cabo

Cabo is a word in Spanish and Portuguese meaning cape or headland, a geographic feature where land juts into the sea. In cartography and navigation, a cabo describes a prominent coastal promontory that can influence currents, tides, and shelter for ships. The term is widely used in place names across Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking regions, and it often appears as part of the name of a city, town, or geographical point.

Notable examples of places with the term include Cabo San Lucas, a city at the southern tip of the Baja California Peninsula in Mexico. It forms part of the Los Cabos municipality together with San José del Cabo and is known for tourism, beaches, and the rock formation El Arco. Cabo Frio is a coastal city in Rio de Janeiro state, Brazil, named after a cape that historically served as a landmark for maritime routes.

Cape Verde, officially Cabo Verde in Portuguese, is a sovereign island nation off the western coast of Africa. The archipelago consists of ten volcanic islands, nine of which are inhabited, with Praia on Santiago Island serving as the capital. The economy centers on services and tourism, and the country is noted for its Creole culture, music, and tropical climate.

In other regions, headlands such as Cabo de la Vela in Colombia illustrate the broad use of the term in toponyms. Across the Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking world, cabo remains a common descriptor for coastal landforms and a frequent element in place names.