The Saint Peter and Saint Paul Archipelago ( ) is a group of 15 small islets and rocks in the central Atlantic Ocean. It is near the equator, in the Intertropical Convergence Zone. This part of the Atlantic usually has low winds, but sometimes has thunderstorms.
The archipelago is about from the nearest point of mainland South America (the town of Touros, on the northeast Brazilian coast). It is about northeast of the Fernando de Noronha islands, from the city of Natal, and from the west coast of Africa. The islets belong to Brazil. They are part of the special "state district" () of Fernando de Noronha, in the state of Pernambuco. Fernando de Noronha is the nearest island.
In total, the archipelago covers an area of about by .
There is a lighthouse, and a research station, with four people. There is no freshwater supply on the islands, so the research station has a water desalination plant.
Biology
Only the largest islet, Belmonte, has mosses and grasses on it. The other rocks are mostly barren, except for some sea algae and fungi that can tolerate the salt spray. Seabirds, including the brown booby (Sula leucogaster), brown noddy (Anous stolidus), and black noddy (Anous minutus), as well as crabs (Grapsus grapsus), insects, and spiders live on the rocks.
The islands are home to over 100 reef fishes. About 10% of them are found nowhere else in the world, including the very colorful Tosanoides aphrodite.