São Paulo (state)
Encyclopedia
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. The capital, São Paulo
, is also the largest city in South America
.
Often dubbed the "locomotive of Brazil", the state alone is responsible for 33.9% of the Brazilian GDP, being the state with the highest GDP. In addition to increased GDP, São Paulo also has the third highest Human Development Index
, the second highest GDP per capita, the second lowest infant mortality
rate and the fourth lowest rate of illiteracy among the states of Brazil.
With over 40 million inhabitants, São Paulo is the most populous state in Brazil and the third most populous political unit of South America, only surpassed by that country and Colombia
, ahead of all other South American countries. Sao Paulo's capital city is ranked seventh among the largest city on the planet
and its metropolitan area, with 19,223,897 inhabitants, is also the 7th biggest in the world.
Regions near the city of São Paulo are also metropolitan areas, such as Campinas
, Santos, Sorocaba
and São José dos Campos
; other nearby cities include urban areas in the conurbation process, such as Santo André, São Bernardo, São Caetano
, Diadema
, Guarulhos
, Osasco
, Taboão da Serra
and Jundiaí
. The total population of these areas coupled with the capital – the so-called Expanded Metropolitan Complex – exceeds 29 million inhabitants, i.e. approximately 75% of the population of São Paulo state-wide. The metropolitan regions of Campinas and São Paulo now form the first macro-metropolis in the southern hemisphere, joining 65 municipalities that together are home to 12% of the Brazilian population.
In pre-European times, the area that is now São Paulo state was occupied by the Tupi people's nation, who subsisted through hunting and cultivation. The first Europe
an to settle in the area was João Ramalho, a Portuguese
sailor who may have been shipwrecked around 1510, ten years after the first Portuguese landfall in Brazil. He married the daughter of a local chieftain and became a settler. In 1532, the first colonial expedition, led by Martim Afonso de Sousa
of Portugal, landed at São Vicente
(near the present-day port at Santos). De Sousa added Ramalho's settlement to his colony.
Early European colonisation of Brazil was very limited. Portugal was more interested in Africa
and Asia
. But with English
and French
privateer
ships just off the coast, the territory had to be protected. Unwilling to shoulder the burden of defence himself, the Portuguese ruler, King João III of Portugal, divided the coast into "captaincies", or swathes of land, 50 leagues apart. He distributed them among well-connected Portuguese, hoping that each would be self-reliant. The early port and sugar-cultivating settlement of São Vicente was one rare success connected to this policy. In 1548, João III brought Brazil under direct royal control.
Fearing Indian attack, he discouraged development of the territory's vast interior. Some whites headed nonetheless for Piratininga, a plateau near São Vicente, drawn by its navigable rivers and agricultural potential. Borda do Campo, the plateau settlement, became an official town (Santo André da Borda do Campo) in 1553. The history of São Paulo city proper begins with the founding of a Jesuit mission on January 25, 1554—the anniversary of Saint Paul's conversion. The station, which is at the heart of the current city, was named São Paulo dos Campos de Piratininga (or just Pateo do Colégio). In 1560, the threat of Indian attack led many to flee from the exposed Santo André da Borda do Campo to the walled Colegio. Two years later, the Colégio was besieged. Though the town survived, fighting took place sporadically for another three decades.
By 1600, the town had about 1,500 citizens and 150 households. Little was produced for export, save a number of agricultural goods. The isolation was to continue for many years, as the development of Brazil centred on the sugar
plantations in the north-east.
The city’s location, at the mouth of the Tietê-Paranapanema river system (which winds into the interior), made it an ideal base for another activity: enslaving expeditions. The economics were simple. Enslaved manpower for Brazil's northern sugar
plantations were in short supply. Enslaved Africans were expensive, so demand for indigenous captives soared. The task was, nonetheless, hard, if not impossible, to achieve.
Among those who attempted to enslave the native were explorers of the hinterland called bandeirantes
. From their base in São Paulo, they also combed the interior in search for natural riches. Silver
, gold
and diamonds were companion pursuits, as well as the exploration of unknown territories. Roman Catholic missionaries sometimes tagged along, as efforts at converting the native worked hand in hand with Portuguese colonialism. Despite their atrocities, the bandeirantes are now equally remembered for penetrating Brazil’s vast interior. Trading posts established by them became permanent settlements. Interior routes opened up. Though the bandeirantes had no loyalty to the Portuguese crown, they did claim land for the king. Thus, the borders of Brazil were pushed forward to the Amazon
region and the Andes
.
