Ribeiras
| Ribeiras | |
| Civil Parish | |
 From the border with Lajes do Pico, the vista of the parish of Ribeiras towards Piedade
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| Official name: Freguesia de Ribeiras | |
| Name origin: Portuguese for streams | |
| Country |  Portugal |
|---|---|
| Autonomous Region |  Azores |
| Island | Pico |
| Municipality | Lajes do Pico |
| Localities | Cabeços, Caminho de Cima, Canto, Cruz, Ladeira do Capitão, Pontas Negras, Manchillas, Outeiros, Ribeira Grande, Ribeira Seca, Ribeiras, Santa Bárbara |
| Center | Ribeiras |
| - elevation | 9 m (30 ft) |
| - coordinates | 38°24′15″N 28°11′23″W / 38.40417°N 28.18972°WCoordinates: 38°24′15″N 28°11′23″W / 38.40417°N 28.18972°W |
| Highest point | |
| - location | Caveira |
| - elevation | 108 m (354 ft) |
| - coordinates | 38°26′25″N 28°12′45″W / 38.44028°N 28.21250°W |
| Lowest point | Sea level |
| - location | Atlantic Ocean |
| - elevation | 0 m (0 ft) |
| Area | 34.17 km2 (13 sq mi) |
| - water | .03 km2 (0 sq mi) |
| - urban | .77 km2 (0 sq mi) |
| Population | 925 (2011) |
| Density | 27/km2 (70/sq mi) |
| Settlement | c. 1460 |
| LAU | Junta Freguesia |
| - location | Largo Doctor Manuel Linhares Andrade, Santa Bárbara |
| - coordinates | 38°24′2″N 28°11′40″W / 38.40056°N 28.19444°W |
| President Junta | Mário Manuel da Silveira Ferreira (PPD/PSD) |
| President Assembleia | Ricardo Manuel Garcia da Silva (PPD/PSD) |
| Timezone | Azores (UTC-1) |
| - summer (DST) | Azores (UTC0) |
| Postal Zone | 9930-308 |
| Area Code & Prefix | (+351) 292 XXX-XXXX |
| Demonym | Ribeirense |
| Patron Saint | Blessed Virgin Mary |
| Website: http://www.ribeiras.com/opiniao.php | |
Ribeiras is a civil parish in the municipality of Lajes do Pico in the Azores. The population in 2011 was 925, in an area of 34.17 km².
The first navigators dropped anchor in the deep waters of the Bay of Ribeiras around 1460, taking advantage of the numerous ravines that descended from the mountains of the north. These early settlers were primarily fisherman, constructing boats and working during the day, and populating some areas near access to potable water. In 1502, countrymen of Fernão Álvares Evangelho, the first settler of Lajes, arrived in the area of Santa Cruz and joined-up with Fernão Álvares following many of the paths and trails originally travelled by animals deposited on the island by Infante D. Henriques's early exploration fleets. One of the first settlements, Santa Cruz was an homage of faith to those fishers that returned successfully every year, after living off the sea, on long voyages, hunting whale, fishing for tuna and other species. Other settlers cultivated the patchwork of parcels, growing corn, constructing mills in many of the ravines, and raising cattle to support, initially, a subsistence lifestyle. These early settlers constructed a chapel to the invocation of Nossa Senhora do Socorro, though they eventually constructed a new Church to honor Santa Barbara, which gave its name to the new community in the 16th Century.
During the Liberalist Wars, on April 21, 1831, a military division commanded by the Count of Villafor, disembarked in the port of Ribeiras. This was part of a concerted attempt to take the island of Faial:
Wooden ships, such as the Carmona and Salazar, owned by Master João Alves, marked the life and socio-economic activity of the settlements, marked by the exchange of produce from the land and fish caught in the sea. It was in Ribeiras that the first boats were launched to link inter-island commerce, such as the Andorinha (launched in 1915) and the Ribeirense (launched in 1916), the first motorized yacht to circulate in the waters of the Azores.
The parish of Ribeiras is an administrative division extending from the parish of Lajes do Pico in the west to Piedade along the eastern coast. It consists of mountainous hills that slope into the Atlantic Ocean, and includes several ravines and river-valleys. Towards the interior, there are many craters and spatter cones that comprise the portions of the Achada Plain and the Topo Volcanic Complex. These lands are primarily peat-bogs and populated by scrub vegetation, as well as lake-filled depressions or cones, such as Lagoa do Paul (in the northeastern corner of the parish).
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Wikipedia