Fogo is an outport

Newfoundland outport

An outport is the term given for a small isolated coastal community in the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. Originally the term was just used for coastal communities on the island of Newfoundland but the term has also been adopted for those on the mainland area of Labrador as...

 town on Fogo Island, Newfoundland in the Canadian

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 province of Newfoundland and Labrador

Newfoundland and Labrador

Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada. Situated in the country's Atlantic region, it incorporates the island of Newfoundland and mainland Labrador with a combined area of . As of April 2011, the province's estimated population is 508,400...

.

History

The largest community on the island, the town may also be the location of the island's first permanent settlement, which took place in the early 18th century, though it is unknown which exact area of Fogo Island hosted the first European settlers. Some historians feel Tilting Harbour

Tilting, Newfoundland and Labrador

Tilting is a town on the eastern end of Fogo Island off the northeast coast of Newfoundland. The community has been designated as a National Cultural Landscape District of Canada in 2005 by Parks Canada, and was also designated as a Registered Heritage District by the Heritage Foundation of...

 may have been the first settlement, owing to its sheltered harbour and close proximity to fishing

Fishing

Fishing is the activity of trying to catch wild fish. Fish are normally caught in the wild. Techniques for catching fish include hand gathering, spearing, netting, angling and trapping....

 grounds. Although some local legends say that an English

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 settlement may have been in place at Fogo (town) as early as 1680, this is highly unlikely. James Cook

James Cook

Captain James Cook, FRS, RN was a British explorer, navigator and cartographer who ultimately rose to the rank of captain in the Royal Navy...

 surveyed the area in the 1770s, and at that time he was told that the first English settlers in the area were in Twillingate

Twillingate, Newfoundland and Labrador

Twillingate is a town of 2,448 people located on the Twillingate Islands in Notre Dame Bay. It is located off the northeastern shore of the island of Newfoundland in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador. It was incorporated on September 30, 1965. The town is about north of Lewisporte and...

 in the year 1728. Before that, French

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

fishermen frequented the area, but never settled permanently.

The town of Fogo is situated on Fogo Harbour, along the island's north shore.

The town's economy is tied to the fishing industry and, from the 18th to 20th centuries, was home to several fish merchants.