Napoleon's invasion of Portugal
in 1807 prompted the British navy to evacuate King João VI of Portugal, Portugal’s prince regent, to Rio de Janeiro
and Brazil became the temporary headquarters of the Portuguese Empire
. João VI rewarded his hosts with economic reforms that would prove crucial to São Paulo’s rise. Brazil's ports—long closed to non-Portuguese ships—were opened up. Restrictions on manufacturing were waived.
When Napoleon was defeated in 1815, João gave political shape to his territory, which became the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves. Portugal and Brazil, in other words, were ostensibly co-equals. Returning to Portugal six years later, João left his son, Pedro, to rule as regent and governor.
Pedro inherited his father's love of Brazil
, resisting demands from Lisbon
that Brazil should be ruled from Europe
once again. Legend has it that in 1822 the regent was riding outside São Paulo
when a messenger delivered a missive demanding his return to Europe, and Dom Pedro waved his sword and shouted “Independência ou morte!” (Independence or death).
João
had whetted the appetite of Brazilians, who now sought a full break from the monarchy. The ever-restless Paulistanos were at the vanguard of the independence movement. The small mother country of Portugal
was in no position to resist — on September 7, 1822, Dom Pedro rubber-stamped Brazil's independence. He was crowned emperor shortly afterwards. The emperors ruled an independent Brazil until 1889. Over this time, the growth of liberalism in Europe had a parallel in Brazil. As the Brazilian provinces became more assertive, São Paulo was the scene of a minor (and unsuccessful) liberal revolution in 1842. When independence was declared, São Paulo had just 25,000 people and 4,000 house
s, but the next 60 years would see gradual growth. In 1828, the Law
Academy, the pioneer of the city's intellectual tradition, opened. The first newspaper, O Farol Paulistano, appeared in 1827. Municipal developments such as botanical garden
s, an opera house
and a library
, gave the city a cultural boost.
Regardless, São Paulo still faced many hurdles, especially transport
. Mule-trains were the main method of transportation, and the road from the plateau down to the port of Santos was famously arduous. In the late 1860s São Paulo got its first railway line, developed by British engineers, to the Port of Santos
. Other lines, such as a railway to Campinas, were soon built. This was good timing, because in the 1880s the coffee craze hit in earnest. Brazil, which had been growing it since the mid-18th century, could grow more. The Paraiba valley, which spans the states of Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, had suitable soil
and climate
. São Paulo city, at the western end of the Paraiba valley, was well positioned to channel the coffee to the port of Santos.
Meanwhile, the Brazilian monarchy had fallen in 1889. A feudalistic regime, it had friends only among the sugar planters of the northeast, whose dominance Paulistanos, among others, despised. In 1891, a new federal constitution, which delegated power to the states, was approved. The new coffee elite saw its chance. São Paulo ironed out a power-sharing understanding—known as the "café com leite" (coffee
-and-milk
) deal—with dairy-rich Minas Gerais
, Brazil's other dominant state. Together, they held a virtual lock on federal power. Brazilian politics now became a favourite pastime of the once-rebellious Paulistanos, who sent several presidents to Rio de Janeiro
—including Prudente de Morais
, post-colonial Brazil
's first civilian president, who took office in 1891.
Plantation labour was needed—this time for coffee, not sugar. Slavery had been fading since the import of enslaved Africans was outlawed in 1850. São Paulo, thanks to such figures as Luiz Gama (a former slave), was a centre of abolitionism. In 1888, Brazil abolished slavery (it was the last country in the Americas
to do so) and the freed African-Brazilians who had been helping build the nation were then forced to beg for their jobs back, working for food and shelter only because of the failure of the system to integrate them as equal citizens with Euro-Brazilians. In an effort to "bleach the race," as the nation's leaders feared Brazil
was becoming a "black country," Spanish
, Portuguese and Italian
nationals were given incentives to become farm workers in São Paulo. The state government was so eager to bring in European immigrants that it paid for their trips and provided varying levels of subsidy. By 1893, foreigners made up over 55% of São Paulo's population. Fearing oversupply, the government applied the brakes briefly in 1899; then the boom resumed. From 1908, the Japanese arrived in great numbers, many destined for the plantations on fixed-term contracts. By 1920, São Paulo was Brazil's second-largest city; a half-century before, it had been just the tenth-largest. Immigration and migration of Paulistas from other towns as well as Nordestinos and citizens from other states, the coffee industry, and modernization through the manufacturing of textiles, car and airplane pieces, as well as food and technological industries, construction, fashion, and services transformed the greater São Paulo area into a thriving megalopolis
and one of the world
's greatest multiethnic regions.
