Ribeirão Preto
Encyclopedia
Ribeirão Preto is a municipality
and city in the Northeastern region of the state of São Paulo
in Brazil
. It is nicknamed Brazilian California, because of a combination of an economy based on agrobusiness plus high technology, wealth
and sunny weather
all year long. With 605,114 inhabitants, Ribeirão Preto is the ninth largest municipality in the state. With a total area of 652.2 km² (251.8 sq mi), its coordinates are 21° 10’ 42" South latitude and 47° 48’ 24" West longitude; and it is situated 313 km (194 mi) from the city of São Paulo and 706 km (439 mi) from Brasília
, the federal capital. Mean altitude is 546.8 meters high (1,794 ft).
, Portuguese and Indian people
(did someone forget about africans?), as well as the descendents of Italian, Portuguese
, Spanish
and Japanese
immigrants who were attracted to the region because of the coffee
agriculture, right after the Abolition of Slavery in 1888, when immigrants were granted lands, after being indentured workers. Italians arrived in huge numbers, followed by Germans
, Spaniards, Eastern Europe
ans, and Portuguese.
During the 1990s, Northeastern migrants came to the region attracted by the economic development of São Paulo state cities, which was widely broadcast in TV documentaries. With the super population of the city by individuals who often had no technical skills and were often illiterate, poverty
and crime
grew considerably. Many migrants boosted the economy by working in sugar cane plantations and orange
groves though. However, those who perform seasonal duties, often have no safe net, when the work is over. IBGE
research indicate that Ribeirão Preto has a population of 605.114 inhabitants. The urban agglomeration incorporates 34 municipalities, with a population about 1.4 million inhabitants.
Source: Census 2000
Ribeirão Preto is the center of an urban agglomeration with about 1.033.064 inhabitants, and comprises the following municipalities:
The city was founded June 19, 1856, by farmers coming from the southeast of São Paulo State in search of good climate
and soil
for coffee
growing. The city was laid by a stream called Black Creek, and was named after it (Ribeirão Preto means black creek in Portuguese
, sometimes the city name is translated as "Black Stream", which is also the name of a hotel in the city). Eventually the farmers’ choice revealed itself as very adequate and the fertile soil of the Ribeirão Preto region allowed the highest crop productivity in Brazil.
The rapid development of the coffee cultivation brought wealth and progress to the city, which by the 1880s had become the largest coffee producer in the world. Coffee, the “green gold” as it was called, was responsible for a kind of “gold rush” in the region, which attracted workers and adventurous people from several parts of the world. This movement was helped by the new Mogiana Railway, which linked Ribeirão Preto to São Paulo and to the port city of Santos
, and by the abolition of slavery
in Brazil, in 1888. The end of slavery created a strong demand for labor and the “coffee barons”, as the coffee farmers were called, stimulated Europe
an immigration
- mostly from Italy
but also from Portugal
, Spain
and Germany
- to Ribeirão Preto. Later, after the stock market crash
of 1929, several of these immigrants bought the farm
s from their indebted former employers.
At the beginning of the 20th century and during its first three decades, Ribeirão Preto was a rich city, boasting several mansion
s, European-style café
s, cabaret
s and even two opera house
s. One of the opera houses - the Carlos Gomes Theatre (in honour of Brazilian opera composer Carlos Gomes) - was demolished in 1949 but the other - the "Pedro II Theatre" (named in honor of Emperor Dom Pedro II
), dating from the 1920s - resisted time and was restored and modernized during the 1990s. Its ceiling, completely destroyed in a fire of 1980, was rebuilt and gained a new design projected by Japanese-Brazilian artist Tomie Ohtake. The Pedro II Theatre is now the third largest opera house in Brazil and is the home of the Ribeirão Preto symphony orchestra, one of the oldest and most important in Brazil.
An important fact for the city life happened in 1911 with the opening of its first factory
, the Antarctica Brewery Company, nowadays part of the AmBev
group. It was Antarctica which built the Pedro II Theatre. The Antarctica factory led to the opening of several beer houses in the city and one of them named Pinguim (penguin in Portuguese), became particularly famous and made Ribeirão Preto nationally renowned for the quality of its draft beer (chope or chopp in Brazilian Portuguese). Many people say that Pinguim has the best draft beer in Brazil and it became so important that it is now a symbol of the city; people say that coming to Ribeirão Preto and not visiting Pinguim is like going to Rome
and not seeing the Pope
. There are four Pinguim beer houses in Ribeirão Preto: two of them, called Pinguim 1 and 2 respectively, are at the November XV square (the central square of Ribeirão Preto) right beside the Pedro II Theatre). The other two are at the shopping centers Santa Úrsula and Ribeirão Shopping respectively. By the way, the Penguin beer house was named after the Antarctica company's logo (see at http://www.antarctica.com.br).Many small "alambiques" exist in the region, each producing its own singular "Pinga," better known as Cachaça
. These "Pingas" are often aged and are available in many flavours, while still maintaining their flair.
Pinguim is not the only good beer house in Ribeirão Preto. Ribeirão Preto is a hot climate city, which makes people go out in the evening to chat and enjoy cold draft beers in bars. Therefore, the city is teeming with bars, from the simple "botequins" or "botecos" that one can find in almost every corner, to the most sophisticated pub style bars, which rival their counterparts in São Paulo and Rio.
Ribeirão Preto also has one of the first micro-breweries in Brazil, Cervejaria Colorado, founded in 1997. It produces three different types of beers, two ales and one lager. Cervejaria Colorado is located at Rua Minas and has a bar at Avenida Independencia where it offers 70 different labels of beer from all over the world.
", officially named Luís Roberto Jábali Park, the Botanical Garden Park, named as Luís Carlos Raya Park, both located in the south zone, Tom Jobim Park, located in the northwest region and the Maurílio Biagi Park, located in the central region.
. The team plays under the name COC-Ribeirão Preto (Colegio Oswaldo Cruz) and finished 1st in the National Championship first division in 2003. Other finishes of note include championships in the Paulista league (state of São Paulo) in '02,'03,'04,'05 and '06 when was champion. COC-Ribeirão Preto plays its home games in the Gym "Cava do Bosque", which is located on the land associated with the Municipal Park of Sports.
