by the government, many industrial companies were started in the s and s. Recife stands out as a major tourist attraction of the Northeast , both for its beaches and for its historic sites, dating back to both the Portuguese and the Dutch colonization of the region.
The Historic Centre of Olinda , 7 kilometers 4. The city is an education hub, and home to the Federal University of Pernambuco , the largest university in Pernambuco. Several Brazilian historical figures, such as the poet and abolitionist Castro Alves , moved to Recife for their studies. The city, despite having a higher crime rate than the southern region of Brazil, is considered the safest state capital in northeastern region. Architectural Digest, a renowned international architecture magazine, listed, in , the 31 most beautiful streets in the world, one of which is in Recife, Rua do Bom Jesus, in third place.
Recife began as a collection of fishing shacks, inns and warehouses on the delta between the Capibaribe and Beberibe Rivers in the captaincy of Pernambuco , sometime between and in the earliest days of Portuguese colonisation of Terra de Santa Cruz , later called Brazil , on the northeast coast of South America. It was a settlement of colonial fishermen and way station for Portuguese sailors and passing ships. The first documented reference to the settlement with its " arrecife dos navios " reef of the ships was in the royal Charter Act of March 12, , establishing Olinda , 6 kilometres 3.