Between 1901 and 1910, coffee made up 51% of Brazil's total exports, far overshadowing rubber, sugar and cotton. But reliance on coffee made Brazil (and São Paulo in particular) vulnerable to poor harvests and the whims of world markets. The development of plantations in the 1890s, and widespread reliance on credit, took place against fluctuating prices and supply levels, culminating in saturation of the international market at the turn of the century. The government’s policies of "valorisaton"—borrowing money
to buy coffee and stockpiling it, in order to have a surplus during bad harvests, and meanwhile taxing coffee exports to pay off loans—seemed feasible in the short term (as did its manipulation of foreign-exchange rates to the advantage of coffee growers). But in the longer term, these actions contributed to oversupply and eventual collapse.
São Paulo's industrial development, from 1889 into the 1940s, was gradual and inward looking. Initially industry
was closely associated with agriculture
: cotton plantations led to the growth of textile manufacturing
. Coffee planters were among the early industrial investors. The boom in immigration
provided a market for goods, and sectors such as food processing grew. Traditional immigrant families such as the Matarazzo
, Diniz, Mofarrej and Maluf became industrialists, entrepreneurs, and leading politicians. Restrictions on imports forced by world wars and government policies of "import substitution" and trade tariffs, all contributed to industrial growth. By 1945, São Paulo
had become the largest industrial centre in South America
. World War I
sent ripples through Brazil. Inflation was rampant. Some 50,000 workers went on strike. Thus, the growing urban population grew increasingly resentful of the coffee elite. Disaffected intellectuals expressed their views during a memorable “Week of Modern Art” in 1922. Two years later, a garrison of soldier
s staged a revolt (eventually squashed by government troops).
The stand-off was also political: politics had been long monopolised by the Paulista Revolutionary Party, but in 1926 a more left-leaning party rose in opposition. In 1928, the PRP amended São Paulo's state constitution to give it more control over the city. The turbulence was mirrored on Brazil’s national scene. With the Great Depression
, coffee prices plunged, as did real GDP. Americans
, keen investors during the 1920s, backed away. The opening of the first highway between São Paulo and Rio in 1928 was one of the few bright spots. Into the breach stepped Getulio Vargas
, a southerner veteran in state politics. In Brazil's 1930 presidential elections, he opposed Julio Prestes
, a favourite son of São Paulo. Vargas lost the election, but with backing from Minas Gerais state—São Paulo's ever-jealous former ally and neighbor to the north--, he seized power regardless.
The uprising started on July 9, 1932, after five protesting students were killed by government troops on May 23, 1932. On the wake of their deaths, a movement called MMDC (from the initials of the names of each of the four students killed, Martins, Miragaia, Dráusio and Camargo) started. A fifth victim, Alvarenga, was also shot that night, but died months later.
Revolutionary troops entrenched in the battlefield. In a few months, the state of São Paulo rebelled against the federal government. Counting on the solidarity of the political elites of three other powerful states, (Rio Grande do Sul, Minas Gerais and Rio de Janeiro), the politicians of São Paulo expected a quick war. However, that solidarity was never translated into actual support, and the São Paulo revolt was militarily crushed on October 2, 1932.
In spite of its military defeat, some of the movement's main demands were finally granted by Vargas afterwards: the appointment of a non-military state Governor, the election of a Constituent Assembly and, finally, the enactment of a new Constitution in 1934. However that Constitution was short lived, as in 1937, amidst growing extremism on the left and right wings of the political spectrum, Vargas closed the National Congress and enacted another Constitution, which established an authoritarian regime called Estado Novo.
