[2] The municipality contains part of the 785 hectares (1,940 acres) Comboios Biological Reserve, a fully protected area.

[3] The 17,741 hectares (43,840 acres) Santa Cruz Wildlife Refuge created in 2010 extends offshore from the municipality.

[5] The municipality's history begins in 1556, when two Jesuit priests (Braz Lourenço and Diogo Jácomo) founded Santa Cruz, a town then called Aldeia Nova (New Village).

Santa Cruz was founded at the mouth of the Piraquê-mirim and Piraquê-açu Rivers, as were a number of Amerindian tribes.

Aracruz is home to roughly 1,500 Native Americans divided into six reservations: Caieiras Velha, Comboios, Irajá, Pau Brasil, Tekoá and Três Palmeiras.