The city also possesses two soccer stadium
s, the Estádio Palma Travassos
(of Comercial FC
) and Santa Cruz
(of Botafogo FC
). Neither Comercial nor Botafogo are currently in Brazil's top three soccer divisions. On the national and international scene, Botafogo is often confused with the Rio de Janeiro club with the same name to the extent that the Rio club is often credited with being the infamous club against which Pelé scored a record 8 goals in one game. One example is in Franklin Foer's book "How Soccer Explains the World". But it was in the Paulista championships on November 21, 1964 in the costal city of Santos
and against the Ribeirão Preto team that Pelé achieved the incredible feat and his Santos team won by an 11 x 0 score. The 8 goals were pay back for the defeat Santos suffered on September 6, 1964 when they visited Ribeirão Preto during the first round of the tournament and lost 2 x 0. Not only had a "small" team beaten one of the "big" teams, but had done so while insulting the "King". A better claim to fame for Botafogo (often referred to as Botafogo-SP) is that Brazilian soccer captains (and brothers) Sócrates
and Raí
started their careers with Botafogo.
center. In 1942 the state government expropriated the Monte Alegre Farm, which was an important coffee farm from the Schmidt family of German
immigrants, to transform it into an agricultural practical school. Several new buildings and houses for the professors were constructed over a land which held before tens of thousands of coffee plants. The new school was very well planned and urbanized and many trees were planted to provide shadow and give it a pleasant atmosphere. But the agricultural school never achieved a significant development and it was closed in 1951. A longstanding dream of the population of Ribeirão Preto was to have a university
and in 1952 the old farm was donated to the University of São Paulo
for the creation of a medical school
, which was the first school of its campus
at Ribeirão Preto.
Fortunately, many original buildings of the agricultural school and even some of the Monte Alegre Farm were preserved and only adapted to hold the new university, which makes its campus one of the most beautiful university campuses in Brazil. After the creation of the medical school the University of São Paulo at Ribeirão Preto (USP-RP) has been growing steadily and it is presently constituted by eight schools: School of Medicine of Ribeirão Preto
(FMRP), School of Law of Ribeirão Preto (FDRP), School of Philosophy, Sciences and Letters
(FFCLRP), School of Dentistry (FORP), School of Economics, Administration and Accounting (FEARP), School of Pharmaceutical Sciences (FCFRP), School of Nursing (EERP) and School of Music (DMRP-ECA).
The creation of USP-RP stimulated the cultural
and academic life in Ribeirão Preto and several schools, colleges and universities were opened in the city since then. Nowadays the town has many other colleges and faculties such as Centro Universitário Moura Lacerda, Faculdades Bandeirantes, Centro Universitário Barão da Mauá, Faculdade Anhanguera, Faculdade Reges, Faculdade São Luís, Faculdades COC
, Universidade de Ribeirão Preto (UNAERP), Universidade Paulista (UNIP), Fundação Armando Álvares Penteado (FAAP), Fundação Fritz Muller (FFM), FGV-COC (Fundação Getúlio Vargas
).
After the New York Stock Exchange
crash of 1929 the economy of Ribeirão Preto, based on a single export crop
, collapsed, and the city had to adapt to a new situation. Since the city is relatively far from other major Brazilian urban centers, it found a new economic vocation in the services and commercial sector, which was developed to attend the local and regional demands.
The second economic boom in the history of Ribeirão Preto occurred after the oil crisis (1973
and 1979
) of the 1970s. The increase in the oil price obliged Brazil to look for alternative means of fuel
ing and the solution found was the alcohol
fuel program, or Pro-Álcool as it is called. Pró-Álcool led to the development of a technology which allows the use of ethanol (sugarcane
alcohol) either as automotive fuel or as a gasoline
additive. The latter improves performance and substitutes lead
thus decreasing polluting
emissions. Due to the Pró-Álcool program, farmers from the region of Ribeirão Preto were encouraged by government subsidies
to grow sugarcane. The high productivity of the land around Ribeirão Preto rapidly placed the region as the largest alcohol and sugar
producer of the world, being responsible for 30 percent of Brazil’s sugarcane alcohol fuel.
Contrary to what happened during the city's first economic boom, this time Ribeirão Preto farmers and entrepreneurs did not concentrate themselves exclusively on a single crop and diversified their investments making the city one of the most important agribusiness centers of Brazil. Besides sugar
and alcohol, Ribeirão Preto's major products are orange juice
, cotton
, rice
, meat
, dairy products, textiles, machinery, steel
, furniture
, building
materials, agrochemicals, pharmaceuticals and, of course, beer
. The city hosts "Agrishow" on an annual basis, this show being one of the most important agricultural trade shows in Brazil.
The sugarcane boom brought a new age of prosperity for the city, which was called the "Brazilian California" during the 1980s and early 1990s. On the one hand, this has increased the city's wealth and turned it into a sophisticated center of services for Brazil and South America
but, on the other hand, the image of a new "Eldorado
" attracted many migrants from impoverished areas of Brazil leading to a rapid population growth
and the appearance of slum
s (favelas as they are called in Brazil) including all the negative aspects associated with them like drug trafficking and high violence
and crime
rates, an unfortunate fact that Ribeirão Preto shares with all other major Brazilian cities.
The airline Passaredo Transportes Aéreos
has its headquarters in the Jardim Aeroporto area of the city.
party coalition (formerly the Party of the Liberal Front), was elected in 2008 and took office on January 1, 2009. It is the first time that the city takes a woman as mayor. She was elected with 154,397 votes (52,04% of the votes). Her term of office is four years (until December 31, 2012), and she plans running for the 2010 elections as Federal Deputy.
Ribeirão Preto is one of the three metropolitan regions of the state of São Paulo with a complete, highway
beltway (city ring). The main highways served are:
's Ender saga
, as it becomes the headquarters of the Hegemony and the South America
n capital of the Free People of Earth (the world government).