's rule was a study in political turbulence. Elected in 1934, he ruled by dictatorship (albeit a popular one, thanks to his health and social-welfare programmes) from 1937 to 1945—a period dubbed the "Estado Novo
". Thrown out by a coup in 1945, he ran for office again in 1950, and was overwhelmingly elected. On the verge of being overthrown from office again, he committed suicide in 1954. Vargas's main legacy was the centralisation of power. The encouragement of industry and diversification of agriculture, not to mention the abolition of subsidies on coffee, finally did away with the dominance of the coffee oligarchies. His replacement, Juscelino Kubitschek, focused on heavy industry. Kubitschek built car factories, steel plants, hydropower infrastructure and roads. Petrobras
, Brazil's oil monolith, was set up in 1953. By 1958, São Paulo state controlled some 55% of Brazil's industrial production, up from 17% in 1907. Another of Kubitschek’s pet projects was the creation of Brasília
, which became Brazil's capital in 1960—the year Kubitschek stepped down. The University of São Paulo
was founded in 1934; two years after São Paulo's failed uprising. It has established itself as the most prestigious higher learning institution in the country.
With a transitional government from military to civil and a new currency that made stagnant the economy during the mid- to late 1980s, unemployment and crime became rampant. São Paulo, by now the world's third-largest city after Mexico City
and Tokyo
, was hard-hit. Wealthy Brazilians retreated to suburban highly secured housing complexes such as Alphaville
, and favelas, pockets of substandard living slums that lined the periphery, had a tremendous growth. For the first time in history, Brazil experienced large segments of its population immigrating to continents such as North America
, Europe, Australia
, and East Asia, particularly to Japan
.
. The climate of São Paulo is tropical to subtropical, altitude being the largest contributor to what variation there is. The capital, São Paulo City, barely outside the tropics in the south of the state and about 800 meters (2,600 ft) above sea level, has daily minima and maxima averaging about 17°C and 28°C (62°F and 82°F) respectively at the warmest time of year and about 3°C and 18°C (37°F and 64°F) respectively at the coolest time of year. Temperatures reach around 33°C (91°F) on the hottest days and fall as low as 1°C (33°F) on the coldest nights. In the low-lying northwest of the state, temperatures average around 4°C (39°F) higher.
São Paulo is the richest state in Brazil. It has the second highest per-capital income (lower than only the Federal District) and, with the states of Rio Grande do Sul
and Santa Catarina
, the highest standard of living in Brazil, despite the poverty in some peripheral parts of the largest cities.
According to the IBGE
of 2008, there were 41,779,000 people residing in the state. The population density was 160.5 PD/km2.
Urbanization
: 94.6% (2006); Population growth
: 1.8% (1991–2000); House
s: 12,610,000 (2006).
The last PNAD (National Research for Sample of Domiciles) census revealed the following numbers: 29,245,300 White
people (70.0%), 10,026,000 Brown (Multiracial) people (24.0%), 1,671,000 Black
people (4.0%), 584,000 Asian
people (1.
8%), 83,000 Amerindian
people (0.2%).
People of Italian
descent predominate in many towns, including the capital city and the northeast part of the state, which is 65% Italian.
Portuguese and Spanish
descendants are present in most towns. Those of African
ancestry or of Brown
background are relatively numerous.
São Paulo is home to the largest Asian
population in Brazil, as well to the largest Japanese community outside of Japan
itself. There are many people of Levant
ine descent, mostly Syrian and Lebanese people
.
The majority of Brazilian Jews live in the state, especially in the capital city but there are also communities in Greater São Paulo
, Santos
, Guarujá
, Campinas
, Valinhos
, Vinhedo
, São José dos Campos
, Ribeirão Preto
, Sorocaba
, Itu
.
According to an autosomal DNA genetic study (from 2006), European genes account for 79% of the heritage of the people of São Paulo, 14% are of African origin, and 7% Native American.
