Ribeira Quente is a civil parish in the municipality of Povoação in the Portuguese archipelago of the Azores. The population in 2011 was 767, in an area of 9.04 km<sup>2</sup>. It is the smallest (by area), the lowest (by elevation) and the southernmost of the parishes in municipality. It contains the localities Castelo, Eira das Freiras, Fogo, Ribeira Quente, Ponta da Albufeira and Ponta do Garajau.
History
thumb|left|175px|Front façade of the parochial church of São Paulo, reconstructed between 1796 and 1798
Around the middle of the 15th century, the first settlers began occupying land along the coast of what would become Ribeira Quente. Sometime in 1588, a huge landslide from the valley of Furnas, provoked by intense rainfall, caused the expansion of the land in Ribeira Quente. A similar volcanic eruption on 2 September 1630, within the Furnas craters, also provoked a debris flow of debris, that inundated the river and covered the coast, limiting the access of local shipping that once crossed the area. Representatives of the Secretaria Regional do Turismo e Transportes (Regional Secretariate for Tourism and Transport) indicated that about of road near the tunnels was affected, but still allowed access. Successive damage by storms along the southern coast, resulted in the construction of a new church to support the local community.