Municipality
A municipality is essentially an urban administrative division having corporate status and usually powers of self-government. It can also be used to mean the governing body of a municipality. A municipality is a general-purpose administrative subdivision, as opposed to a special-purpose district...
and city in the Northeastern region of the state of São Paulo
São Paulo (state)
São Paulo is a state in Brazil. It is the major industrial and economic powerhouse of the Brazilian economy. Named after Saint Paul, São Paulo has the largest population, industrial complex, and economic production in the country. It is the richest state in Brazil...
in Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
. It is nicknamed Brazilian California, because of a combination of an economy based on agrobusiness plus high technology, wealth
Wealth
Wealth is the abundance of valuable resources or material possessions. The word wealth is derived from the old English wela, which is from an Indo-European word stem...
and sunny weather
Weather
Weather is the state of the atmosphere, to the degree that it is hot or cold, wet or dry, calm or stormy, clear or cloudy. Most weather phenomena occur in the troposphere, just below the stratosphere. Weather refers, generally, to day-to-day temperature and precipitation activity, whereas climate...
all year long. With 605,114 inhabitants, Ribeirão Preto is the ninth largest municipality in the state. With a total area of 652.2 km² (251.8 sq mi), its coordinates are 21° 10’ 42" South latitude and 47° 48’ 24" West longitude; and it is situated 313 km (194 mi) from the city of São Paulo and 706 km (439 mi) from Brasília
Brasília
Brasília is the capital city of Brazil. The name is commonly spelled Brasilia in English. The city and its District are located in the Central-West region of the country, along a plateau known as Planalto Central. It has a population of about 2,557,000 as of the 2008 IBGE estimate, making it the...
, the federal capital. Mean altitude is 546.8 meters high (1,794 ft).
Population
The population of Ribeirão Preto is made up of a mixture of JapaneseJapanese people
The are an ethnic group originating in the Japanese archipelago and are the predominant ethnic group of Japan. Worldwide, approximately 130 million people are of Japanese descent; of these, approximately 127 million are residents of Japan. People of Japanese ancestry who live in other countries...
, Portuguese and Indian people
Indigenous peoples in Brazil
The Indigenous peoples in Brazil comprise a large number of distinct ethnic groups who inhabited the country prior to the European invasion around 1500...
(did someone forget about africans?), as well as the descendents of Italian, Portuguese
Portuguese people
The Portuguese are a nation and ethnic group native to the country of Portugal, in the west of the Iberian peninsula of south-west Europe. Their language is Portuguese, and Roman Catholicism is the predominant religion....
, Spanish
Spanish people
The Spanish are citizens of the Kingdom of Spain. Within Spain, there are also a number of vigorous nationalisms and regionalisms, reflecting the country's complex history....
and Japanese
Japanese people
The are an ethnic group originating in the Japanese archipelago and are the predominant ethnic group of Japan. Worldwide, approximately 130 million people are of Japanese descent; of these, approximately 127 million are residents of Japan. People of Japanese ancestry who live in other countries...
immigrants who were attracted to the region because of the coffee
Coffee
Coffee is a brewed beverage with a dark,init brooo acidic flavor prepared from the roasted seeds of the coffee plant, colloquially called coffee beans. The beans are found in coffee cherries, which grow on trees cultivated in over 70 countries, primarily in equatorial Latin America, Southeast Asia,...
agriculture, right after the Abolition of Slavery in 1888, when immigrants were granted lands, after being indentured workers. Italians arrived in huge numbers, followed by Germans
Germans
The Germans are a Germanic ethnic group native to Central Europe. The English term Germans has referred to the German-speaking population of the Holy Roman Empire since the Late Middle Ages....
, Spaniards, Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe is the eastern part of Europe. The term has widely disparate geopolitical, geographical, cultural and socioeconomic readings, which makes it highly context-dependent and even volatile, and there are "almost as many definitions of Eastern Europe as there are scholars of the region"...
ans, and Portuguese.
During the 1990s, Northeastern migrants came to the region attracted by the economic development of São Paulo state cities, which was widely broadcast in TV documentaries. With the super population of the city by individuals who often had no technical skills and were often illiterate, poverty
Poverty
Poverty is the lack of a certain amount of material possessions or money. Absolute poverty or destitution is inability to afford basic human needs, which commonly includes clean and fresh water, nutrition, health care, education, clothing and shelter. About 1.7 billion people are estimated to live...
and crime
Crime
Crime is the breach of rules or laws for which some governing authority can ultimately prescribe a conviction...
grew considerably. Many migrants boosted the economy by working in sugar cane plantations and orange
Orange (fruit)
An orange—specifically, the sweet orange—is the citrus Citrus × sinensis and its fruit. It is the most commonly grown tree fruit in the world....
groves though. However, those who perform seasonal duties, often have no safe net, when the work is over. IBGE
IBGE
The Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics or IBGE , is the agency responsible for statistical, geographic, cartographic, geodetic and environmental information in Brazil...
research indicate that Ribeirão Preto has a population of 605.114 inhabitants. The urban agglomeration incorporates 34 municipalities, with a population about 1.4 million inhabitants.
Demography
Data of the Census of 2010- Total population: 605.114
- Metro: 603.401
- Rural: 1.713
- Men: 290.286
- Women: 314.828
- Population densityPopulation densityPopulation density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...
(hab./km²): 930,42 - Infant mortalityInfant mortalityInfant mortality is defined as the number of infant deaths per 1000 live births. Traditionally, the most common cause worldwide was dehydration from diarrhea. However, the spreading information about Oral Re-hydration Solution to mothers around the world has decreased the rate of children dying...
up to 1 year (per thousand): 9.90 - Life expectancyLife expectancyLife expectancy is the expected number of years of life remaining at a given age. It is denoted by ex, which means the average number of subsequent years of life for someone now aged x, according to a particular mortality experience...
(years): 74.40 - Total fertility rateTotal Fertility RateThe total fertility rate of a population is the average number of children that would be born to a woman over her lifetime if she were to experience the exact current age-specific fertility rates through her lifetime, and she...
: 1.89 - Literacy rate: 95.56%
- Human Development IndexHuman Development IndexThe Human Development Index is a composite statistic used to rank countries by level of "human development" and separate "very high human development", "high human development", "medium human development", and "low human development" countries...
(HDI): 0.855- HDI GDP: 0.855
- HDI longevity: 0.823
- HDI education: 0.918
- Source: IPEAIPEAIPEA may stand for:* Instituto de Pesquisa Econômica Aplicada, a Brazilian research organization.* International Preliminary Examination Authority, an examination authority under the Patent Cooperation Treaty...
data
Ethnicity
| Ethnic groups | Percent |
|---|---|
| White | 76.9% |
| Black | 5.6% |
| Pardo (Brown) | 15.7% |
| Asian | 0.8% |
| Amerindian | 0.1% |
Source: Census 2000
Region
- BarrinhaBarrinhaBarrinha is a municipality in the state of São Paulo in Brazil. The population in 2003 is 26,945 and the area is 1,478.3 km². The elevation is 505 m....
- BrodowskiBrodowski, São PauloBrodowski is a city in the state of São Paulo in Brazil. The population in 2004 is 18,858 and the area is 279.8 km². The elevation is 861 m.The painter Cândido Portinari was born in Brodowski....