In support of the conclusion of that study, another autosomal DNA genetic study (from 2010) also found out that European ancestry predominates in the São Paulo population as a whole ("whites", "pardos" and "blacks" altogether). European ancestry is dominant throughout Brazil at 80% (São Paulo is a Southeastern state), except for the Southern part of Brazil, where the European heritage reaches 90%. "A new portrayal of each ethnicity contribution to the DNA of Brazilians, obtained with samples from the five regions of the country, has indicated that, on average, European ancestors are responsible for nearly 80% of the genetic heritage of the population. The variation between the regions is small, with the possible exception of the South, where the European contribution reaches nearly 90%. The results, published by the scientific magazine 'American Journal of Human Biology' by a team of the Catholic University of Brasília, show that, in Brazil, physical indicators such as skin colour, colour of the eyes and colour of the hair have little to do with the genetic ancestry of each person, which has been shown in previous studies"(regardless of census classification)
The service sector is the largest component of GDP at 47.2%, followed by the industrial sector at 46.3%. Agriculture
represents 6.5% of GDP (2004). São Paulo (state) exports: vehicles 17.2%, airplanes and helicopter
s 11.6%, food industry
10%, sugar
and alcohol fuel
7.8%, orange juice
5.2%, telecommunication
s 4.1% (2002).
Share of the Brazilian economy: 33.9% (2005).
São Paulo state is responsible for approximately half of Brazilian GDP (Someone please explain how this figure differ from the share of the economy). The state's GDP (PPP) consists of 550 billion dollars, making it also the biggest economy of South America
and one of the biggest economies in Latin America
, second after Mexico
. Its economy is based on machinery, the automobile
and aviation
industries, services, financial companies, commerce, textile
s, orange growing, sugar cane and coffee
production.
Wealth is unequally distributed in the state, however. The richest municipalities are centered around Greater São Paulo
(such as Campinas
, Jundiaí
, Paulínia
, Americana
, Indaiatuba
, São José dos Campos
, Santos
, etc.), as well as a few other more distant nuclei, such as around São Carlos
, Jaú
, Ribeirão Preto
and São José do Rio Preto
.
São Paulo
, one of the largest economic
poles in Latin
/South America
, has a diversified economy. Some of the largest industries are metal-mechanics
, sugarcane, textile
and car
and aviation
manufacturing. Service and financial sectors, as well as the cultivation of oranges
, cane sugar and coffee
form the basis of an economy which accounts for 33.9% of Brazil's GDP
(equivalent to $727.053 billion).
Mobile phone
s: 25 million (April/2007); Telephone
s: 13,8 million (April/2007); Cities: 645 (2007).
There are more than 578 universities in the whole state of São Paulo.
.
São Paulo state is a cosmopolitan region, due to its history as a land influenced by the encounter of different traditions, beginning with the Tupi-Guarani native American nation and others, the intrusion of Iberian and other European elements and the traffic of enslaved Africans. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, European, Asian, and Middle-Eastern immigrants also made their way there. Earlier, the land had been the starting point of the bandeirantes
expeditions, which sought to enslave the Natives of the hinterlands and explore their mineral wealth. Hence, São Paulo influenced most of Western Brazil, as well as the states of Minas Gerais
, its neighbor North of it, and Paraná
, which was originally part of the old São Paulo province. A very distinctive character in the culture of São Paulo state is the
Caipira
tradition, a mixture of African-Luso-Native-Brazilian and immigrant elements, mainly Southern Italian, which influenced its dialect, somewhat different from the Portuguese spoken in São Paulo city, although the latter is also heavily Italianized. The caipira culture is strong in countryside cities, although centers like Piracicaba, São Carlos, Sao José do Rio Preto, Araraquara, Ribeirão Preto, Barretos, Campinas, Marilia, Assis, Presidente Prudente, Jaú and Bauru also have a strong American pronunciation of their r's and unusual usage of words. It seems that the influence is actually from the Calabrian or Sicilian Italian dialect though, and many of the words peculiar to the region are actually archaic Portuguese forms. Native languages might also have stressed the more nasal sounds of words ending in /m/ or /n/, which is also a feature of other dialects in Brazil.
