Ponta do Barril
| Ponta do Barril | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Location | Western São Nicolau, Cape Verde |
| Coordinates | 16°36′52″N 24°25′34″W / 16.61453°N 24.42613°WCoordinates: 16°36′52″N 24°25′34″W / 16.61453°N 24.42613°W |
| Offshore water bodies | Atlantic Ocean |
 Cape Verde
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| Location | Ponta do Barril São Nicolau Cape Verde |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 16°36′18.8″N 24°25′6.7″W / 16.605222°N 24.418528°W |
| Year first constructed | 1891 |
| Foundation | masonry base |
| Construction | masonry tower |
| Tower shape | square frustum tower with balcony and small lantern |
| Markings / pattern | white tower |
| Height | 9 metres (30 ft) |
| Focal height | 13 metres (43 ft) |
| Light source | solar power |
| Range | 15 nautical miles (28 km; 17 mi) |
| Characteristic | Fl (3) W 12s. |
| Admiralty number | D2934 |
| NGA number | 24132 |
| ARLHS number | CAP |
| Cape Verde number | PT-2058 |
Ponta do Barril (sometimes simply as Barril) is the westernmost point of the island of São Nicolau, Cape Verde. It is about 8 km WNW of Tarrafal de São Nicolau and 6 km southwest of the closest village Praia Branca. It has a small headland that is 5 km north to south and close to a kilometer wide. Over a kilometer north of the main point is where it is closest to the island of São Vicente, 50 km west-northwest to Calhau close to Viana and is the closest to the small islet of Branco which is over 15 km west.
About 10 km to the west has a depth of 1,000 meters and in the range where it is the deepest between the island and Branco and 20–30 km southwest 3,000 km deep and north 3,500-4,000 km deep and these forms a part of the Cape Verde Rise. The small route, Caminho de Tarrafal de São Nicolau-Barril-Praia Branca (EN3-ST01), a tertiary road.
During the Ice Age, the point then unnamed was about a kilometer west.
At the south of the headland at another point has a homonymous lighthouse at the elevation between 10 and 20 meters above sea level, one of the island's three lighthouses.
When Porto Grande Bay at Mindelo on São Vicente Island was at its busiest from 1880 to 1916, some of the ships that were headed from/to West and South Africa and Australasia (continued to be used that time even after the completion of the Suez Canal in Egypt), passed between the point and the island and the lighthouse guided it. After ship traffic dropped, it is guided mainly for domestic and cargo ships heading from and to the island's two ports.
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Wikipedia