- BatataisBatataisBatatais is a municipality in the state of São Paulo in Banana Ville. The population in 2009 is 58,806 and the area is 853.13 km². The elevation is 862 m. The village was named as a city on March 14, 1839, considered the city's day. Washington Luís, president of Brazil around 1929, was the...
- CravinhosCravinhosCravinhos is a municipality in the state of São Paulo in Brazil. The population in 2004 is 31,412 and the area is 312.26 km². The elevation is 788 m....
- DumontDumont, São PauloDumont is a city in the state of São Paulo in Brazil. The population in 2003 is 6,988 and the area is 111.25 km². The elevation is 595 m. It is named in honor of Alberto Santos-Dumont.The city is also known worldwide for producing the famous and tasty "Sausage of Dumont"...
- GuataparáGuataparáGuatapará is a municipality in the state of São Paulo in Brazil. The population in 2004 is 6,662 and the area is 413.72 km². The elevation is 512 m. This place name comes from the Tupi language....
- JardinópolisJardinópolisJardinópolis is a town with approximately 40,000 inhabitants and also a municipality with 504.88 km² in the state of São Paulo, Brazil, in the outskirts of Ribeirão Preto. It is 590 m above the sea level. Jardinópolis is known as an important distribution center of mango in Brazil...
- Luís AntônioLuís AntônioLuís Antônio is a municipality in the state of São Paulo in Brazil. The population in 2004 is 7,837 and the area is 599.28 km². The elevation is 675 m....
- PradópolisPradópolisPradópolis is a municipality in the state of São Paulo in Brazil. The population in 2004 was 14,473 and the area is 167.68 km². The elevation is 538 m....
- Ribeirão Preto
- Santa Rita do Passa QuatroSanta Rita do Passa QuatroSanta Rita do Passa Quatro is a municipality in the state of São Paulo in Brazil. The population in 2004 was 27,171 and the area is 754.91 km². The elevation is 748 m....
- Santa Rosa de ViterboSanta Rosa de Viterbo, São PauloSanta Rosa de Viterbo is a municipality in the state of São Paulo in Brazil. The population in 2004 was 22,584 and the area is 290.41 km². The elevation is 675 m.-External links:...
- São SimãoSão Simão, São PauloSão Simão is a municipality in the state of São Paulo in Brazil. The population in 2004 was 14,541 and the area is 619.65 km². The elevation is 665 m....
- Serra AzulSerra AzulSerra Azul is a municipality in the state of São Paulo in Brazil. The population in 2004 was 8,100 and the area is 283.65 km². The elevation is 610 m....
- SerranaSerrana, São PauloSerrana is a municipality in the state of São Paulo in Brazil. The population in 2004 was 37,418 and the area is 126.15 km². The elevation is 427 m....
- SertãozinhoSertãozinhoSertãozinho is a Brazilian city in the State of São Paulo. 325 km distant from São Paulo and 702 km from Brasilia.The municipality comprises the city of Sertaozinho and two districts: Cruz das Posses e Vila Garcia. It is among the most populous cities in the state of São Paulo....
Climate
The climate of Ribeirão Preto is tropical, specifically a tropical wet and dry climate, with rainy summers and dry winters.- Average temperature: Winter 19°C; Summer 29°C
- Altitude: 518 m (between 504 and 852 meters)
- Average precipitation: 1426,80 mm of rain (annual total)
- Relative humidity: 71% yearly average
Hydrography
- Pardo River
- Ribeirão Preto (origin of the city's name)
- Retiro Saudoso Brook
- Tanquinho Brook
- Laureano Brook
- Das Palmeiras Brook
- Dos Catetos Brook
- Dos Campos Brook
- Vista Alegre Brook
- Olhos d'Água Brook
History
Climate
Climate encompasses the statistics of temperature, humidity, atmospheric pressure, wind, rainfall, atmospheric particle count and other meteorological elemental measurements in a given region over long periods...
and soil
Soil
Soil is a natural body consisting of layers of mineral constituents of variable thicknesses, which differ from the parent materials in their morphological, physical, chemical, and mineralogical characteristics...
for coffee
Coffee
Coffee is a brewed beverage with a dark,init brooo acidic flavor prepared from the roasted seeds of the coffee plant, colloquially called coffee beans. The beans are found in coffee cherries, which grow on trees cultivated in over 70 countries, primarily in equatorial Latin America, Southeast Asia,...
growing. The city was laid by a stream called Black Creek, and was named after it (Ribeirão Preto means black creek in Portuguese
Portuguese language
Portuguese is a Romance language that arose in the medieval Kingdom of Galicia, nowadays Galicia and Northern Portugal. The southern part of the Kingdom of Galicia became independent as the County of Portugal in 1095...
, sometimes the city name is translated as "Black Stream", which is also the name of a hotel in the city). Eventually the farmers’ choice revealed itself as very adequate and the fertile soil of the Ribeirão Preto region allowed the highest crop productivity in Brazil.
The rapid development of the coffee cultivation brought wealth and progress to the city, which by the 1880s had become the largest coffee producer in the world. Coffee, the “green gold” as it was called, was responsible for a kind of “gold rush” in the region, which attracted workers and adventurous people from several parts of the world. This movement was helped by the new Mogiana Railway, which linked Ribeirão Preto to São Paulo and to the port city of Santos
Santos (São Paulo)
-Sister cities: Shimonoseki, Japan Nagasaki, Japan Funchal, Portugal Trieste, Italy Coimbra, Portugal Ansião, Portugal Arouca, Portugal Ushuaia, Argentina Havana, Cuba Taizhou. China Ningbo. China Constanţa, Romania Ulsan, South Korea Colón, Panama* Cadiz, Spain...
, and by the abolition of slavery
Slavery
Slavery is a system under which people are treated as property to be bought and sold, and are forced to work. Slaves can be held against their will from the time of their capture, purchase or birth, and deprived of the right to leave, to refuse to work, or to demand compensation...
in Brazil, in 1888. The end of slavery created a strong demand for labor and the “coffee barons”, as the coffee farmers were called, stimulated Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
an immigration
Immigration
Immigration is the act of foreigners passing or coming into a country for the purpose of permanent residence...
