Peruíbe is a municipality in the state of São Paulo in Brazil. It is part of the Metropolitan Region of Baixada Santista. The population is 69,001 (2020 est.) in an area of . Peruíbe is located to the southwest of the city of São Paulo and west of Santos. Location Peruíbe's urban area is entirely along the Atlantic Ocean fronting its famous beach which is one of the longest in the state. The urban area covers a small part of the municipality, with population growing steadily. Most of the area north of downtown Peruíbe is forested with trees, and is hilly or mountainous as part of the Serra do Mar. An Indian Reservation named Terra Indígena Piaçagüera (Piaçagüera Indigenous Land) which is home to the Guaraní tribe named Nhandhevá covers an area of with a perimeter of 38 km. The municipality contains part of the Tupiniquins Ecological Station. It contains the Ilha do Ameixal Area of Relevant Ecological Interest created in 1985. It also contains a small part of the Juréia-Itatins Ecological Station, a strictly protected area of well-preserved Atlantic Forest created in 1986. It contains the Itinguçu State Park, created in 2006. It contains 91% of the Barra do Una Sustainable Development Reserve, also created in 2006. The municipality contains the Ilhas Queimada Pequena e Queimada Grande Area of Relevant Ecological Interest, created in 1985 to protect two islands off the coast. The Ilhas do Abrigo e Guararitama Wildlife Refuge protects two other islands in the Atlantic Ocean to the east of the town. History Peruíbe in the Tupi language (spoken by many Tupi tribes along the Brazilian coast in the 16th century) means river of the shark. Originally as the region of Mongaguá, Peruibe belonged to the Itanhaém territory that stretched from São Vicente to Cananéia, both Portuguese villages founded during the colonial times. As Mongagua (nowadays a city), Peruibe, as a municipality, was created back in the 20th century for administrative convenience. Back in the 16th century, the region of Peruibe (and the one of Itanhaém) would have had a bad reputation since most Tupiniquim Indians living there were put into slavery by the Portuguese, working in sugarcane plantations around São Vicente Island. The Abarebebe as the Indigenous peoples called Father Leonardo Nunes, or "the priest that flies" – since he was seen frequently walking on foot all around the long beach between Itanhaem and Peruibe, was