Agulhas Negras Peak (, , ) is the fifth-highest mountain in

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

, standing at above sea level, making it one of the highest in the

Brazilian Highlands The Brazilian Highlands or Brazilian Plateau () is an extensive geographical region covering most of the eastern, southern and central portions of Brazil, in all some 4,500,000 km2 (1,930,511 sq mi) or approximately half of the country's la ...

.IBGE Pontos Culminantes
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Itatiaia National Park Itatiaia National Park () was established in 1937 as the first national park in Brazil, and after more than 85 years, the oldest. It is located on the border between the states of Rio de Janeiro and Minas Gerais. Location The Itatiaia National P ...

, in the Mantiqueira range, on the border of the

states State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

and

Minas Gerais Minas Gerais () is one of the 27 federative units of Brazil, being the fourth largest state by area and the second largest in number of inhabitants with a population of 20,539,989 according to the 2022 Brazilian census, 2022 census. Located in ...

. It is the highest point in the state of Rio de Janeiro, the third-highest in Minas Gerais, and the second-highest in the Mantiqueira range. The climb to the top of the mountain was first attempted by Franklin Massena in the year 1856. Further attempts were made by André Rebouças in 1878 and by Horácio de Carvalho in 1898, but the summit was only reached by Carlos Spierling and Osvaldo Leal in 1919.DOCUMENTAÇÃO DE IMAGENS DE MONTANHA - PARTE 4 IMAGENS BRASILEIRAS - Blog do Dubois
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Etymology

Its name means Black Needles Peak, because of the sharp dark rocks on its top, which give it a distinctive shape. The peak's massif is known as ''Itatiaia'', which means "stone with many sharp points" in the

Tupi language Old Tupi, Ancient Tupi or Classical Tupi () is a classical Tupian language which was spoken by the indigenous Tupi people of Brazil, mostly those who inhabited coastal regions in South and Southeast Brazil. In the words of Brazilian tupinol ...

. The highest rock, with the summit, is known as ''Itatiaiaçu'', or simply ''Açu'' (a Tupi suffix meaning "big") among Brazilian mountaineers.

Geography

Agulhas Negras Peak can be seen to the northwest of Resende when driving between

São Paulo São Paulo (; ; Portuguese for 'Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul') is the capital of the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo, as well as the List of cities in Brazil by population, most populous city in Brazil, the List of largest cities in the ...

and

on the Via Dutra highway, but this is only possible at a few points on the road, because a lower mountain range closer to the road stands in the line-of-sight at most other nearby spots. A mountain shelter called Abrigo Rebouças is located near the base of the peak, at an elevation of about . It is accessible by a gravel road (BR-485) from the BR-354 federal highway at the Garganta do Registro mountain pass, via

's north entrance. The access road reaches an altitude of at the entrance of the park, and a short spur from it leading to a communications tower of the Eletrobras Furnas electricity company reaches ; these are the highest points one can reach in a regular car (as opposed to off-road vehicles) in Brazil.

Climate

Elevation measurements

For years, Agulhas Negras was thought to be the highest mountain in Brazil. The title later went to

Pico da Bandeira Pico da Bandeira, or Bandeira Peak ( Portuguese for ''Flag Peak'', ), is the third highest mountain in Brazil, situated on the border of Espírito Santo and Minas Gerais states. It is the highest point in both states. It was considered the hig ...

, in the

Caparaó Caparaó is a Brazilian municipality located in the state of Minas Gerais. The city belongs to the mesoregion of Zona da Mata and to the microregion of Manhuaçu. The elevation of the city is 843m. As of 2020, the estimated population was 5,451. ...

range between the states of Minas Gerais and

Espírito Santo Espírito Santo (; ) is a state in southeastern Brazil. Its capital is Vitória, and its largest city is Serra. With an extensive coastline, the state hosts some of the country's main ports, and its beaches are significant tourist attracti ...

(now known to be at ). In 1965, it was found that

Pico da Neblina Pico da Neblina (, ''Mist Peak'') is the highest peak in Brazil, above sea level, in the Serra da Neblina, part of the Serra do Imeri, a section of the Guiana Highlands on the Brazil-Venezuela border. As determined by a border survey exped ...

, in the state of Amazonas, was, in fact, the highest, with a currently revised height of . Even then, Agulhas Negras was still thought to be the highest point in the Mantiqueira range, until a 2001 GPS measurement (later confirmed by an official joint expedition of the

Brazilian Army The Brazilian Army (; EB) is the branch of the Brazilian Armed Forces responsible, externally, for defending the country in eminently terrestrial operations and, internally, for guaranteeing law, order and the constitutional branches, subordina ...

and the Brazilian Institute for Geography and Statistics - IBGE) showed that nearby

Pedra da Mina Pedra da Mina () is the fourth highest mountain in Brazil, located in the Serra Fina section of the Mantiqueira Mountains, one of the country's most important mountain ranges. The mountain stands on the border of the states of Minas Gerais and S ...

was that mountain range's highest point at , about seven metres higher than Agulhas Negras. Pedra da Mina was higher even though Agulhas Negras was also found to be slightly higher than previously thought, at , rather than its previous official altitude of . Agulhas Negras remains the highest point in the state of Rio de Janeiro. In 2015, IBGE completed a new and more accurate mapping of the Brazilian territory regarding the

geoid The geoid ( ) is the shape that the ocean surface would take under the influence of the gravity of Earth, including gravitational attraction and Earth's rotation, if other influences such as winds and tides were absent. This surface is exte ...

, the irregular imaginary surface based on the Earth's gravitational field that is the reference for altitude measurements. This led the institution to recalculate the altitude of the mountains measured in the earlier project, according to the new reference. The new data were published in February 2016. Agulhas Negras was then found to stand at , a difference of 61 cm or about two feet.

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pico Das Agulhas Negras Mountains of Brazil Highest points of Brazilian states Bornhardts Landforms of Minas Gerais Landforms of Rio de Janeiro (state)