- mostly from Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
but also from Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
, Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
and Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
- to Ribeirão Preto. Later, after the stock market crash
Stock market crash
A stock market crash is a sudden dramatic decline of stock prices across a significant cross-section of a stock market, resulting in a significant loss of paper wealth. Crashes are driven by panic as much as by underlying economic factors...
of 1929, several of these immigrants bought the farm
Farm
A farm is an area of land, or, for aquaculture, lake, river or sea, including various structures, devoted primarily to the practice of producing and managing food , fibres and, increasingly, fuel. It is the basic production facility in food production. Farms may be owned and operated by a single...
s from their indebted former employers.
Culture
Mansion
A mansion is a very large dwelling house. U.S. real estate brokers define a mansion as a dwelling of over . A traditional European mansion was defined as a house which contained a ballroom and tens of bedrooms...
s, European-style café
Café
A café , also spelled cafe, in most countries refers to an establishment which focuses on serving coffee, like an American coffeehouse. In the United States, it may refer to an informal restaurant, offering a range of hot meals and made-to-order sandwiches...
s, cabaret
Cabaret
Cabaret is a form, or place, of entertainment featuring comedy, song, dance, and theatre, distinguished mainly by the performance venue: a restaurant or nightclub with a stage for performances and the audience sitting at tables watching the performance, as introduced by a master of ceremonies or...
s and even two opera house
Opera house
An opera house is a theatre building used for opera performances that consists of a stage, an orchestra pit, audience seating, and backstage facilities for costumes and set building...
s. One of the opera houses - the Carlos Gomes Theatre (in honour of Brazilian opera composer Carlos Gomes) - was demolished in 1949 but the other - the "Pedro II Theatre" (named in honor of Emperor Dom Pedro II
Pedro II of Brazil
Dom Pedro II , nicknamed "the Magnanimous", was the second and last ruler of the Empire of Brazil, reigning for over 58 years. Born in Rio de Janeiro, he was the seventh child of Emperor Dom Pedro I of Brazil and Empress Dona Maria Leopoldina and thus a member of the Brazilian branch of...
), dating from the 1920s - resisted time and was restored and modernized during the 1990s. Its ceiling, completely destroyed in a fire of 1980, was rebuilt and gained a new design projected by Japanese-Brazilian artist Tomie Ohtake. The Pedro II Theatre is now the third largest opera house in Brazil and is the home of the Ribeirão Preto symphony orchestra, one of the oldest and most important in Brazil.
An important fact for the city life happened in 1911 with the opening of its first factory
Factory
A factory or manufacturing plant is an industrial building where laborers manufacture goods or supervise machines processing one product into another. Most modern factories have large warehouses or warehouse-like facilities that contain heavy equipment used for assembly line production...
, the Antarctica Brewery Company, nowadays part of the AmBev
AmBev
Ambev formally Companhia de Bebidas das Américas is a subsidiary of global brewing company Anheuser-Busch InBev and is the biggest brewery in South America and the fifth in the world...
group. It was Antarctica which built the Pedro II Theatre. The Antarctica factory led to the opening of several beer houses in the city and one of them named Pinguim (penguin in Portuguese), became particularly famous and made Ribeirão Preto nationally renowned for the quality of its draft beer (chope or chopp in Brazilian Portuguese). Many people say that Pinguim has the best draft beer in Brazil and it became so important that it is now a symbol of the city; people say that coming to Ribeirão Preto and not visiting Pinguim is like going to Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
and not seeing the Pope
Pope
The Pope is the Bishop of Rome, a position that makes him the leader of the worldwide Catholic Church . In the Catholic Church, the Pope is regarded as the successor of Saint Peter, the Apostle...
. There are four Pinguim beer houses in Ribeirão Preto: two of them, called Pinguim 1 and 2 respectively, are at the November XV square (the central square of Ribeirão Preto) right beside the Pedro II Theatre). The other two are at the shopping centers Santa Úrsula and Ribeirão Shopping respectively. By the way, the Penguin beer house was named after the Antarctica company's logo (see at http://www.antarctica.com.br).Many small "alambiques" exist in the region, each producing its own singular "Pinga," better known as Cachaça
Cachaça
Cachaça is a liquor made from fermented sugarcane.It is the most popular distilled alcoholic beverage in Brazil. It is also known as aguardente, pinga, caninha and many other names...
. These "Pingas" are often aged and are available in many flavours, while still maintaining their flair.
Pinguim is not the only good beer house in Ribeirão Preto. Ribeirão Preto is a hot climate city, which makes people go out in the evening to chat and enjoy cold draft beers in bars. Therefore, the city is teeming with bars, from the simple "botequins" or "botecos" that one can find in almost every corner, to the most sophisticated pub style bars, which rival their counterparts in São Paulo and Rio.
Ribeirão Preto also has one of the first micro-breweries in Brazil, Cervejaria Colorado, founded in 1997. It produces three different types of beers, two ales and one lager. Cervejaria Colorado is located at Rua Minas and has a bar at Avenida Independencia where it offers 70 different labels of beer from all over the world.
Parks and forests
Ribeirão Preto has many parks, gardens and a zoo e.g. Fábio Barreto municipal forest, municipal park called "CurupiraCurupira
Curupira is also a genus of tree in South America .The Curupira or Curupura, or even Caipora is a male supernatural being who guards the forest in the Tupi mythology in Brazil....
", officially named Luís Roberto Jábali Park, the Botanical Garden Park, named as Luís Carlos Raya Park, both located in the south zone, Tom Jobim Park, located in the northwest region and the Maurílio Biagi Park, located in the central region.
Sports
Lately Ribeirão Preto's highest sports acclaim comes in basketballBasketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
. The team plays under the name COC-Ribeirão Preto (Colegio Oswaldo Cruz) and finished 1st in the National Championship first division in 2003. Other finishes of note include championships in the Paulista league (state of São Paulo) in '02,'03,'04,'05 and '06 when was champion. COC-Ribeirão Preto plays its home games in the Gym "Cava do Bosque", which is located on the land associated with the Municipal Park of Sports.
The city also possesses two soccer stadium
Stadium
A modern stadium is a place or venue for outdoor sports, concerts, or other events and consists of a field or stage either partly or completely surrounded by a structure designed to allow spectators to stand or sit and view the event.)Pausanias noted that for about half a century the only event...
s, the Estádio Palma Travassos
Estádio Palma Travassos
Estádio Dr. Francisco de Palma Travassos, usually known as Estádio Palma Travassos, or just Franciscão, is a multi-use stadium in Ribeirão Preto, Brazil. It is currently used mostly for football matches. The stadium has a capacity of 35,000 people. It was built in 1964.Estádio Palma Travassos is...
