[4] Because of its location, close to the limits established by the Tordesillas Treaty, the Iguape region was the stage for constant disputes among Portuguese, Spanish, and French pirates who landed there in order to refill their vessels or to trade in their goods.

The foundation of Iguape is sometimes attributed to Rui Garcia de Mosquera, a Spanish navigator and colonizer who established a good relationship with the Tupiniquin Indians.

Some years later, a French pirate vessel attacked Iguape and set fire to the village, destroying all official documentation.

In 1635, there already existed the so-called "Casa da Oficina Real", the first money producing institution in Brazil (today Iguape's local museum).

[citation needed] Consequently, the city had no difficulties in obtaining the necessary resources for the construction of one of the biggest and most controversial hydraulic installations on the Brazilian coast: the "Valo Grande" channel.

The municipality contains 86% of the 84,425 hectares (208,620 acres) Juréia-Itatins Ecological Station, a strictly protected area of well-preserved Atlantic Forest created in 1986.

[7] The state park is just west of the Juréia Massif, an isolated group of mountains on the coast separated from the Serra dos Itatins by a sandy plain and the Una do Prelado River.

Summers are warm, humid and rainy, whilst winters are noticeably cooler and somewhat drier, although there is no true dry season.