SANTOS, a city and seaport of Brazil in the province of São Paulo, is situated on the north side of the island of São Vicente or Engua-Guaçu, which forms the west side of the harbour-bay (an inlet 3½ miles deep, with soundings varying from 4 to 10 fathoms). It is a well-built town with wide airy streets, and most of the better classes have their residences at Barra Fort (4 miles out) and other suburban villages. Commercially the town has grown to great importance as the terminus of the whole railway system of this part of Brazil—the Santos and Jundiahy line (1867) running inland 87 miles and connecting with the São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro Railway and various other lines. The export of coffee (the great staple) increased from 344,800 60-kilogramme bags in 1862-3 to 537,478 in 1872-3 and 1,932,194 in 1883-4. The value of the coffee was estimated at £1,630,275 in 1870-71, and at £3,632,838 in 1878-79. The export and import trade is estimated to circulate £10,000,000 a year. The population has increased since 1870 from 9000 to about 15,000.

As the city of São Vicente, the first permanent Portuguese settlement in Brazil, began to decline from its position as capital of the southern provinces, Santos, founded by Braz Cuba in 1543-46, gradually took its place. In the 17th century it was besieged by the Dutch and English. The provincial assembly passed an enactment by which the city was to be called Cidade de Bonifacio in honour of José Bonifacio d’Andrade e Silva, the national patriot, to whom it had given birth, but the older name of Santos held its ground.