(of Comercial FC
Comercial Futebol Clube (Ribeirão Preto)
Comercial Futebol Clube , usually known simply as Comercial , is a traditional Brazilian football club from Ribeirão Preto, São Paulo state.-History:...
) and Santa Cruz
Estádio Santa Cruz
The Estádio Santa Cruz is a multi-purpose stadium in Ribeirão Preto, São Paulo state, Brazil. It is currently used mostly for football matches. The stadium holds 50,000people. It was built in 1968...
(of Botafogo FC
Botafogo Futebol Clube (SP)
Botafogo Futebol Clube is a Brazilian association football club based in Ribeirão Preto, São Paulo state, founded on November 12, 1918. The club currently competes in the Campeonato Paulista Série A1, alongside the great clubs of the state, and in the Copa Paulista de Futebol.- History :In the...
). Neither Comercial nor Botafogo are currently in Brazil's top three soccer divisions. On the national and international scene, Botafogo is often confused with the Rio de Janeiro club with the same name to the extent that the Rio club is often credited with being the infamous club against which Pelé scored a record 8 goals in one game. One example is in Franklin Foer's book "How Soccer Explains the World". But it was in the Paulista championships on November 21, 1964 in the costal city of Santos
Santos (São Paulo)
-Sister cities: Shimonoseki, Japan Nagasaki, Japan Funchal, Portugal Trieste, Italy Coimbra, Portugal Ansião, Portugal Arouca, Portugal Ushuaia, Argentina Havana, Cuba Taizhou. China Ningbo. China Constanţa, Romania Ulsan, South Korea Colón, Panama* Cadiz, Spain...
and against the Ribeirão Preto team that Pelé achieved the incredible feat and his Santos team won by an 11 x 0 score. The 8 goals were pay back for the defeat Santos suffered on September 6, 1964 when they visited Ribeirão Preto during the first round of the tournament and lost 2 x 0. Not only had a "small" team beaten one of the "big" teams, but had done so while insulting the "King". A better claim to fame for Botafogo (often referred to as Botafogo-SP) is that Brazilian soccer captains (and brothers) Sócrates
Sócrates
Sócrates Brasileiro Sampaio de Souza Vieira de Oliveira, MD, , more commonly known simply as Sócrates, is a Brazilian former association footballer....
and Raí
Raí
Raí, full name Raí Souza Vieira de Oliveira is a former Brazilian football midfielder. He was part of the Brazil team which won 1994 FIFA World Cup. He also played for São Paulo FC when he had the most glorious time of his career, and Paris Saint-Germain, two clubs for which he has achieved...
started their careers with Botafogo.
Education
A noteworthy fact is that it was during the economic stagnation period from the 1940s to the 1950s that the city discovered and established its vocation as an educational and universityUniversity
A university is an institution of higher education and research, which grants academic degrees in a variety of subjects. A university is an organisation that provides both undergraduate education and postgraduate education...
center. In 1942 the state government expropriated the Monte Alegre Farm, which was an important coffee farm from the Schmidt family of German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
immigrants, to transform it into an agricultural practical school. Several new buildings and houses for the professors were constructed over a land which held before tens of thousands of coffee plants. The new school was very well planned and urbanized and many trees were planted to provide shadow and give it a pleasant atmosphere. But the agricultural school never achieved a significant development and it was closed in 1951. A longstanding dream of the population of Ribeirão Preto was to have a university
University
A university is an institution of higher education and research, which grants academic degrees in a variety of subjects. A university is an organisation that provides both undergraduate education and postgraduate education...
and in 1952 the old farm was donated to the University of São Paulo
University of São Paulo
Universidade de São Paulo is a public university in the Brazilian state of São Paulo. It is the largest Brazilian university and one of the country's most prestigious...
for the creation of a medical school
Medical school
A medical school is a tertiary educational institution—or part of such an institution—that teaches medicine. Degree programs offered at medical schools often include Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine, Bachelor/Doctor of Medicine, Doctor of Philosophy, master's degree, or other post-secondary...
, which was the first school of its campus
Campus
A campus is traditionally the land on which a college or university and related institutional buildings are situated. Usually a campus includes libraries, lecture halls, residence halls and park-like settings...
at Ribeirão Preto.
Fortunately, many original buildings of the agricultural school and even some of the Monte Alegre Farm were preserved and only adapted to hold the new university, which makes its campus one of the most beautiful university campuses in Brazil. After the creation of the medical school the University of São Paulo at Ribeirão Preto (USP-RP) has been growing steadily and it is presently constituted by eight schools: School of Medicine of Ribeirão Preto
Faculdade de Medicina de Ribeirão Preto
Faculdade de Medicina de Ribeirão Preto is a medical school of the University of São Paulo located in the city of Ribeirão Preto, state of São Paulo, Brazil, founded 1952...
(FMRP), School of Law of Ribeirão Preto (FDRP), School of Philosophy, Sciences and Letters
Faculdade de Filosofia, Ciências e Letras de Ribeirão Preto
The Faculdade de Filosofia, Ciências e Letras de Ribeirão Preto , also known as Filô, is a liberal arts college of the University of São Paulo campus at Ribeirão Preto, state of São Paulo,...
(FFCLRP), School of Dentistry (FORP), School of Economics, Administration and Accounting (FEARP), School of Pharmaceutical Sciences (FCFRP), School of Nursing (EERP) and School of Music (DMRP-ECA).
The creation of USP-RP stimulated the cultural
Culture
Culture is a term that has many different inter-related meanings. For example, in 1952, Alfred Kroeber and Clyde Kluckhohn compiled a list of 164 definitions of "culture" in Culture: A Critical Review of Concepts and Definitions...
and academic life in Ribeirão Preto and several schools, colleges and universities were opened in the city since then. Nowadays the town has many other colleges and faculties such as Centro Universitário Moura Lacerda, Faculdades Bandeirantes, Centro Universitário Barão da Mauá, Faculdade Anhanguera, Faculdade Reges, Faculdade São Luís, Faculdades COC
COC
-Terms:* Cost of capital, an investment principal* Certificate of Compliance, Certificate of Conformity.* Circle of confusion - the optical term for a blurred spot which is the image of an out-of-focus point source....
