page_title: Sines
section_title: Physical geography
hierarchical_section_title: Sines / Geography / Physical geography
caption_attribution_description: Praia Grande
context_page_description: Sines is a Portuguese city of Setúbal District, the Alentejo region and subregion of the Alentejo coast, with about 18,298 inhabitants. It is the largest and the first port area of Portugal and the main city industrial port logistics in Portugal and the birthplace of fifteenth-century explorer Vasco da Gama.
  It is the seat of a municipality with 203.30 km ² of area and 18,598 inhabitants, divided into two parishes. The municipality is bordered to the north and east by the municipality of Santiago do Cacém, south and west by Odemira has coastline on the Atlantic Ocean. The coastline of the city, south of São Torpes, is one part of the natural parks of Southwest Alentejo and Vicentine Coast Natural Park.
context_section_description: The municipalities territory is distinguished by three morphological structures: a coastal plain, the residual relief of the Sines Massif, and the eastern escarpment. 
  The coastal plan (which occupies the major part of the municipality) slopes gradually from the interior and occupies an area of 3-12 kilometres cut by several water courses.
  Little remains of the Sines Massif, but from Monte Chãos to the Cape, there are elements of its morphology still present: the Sines promontory is relatively elevated from the sea, and limited by an abrupt escarpment, which slopes to the south until the Ribeira da Junqueira., where beaches and dunes predominate. But after the beach of Burrinho, it continues to be rugged until the vicinity of the island Pessegueiro, where beaches are also evident, while sheltered coves and mini-beaches, such as Porto Covinho, are inter-cut along the coastline. From the north of the city the coast is low sandy beach that extends to Tróia. From this coast, extensive dunes, particularly north of the mouth of Ribeira dos Moinhos dominate the landforms.
  The eastern escarpment, which is limited by the coastal plain forms part of the Serra do Cercal Massif (which rises 100–200 meters in altitude).
  The coast, which is physically rugged (the Sines Cape) is separated into two differentiated areas: a sandy northern section, and a rocky southern area of cliffs.
caption: The lower coast of the coastal plain that stretches from Sines to Setúbal
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