Recife (pronunciation (help·info) IPA: [heˈsifi]) is the fifth largest Metropolitan area in Brazil and the capital of Pernambuco. The population was 1,515,052 in 2005, and 3,646,204 in the wider metropolitan Region. Recife is located where the Beberibe River meets the Capibaribe River to flow into the Atlantic Ocean. It is a major port on the Atlantic Ocean. The name means "reef" in Portuguese.

Surrounded by rivers and crossed by bridges, Recife is full of islands and mangroves that magnify its geography. It is known as the Brazilian Venice, thanks to its fluvial resemblance with the European city, and is considered one of Brazil's cultural capitals. Recife is the birthplace of poets and writers Manuel Bandeira, João Cabral de Melo Neto, Gilberto Freyre, Paulo Freire, Nelson Rodrigues, Carlos Pena Filho, Saulo Moreira and Sebastião Uchoa Leite; and of such composers as Chico Science, Lenine, Fred Zero Quatro, Otto, Pochyua Andrade, Don Tronxo, Valença Brothers, Antônio Nóbrega, Naná Vasconcelos, Jorge du Peixe, Paulo Diniz, Fernando Lobo and Antônio Maria. Canadian ice hockey player Robyn Regehr and footballers Vavá, Rivaldo and Juninho Pernambucano were also born in Recife.

Recife promises four days of a lot of excitement on several stages specially built around the city, to attract partygoers of all tastes and tendencies. The Carnival lovers who stay in Recife for the party will get to know all the rhythms of Pernambuco: “mangue beat”, string orchestras, “coco de roda”, “frevo” and “maracatu” – among them the Maracatu Nação Pernambuco, the Estrela Brilhante, and the Maracatu Rural Leão Pernambuco. Besides the central stage in Downtown Recife, there are other areas of popular concentration all over the Metropolitan Region where anybody can have fun in the most democratic festivity of the world.

The Guararapes International Airport connects Recife with Brazilian cities and also operates international flights.

The city is home to the Federal University of Pernambuco.