page_title: Saint Peter and Saint Paul Archipelago
hierarchical_section_title: Saint Peter and Saint Paul Archipelago
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: Sankt-Peter-und-Sankt-Pauls-Felsen, Brasilien English: Saint Peter and Saint Paul rocks, Brazil Português: Arquipélago de São Pedro e São Paulo
context_page_description: The Saint Peter and Saint Paul Archipelago is a group of 15 small islets and rocks in the central equatorial Atlantic Ocean. It lies in the Intertropical Convergence Zone, a region of the Atlantic characterized by low average winds punctuated with local thunderstorms. It lies approximately 510 nmi from the nearest point of mainland South America; 625 km northeast of the archipelago of Fernando de Noronha; 990 km from the city of Natal; and 1,824 km from the west coast of Africa. Administratively, the archipelago belongs to Brazil and is part of the special "state district" of Fernando de Noronha, in the state of Pernambuco, in spite of the very large distance between the two island groups and the even larger distance to the state mainland.
  The islets expose serpentinized abyssal mantle peridotite and kaersutite-bearing ultramafic mylonite atop the world's highest and yet only second largest megamullion. This grouping is the sole location in the Atlantic Ocean where the abyssal mantle is exposed above sea level.
  In 1986, the archipelago was designated an environmentally protected area.
  This is now part of the Fernando de Noronha Environmental Protection Area.
context_section_description: The Saint Peter and Saint Paul Archipelago (Portuguese: Arquipélago de São Pedro e São Paulo [ɐʁkiˈpɛlɐgu dʒi sɐ̃w ˈpedɾw‿i sɐ̃w ˈpawlu]) is a group of 15 small islets and rocks in the central equatorial Atlantic Ocean. It lies in the Intertropical Convergence Zone, a region of the Atlantic characterized by low average winds punctuated with local thunderstorms. It lies approximately 510 nmi (940 km; 590 mi) from the nearest point of mainland South America (the northeastern Brazilian coastal town of Touros); 625 km (388 mi) northeast of the archipelago of Fernando de Noronha; 990 km (620 mi) from the city of Natal; and 1,824 km (1,133 mi) from the west coast of Africa. Administratively, the archipelago belongs to Brazil and is part of the special "state district" (Portuguese: distrito estadual) of Fernando de Noronha, in the state of Pernambuco, in spite of the very large distance between the two island groups and the even larger distance to the state mainland.
  The islets expose serpentinized abyssal mantle peridotite and kaersutite-bearing ultramafic mylonite atop the world's highest and yet only second largest megamullion (after the Parece Vela megamullion under Okinotorishima in the Pacific Ocean). This grouping is the sole location in the Atlantic Ocean where the abyssal mantle is exposed above sea level.
  In 1986, the archipelago was designated an environmentally protected area. 
  This is now part of the Fernando de Noronha Environmental Protection Area.
  Since 1998, the Brazilian Navy has maintained a permanently manned research facility on the islands. 
  The main economic activity around the islets is tuna fishing.
caption: Brazilian Navy scientific station and lighthouse of the Saint Peter and Saint Paul Archipelago
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