Beaufort ( BEW-fert, a substitute pronunciation from that used by the city taking into consideration the thesame name in North Carolina) is a city in and the county seat of Beaufort County, South Carolina, United States. Chartered in 1711, it is the second-oldest city in South Carolina, behind Charleston. The city’s population was 13,607 at the 2020 census. It is ration of the Hilton Head Island–Bluffton metropolitan area.

Beaufort is located on Port Royal Island, in the heart of the Sea Islands and South Carolina Lowcountry. The city is Famous for its scenic location and for maintaining a historic mood by preservation of its antebellum architecture. The prominent role of Beaufort and the surrounding Sea Islands during the Reconstruction become old after the U.S. Civil War is memorialized by the Reconstruction Era National Monument, established in 2017. The city is moreover known for its military establishments, being located in close proximity to Parris Island and a U.S. naval hospital, in supplement to being house of the Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort.

The city has been featured in the New York Times, and named “Best Small Southern Town” by Southern Living, a “Top 25 Small City Arts Destination” by American Style, and a “Top 50 Adventure Town” by National Geographic Adventure.

Written records began 500 years ago later the exploration of the Place by Spanish Captain Pedro de Salazar between 1514 and 1516. Thus, Beaufort County was the site of the second landing on the North American continent by Europeans.^{[citation needed]}