, Universidade de Ribeirão Preto (UNAERP), Universidade Paulista (UNIP), Fundação Armando Álvares Penteado (FAAP), Fundação Fritz Muller (FFM), FGV-COC (Fundação Getúlio Vargas
Fundação Getúlio Vargas
Fundação Getulio Vargas is a Brazilian higher education institution founded on December 20, 1944. It offers regular courses of Economics, Business Administration, Law, Social Sciences and Information technology management...
).
Economy
New York Stock Exchange
The New York Stock Exchange is a stock exchange located at 11 Wall Street in Lower Manhattan, New York City, USA. It is by far the world's largest stock exchange by market capitalization of its listed companies at 13.39 trillion as of Dec 2010...
crash of 1929 the economy of Ribeirão Preto, based on a single export crop
Agriculture
Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...
, collapsed, and the city had to adapt to a new situation. Since the city is relatively far from other major Brazilian urban centers, it found a new economic vocation in the services and commercial sector, which was developed to attend the local and regional demands.
The second economic boom in the history of Ribeirão Preto occurred after the oil crisis (1973
1973 oil crisis
The 1973 oil crisis started in October 1973, when the members of Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries or the OAPEC proclaimed an oil embargo. This was "in response to the U.S. decision to re-supply the Israeli military" during the Yom Kippur war. It lasted until March 1974. With the...
and 1979
1979 energy crisis
The 1979 oil crisis in the United States occurred in the wake of the Iranian Revolution. Amid massive protests, the Shah of Iran, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, fled his country in early 1979 and the Ayatollah Khomeini soon became the new leader of Iran. Protests severely disrupted the Iranian oil...
) of the 1970s. The increase in the oil price obliged Brazil to look for alternative means of fuel
Fuel
Fuel is any material that stores energy that can later be extracted to perform mechanical work in a controlled manner. Most fuels used by humans undergo combustion, a redox reaction in which a combustible substance releases energy after it ignites and reacts with the oxygen in the air...
ing and the solution found was the alcohol
Alcohol
In chemistry, an alcohol is an organic compound in which the hydroxy functional group is bound to a carbon atom. In particular, this carbon center should be saturated, having single bonds to three other atoms....
fuel program, or Pro-Álcool as it is called. Pró-Álcool led to the development of a technology which allows the use of ethanol (sugarcane
Sugarcane
Sugarcane refers to any of six to 37 species of tall perennial grasses of the genus Saccharum . Native to the warm temperate to tropical regions of South Asia, they have stout, jointed, fibrous stalks that are rich in sugar, and measure two to six metres tall...
alcohol) either as automotive fuel or as a gasoline
Gasoline
Gasoline , or petrol , is a toxic, translucent, petroleum-derived liquid that is primarily used as a fuel in internal combustion engines. It consists mostly of organic compounds obtained by the fractional distillation of petroleum, enhanced with a variety of additives. Some gasolines also contain...
additive. The latter improves performance and substitutes lead
Lead
Lead is a main-group element in the carbon group with the symbol Pb and atomic number 82. Lead is a soft, malleable poor metal. It is also counted as one of the heavy metals. Metallic lead has a bluish-white color after being freshly cut, but it soon tarnishes to a dull grayish color when exposed...
thus decreasing polluting
Air pollution
Air pollution is the introduction of chemicals, particulate matter, or biological materials that cause harm or discomfort to humans or other living organisms, or cause damage to the natural environment or built environment, into the atmosphere....
emissions. Due to the Pró-Álcool program, farmers from the region of Ribeirão Preto were encouraged by government subsidies
Subsidy
A subsidy is an assistance paid to a business or economic sector. Most subsidies are made by the government to producers or distributors in an industry to prevent the decline of that industry or an increase in the prices of its products or simply to encourage it to hire more labor A subsidy (also...
to grow sugarcane. The high productivity of the land around Ribeirão Preto rapidly placed the region as the largest alcohol and sugar
Sugar
Sugar is a class of edible crystalline carbohydrates, mainly sucrose, lactose, and fructose, characterized by a sweet flavor.Sucrose in its refined form primarily comes from sugar cane and sugar beet...
producer of the world, being responsible for 30 percent of Brazil’s sugarcane alcohol fuel.
Contrary to what happened during the city's first economic boom, this time Ribeirão Preto farmers and entrepreneurs did not concentrate themselves exclusively on a single crop and diversified their investments making the city one of the most important agribusiness centers of Brazil. Besides sugar
Sugar
Sugar is a class of edible crystalline carbohydrates, mainly sucrose, lactose, and fructose, characterized by a sweet flavor.Sucrose in its refined form primarily comes from sugar cane and sugar beet...
and alcohol, Ribeirão Preto's major products are orange juice
Orange juice
Orange juice is a popular beverage made from oranges. It is made by extraction from the fresh fruit, by desiccation and subsequent reconstitution of dried juice, or by concentration of the juice and the subsequent addition of water to the concentrate...
, cotton
Cotton
Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective capsule, around the seeds of cotton plants of the genus Gossypium. The fiber is almost pure cellulose. The botanical purpose of cotton fiber is to aid in seed dispersal....
, rice
Rice
Rice is the seed of the monocot plants Oryza sativa or Oryza glaberrima . As a cereal grain, it is the most important staple food for a large part of the world's human population, especially in East Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia, the Middle East, and the West Indies...
, meat
Meat
Meat is animal flesh that is used as food. Most often, this means the skeletal muscle and associated fat and other tissues, but it may also describe other edible tissues such as organs and offal...
, dairy products, textiles, machinery, steel
Steel
Steel is an alloy that consists mostly of iron and has a carbon content between 0.2% and 2.1% by weight, depending on the grade. Carbon is the most common alloying material for iron, but various other alloying elements are used, such as manganese, chromium, vanadium, and tungsten...
, furniture
Furniture
Furniture is the mass noun for the movable objects intended to support various human activities such as seating and sleeping in beds, to hold objects at a convenient height for work using horizontal surfaces above the ground, or to store things...
, building
Building
In architecture, construction, engineering, real estate development and technology the word building may refer to one of the following:...
materials, agrochemicals, pharmaceuticals and, of course, beer
Beer
Beer is the world's most widely consumed andprobably oldest alcoholic beverage; it is the third most popular drink overall, after water and tea. It is produced by the brewing and fermentation of sugars, mainly derived from malted cereal grains, most commonly malted barley and malted wheat...
. The city hosts "Agrishow" on an annual basis, this show being one of the most important agricultural trade shows in Brazil.