The Caipira food is known for being tasty and abundant. It expresses itself through fried or barbecued beef steaks, fried eggs, couve (collard green), taioba, or cabage, manioc or corn flour farofa or stuffing, frango Caipira (fresh baked or pan-seared farm non frozen chicken) or frango a Passarinho (fried small chicken pieces), fried breaded sardine or fish fillet, pork chops or whole baked pork with plenty of smooth ot Boston type lettuce or thinly tossed cabbage, and tomato, seasoned with garlic, lemon, and onions salty juice. Bean stew with carne seca or dried charque beef, toicinho or bacon, white rice are always the staple, but macarronada, or spaghetti are always present on Sunday luncheons and fried sausages can be a daily menu. Mildly spiced legumes, such as zuchini and other types of squash are often prepared as a stew with or without meat, and sometimes with quiabo (ocra) and abobora or butternut squash are a favorite dessert, as are sweetened sidra, canjica (white corn kernels cooked in milk, coconut, and condensed milk and peanut bits). Pudim de leite, or milk custard, pave' (mounted cookies in rich condensed and heavy cream sauce) and manjar (white flan) are other mouth-watering treats. If none of these desserts are present, countryside meals will rarely leave out citrics such as oranges and mexericas, bananas, caquis or abacaxi (pineapple). Home-made loaves or regular bakery fresh rolls with butter or corn meal or orange cakes are served with coffee and milk or mate tea in the afternoon before dinner or before bed. Pastries like chicken coxinha fried dumplings and risolis, and the Mediterranean or Syrian-Lebanese kibe and open sfihas are often served in birthday and wedding parties followed by a glazed cake, guarana' and other sodas, champagne, caipirinha sugar-cane liquor or beer. Chopp or draft beer is a must in weddings celebrations.
Another distinctive character in the state of São Paulo is the so-called "Brazilian erudite culture." São Paulo was the home of the Brazilian Week of Modern Art
(Semana da Arte Moderna), organized mostly by poets and artists from São Paulo, like Mário de Andrade
, Oswald de Andrade
, Menotti del Picchia
and Anita Malfatti
, Victor Brecheret
and Lasar Segall
. São Paulo was also the birthplace of Brazilian classical composers, like Carlos Gomes (the most famous Brazilian opera composer), Elias Álvares Lobo
and Camargo Guarnieri
. OSESP, the São Paulo state orchestra is known internationally and it has had both national and international directors. São Paulo has some of the most impressive museums in the country, such as the Museu Paulista do Ipiranga, which honors the site of the independence of Brazil and has numerous Native American artifacts, funeral urns and other historic objects, besides the monument resting place of Brazil's first emperor and his wife. The Museu de Arte de São Paulo or MASP on Avenida Paulista is the most important Latin American collection of European paintings, and the Pinacoteca do Estado on Avenida Tiradentes exhibits paintings and sculptures. The Museu de Arte Sacra in the same avenue features national Barroc art and an Italian nativity scene, besides having in the chapel next door, the tomb of Frei Galvão, the first Brazilian saint. Across from Pinacoteca is the Luz station built in Britain and assembled in Brazil with the innovating Museu da Língua Portuguesa, the first interactive language museum in the world. Ibirapuera park features Museu do Presepio or Creche museum, AfroBrasil, the African-Brazilian museum, Bienal book and art fair site conducted every two years. The city of São Carlos in the center of the state has the Museu do Avião, an open airplane museum, and Campinas, Ribeirão Preto, Bauru, Sao José do Rio Preto, Piracicaba, Jaú, Marilia, Botucatu, Assis, and Ourinhos are important university, engineering, agricultural, zootechnique, technology, or health sciences centers. The Instituto Butantan in São Paulo is a serpentary that collects snakes and other poisonous animals, as it produces venom antidotes. The Instituto Pasteur produces vaccines. The state is also at the vanguard of ethanol production, soybeans, airplanes in São José dos Campos, and its rivers have been important in generating electricity through its hydrelectric plants. Moreover, São Paulo is one of the world's most important beans, rice, wheat, orange and other fruit, coffee, sugar cane, alcohol, flowers and vegetables, corn, cattle, swine, milk, cheese, wine, and oil producers. Textile and manufacturing centers such as Rua José Paulino and 25 de Marco in São Paulo city is a magnet for retail shopping and shipping that attracts customers from the whole country and as far as Cape Verde and Angola in Africa. The most important heart and cancer treatment centers in Brazil and Latin America are also in São Paulo state and city.
Capital: The capital city is the center of business tourism in Brazil, which gives the city about 45 000 events per year.São Paul also has the largest hotel network in Brazil. For real estate speculation in the mid-1990s, today there is excess supply in the number of vacancies. The city also has demand in gastronomic tourism, after receiving the title of world capital of gastronomy. Cultural tourism is also highlighted given the amount of museums, theaters and events like the Biennale and the Biennale of Arts of the Book.
