Ponta do Sol, Madeira located in the countryside and urban centres. Ponta do Sol, Madeira Ponta do Sol (, ) is a municipality in the southwestern coast of the island of Madeira, in the archipelago of Madeira. The population in 2011 was 8,862, in an area of 46.19 km². The settlement of Ponta do Sol began shortly after the discovery of the island of Madeira, around 1420. Ponta do Sol is located between Ribeira-Brava and Calheta, on the southwest coast of Madeira, linked to Funchal (the capital) and surrounding communities by the main regional road. The municipality is crossed by a few pedestrian hiking
History of Madeira Sugarcane cultivation and the sugar production industry developed until the 17th century. Since the 17th century, Madeira's most important product has been its wine, sugar production having since moved on to Brazil, São Tomé and Príncipe, and elsewhere. Madeira wine was perhaps the most popular luxury beverage in the colonial Western Hemisphere during the 17th and 18th centuries. The British Empire occupied Madeira as a result of the Napoleonic Wars, a friendly occupation which concluded in 1814 when the island was returned to Portugal, and the British did much to popularise Madeira wine. When, after the death of king John