The sugarcane boom brought a new age of prosperity for the city, which was called the "Brazilian California" during the 1980s and early 1990s. On the one hand, this has increased the city's wealth and turned it into a sophisticated center of services for Brazil and South America
South America
South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...
but, on the other hand, the image of a new "Eldorado
El Dorado
El Dorado is the name of a Muisca tribal chief who covered himself with gold dust and, as an initiation rite, dived into a highland lake.Later it became the name of a legendary "Lost City of Gold" that has fascinated – and so far eluded – explorers since the days of the Spanish Conquistadors...
" attracted many migrants from impoverished areas of Brazil leading to a rapid population growth
Population growth
Population growth is the change in a population over time, and can be quantified as the change in the number of individuals of any species in a population using "per unit time" for measurement....
and the appearance of slum
Slum
A slum, as defined by United Nations agency UN-HABITAT, is a run-down area of a city characterized by substandard housing and squalor and lacking in tenure security. According to the United Nations, the percentage of urban dwellers living in slums decreased from 47 percent to 37 percent in the...
s (favelas as they are called in Brazil) including all the negative aspects associated with them like drug trafficking and high violence
Violence
Violence is the use of physical force to apply a state to others contrary to their wishes. violence, while often a stand-alone issue, is often the culmination of other kinds of conflict, e.g...
and crime
Crime
Crime is the breach of rules or laws for which some governing authority can ultimately prescribe a conviction...
rates, an unfortunate fact that Ribeirão Preto shares with all other major Brazilian cities.
The airline Passaredo Transportes Aéreos
Passaredo Transportes Aéreos
Passaredo Linhas Aéreas is an airline based in Ribeirão Preto, São Paulo, Brazil. It operates regional services in Brazil. Its main base is Dr. Leite Lopes Airport, Ribeirão Preto.....
has its headquarters in the Jardim Aeroporto area of the city.
Government
The mayor, Dárcy Vera (from the DemocratsDemocrats (Brazil)
The Democrats is a centre-right political party in Brazil, considered the main in the right-wing spectrum. Despite its former name , the party affiliates itself to the Centrist Democrat International, and the International Democrat Union. The name comes from its support to free market policies...
party coalition (formerly the Party of the Liberal Front), was elected in 2008 and took office on January 1, 2009. It is the first time that the city takes a woman as mayor. She was elected with 154,397 votes (52,04% of the votes). Her term of office is four years (until December 31, 2012), and she plans running for the 2010 elections as Federal Deputy.
Subdivisions
Besides the main administration, the city has three regional administrations (sub city halls):- Regional administration 1: North (Campos Elísios)
- Regional administration 2: West (Vila Tibério)
- Regional administration 3: South (Bonfim PaulistaBonfim PaulistaBonfim Paulista is a district of the city of Ribeirão Preto. It is 16 km from the center of the district and 299 km from São Paulo. It has 20,000 inhabitants...
)
Public transportation
- The Ribeirão Preto's public transportation system is operated by three companies and about 300 buses that attend 113 lines and routes.
- There are 30 routes operated by small-sized buses. These routes connects distant districts to the main stations and are free of charge.
- An electronic card is required to use public transportation. The card works as a pre-paid fare system, and the fares are debited directly from the electronic card. These electronic cards are issued by the transportation department, which is called Transerp.
Main highways
Highway
A highway is any public road. In American English, the term is common and almost always designates major roads. In British English, the term designates any road open to the public. Any interconnected set of highways can be variously referred to as a "highway system", a "highway network", or a...
beltway (city ring). The main highways served are:
- SP-255 - Antônio Machado Sant'Anna Highway to Araraquara / São Carlos
- SP-291 - Mario Donega Highway to Dumont / Pradópolis
- SP-322SP-322Rodovia Attilio Balbo is a highway in the state of São Paulo), Brazil, which starts in the city of Ribeirão Preto and finishes at the city of Bebedouro. Two other important cities served by the highway are Sertãozinho and Jaboticabal...
- Attilio Balbo and Armando Salles de Oliveira Highways to Sertãozinho - SP-328 - Alexandre Balbo Highway to North Beltway
- SP-328 - Prefeito Antônio Duarte Nogueira Highway to / South Beltway
- SP-330 - Anhangüera HighwayRodovia AnhangüeraRodovia Anhangüera is a highway in the state of São Paulo, Brazil. It is one of the country's busiest transportation corridors...
- to north: Brasília to Triângulo Mineiro / to south: São Paulo-Campinas - SP-333 - Abrão Assed Highway to Cajuru
- SP-334 - Cândido Portinari HighwayRodovia Cândido PortinariRodovia Cândido Portinari is a State highway in the state of São Paulo. It is named after Cândido Portinari, a noted painter, who was born in the city of Brodowski.The highway runs through these places:...
to Batatais / Franca
Airport
- Dr. Leite Lopes AirportLeite Lopes AirportDr. Leite Lopes State Airport is the airport serving Ribeirão Preto, Brazil.It is operated by DAESP.-History:Dr. Leite Lopes State Airport was opened on April 2, 1939 and soon after, in 1940, the runway was extended for the first time....
offers support and infrastructure compatible with airports of major centers. It operates full time, and has an average of more than 30,000 flights and more than 473,000 passengers per year.
Railroad
Currently the city's railway system is not functional. There are some projects underway to revitalize it.In popular culture
The city plays a major role in Orson Scott CardOrson Scott Card
Orson Scott Card is an American author, critic, public speaker, essayist, columnist, and political activist. He writes in several genres, but is primarily known for his science fiction. His novel Ender's Game and its sequel Speaker for the Dead both won Hugo and Nebula Awards, making Card the...
's Ender saga
Ender's Game
Ender's Game is a science fiction novel by American author Orson Scott Card. The book originated as the short story "Ender's Game", published in the August 1977 issue of Analog Science Fiction and Fact. Elaborating on characters and plot lines depicted in the novel, Card later wrote additional...
, as it becomes the headquarters of the Hegemony and the South America
South America
South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...
n capital of the Free People of Earth (the world government).
External links
- Official website (in Portuguese).
- Local time and date. TimeAndDate Worldclock.
- Local weather. Weather.com
- Noiteafora. Entertainment, Restaurants and Nightlife guide in Ribeirao Preto
- Hotels in Ribeirão Preto. TripAdvisor.
- Hotel Booking at Ribeirão Preto (in Portuguese).
- Cervejaria Colorado (in Portuguese)
- Cachaça Gabriela - Organic