Coast: The coast of São Paulo has 622 km of beaches of all kinds and sizes. Among the cities that receive the most tourists in the summer are Santos, Praia Grande, Ubatuba, Sao Sebastiao, among others.
Interior: The interior is possible to find resorts, rural tourism, eco-municipalities with European climate, waterfalls, caves, rivers, mountains, spas, parks, historical buildings from the XVI, XVII and XVIII, and Jesuit church architecture archaeological sites such as the Tourist State Park of Alto Ribeira (PETAR). Those looking for entertainment more intense can browse the Hopi Hari, a major theme parks in the country, in the Metropolitan Region of Campinas. In terms of ecotourism, and Sprout Juquitiba has the best infrastructure. In winter, the city of Campos do Jordao emerges as the main tourist reference state, with the Winter Festival and several other attractions in an environment where the temperature can reach negative marks.
, it began operations in 1974. It consists of four color-coded lines: Line 1-Blue, Line 2-Green, Line 3-Red and Line 5-Lilac; Line 4-Yellow started to work in May 2010, and will be completed in 2012. The metro system carries 2.8 million passengers a day. Metro itself is far from covering the entire urban area in the city of São Paulo. Another company, Companhia Paulista de Trens Metropolitanos
(CPTM), works along the metro system and runs railways converted into light rail service lines, which total six lines (7, 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12), 261 km long, serving 89 stations. Metro and CPTM are integrated through various stations. Metro and CPTM both operate as State-owned companies, and have received awards in the recent past as one of the cleanest systems in the world by ISO9001. The São Paulo metro transports three million people by day.
For Line 3-Red, as in the case of Line 1-Blue, a very bold political interference in relation to urban was approved. Construction works related to urban planning measures were taken at the Cathedral Square and the Republic, in broad Memory of Arouche and Santa Cecilia, in the central region of the city, beyond the implementation of a major Intermodal Passenger Terminal and construction of the Memorial of Latin America, in the western area of town. During the design of Line 3-Red, we sought to achieve effective integration between the internal spaces of the metro and the urban area through the use of large openings that allow penetration of air and natural light from the surface to the lower levels stations.
By adopting this concept, the architectural design of Line 3-Red helped to reduce the number of ventilation towers and equipment for electro-mechanical ventilation, which was widely applied in 1-Line Blue. Thus, simpler and more economical solutions were implemented and areas with better environmental quality and comfort were created. The basic feature of the concept of architecture adopted for the projects of the surface stations of Line 3-Red is the innovation of coating materials used. It consists of tiles of metal lattice, which allowed coverage of large distances, significantly reducing costs and conditions of the construction works.
The application of color on the roof of metal latticework, and on the front roof resulted in a strong element of identification for the stations, turning them into major landmarks in the urban landscape. The implementation of multimodal terminals, such as the Intermodal Terminal Palmeiras-Barra Funda, where the commuter trains as well as the municipal bus lines, intercity and interstate connect with the metro network, thus consolidating its role in structuring the transportation of different way. This deployment also considered the policy of decentralization to the terminal road, initiated by the city of Sao Paulo in 1977.
The 5th International Biennial of Architecture of Buenos Aires, received the architects of the Metro with the "Premio del Jurado Special" to the set of architectural plans by the Company of Metropolitan Trains. Of all the projects of Line 3-Red were awarded as follows: Station Barrafunda (arqui. Robert MacFadden); Station Marshal Deodoro (arqui. Robert MacFadden); Station Cathedral (arqui. John Paul and Robert MacFadden); Station Pedro II ( arch. Meire Gonçalves Selli); Station Artur Alvim (arqui. Katumi Sawada) and Station Corinthians-Itaquera (arch Meire Gonçalves Selli and Renato Viégas). The design of the Trianon-MASP-2 Green Line Architects Robert Mac Fadden, Renato Viégas and Hote Eduardo Parada Inglesa Station of Line 1-Blue's arch. Francisco Hideu Nunomura Station and the future Incor Line 4-Yellow, by the arch. Nery Filho Alfredo was also awarded.
Between the late 1990s and early 2000s, this project of re-skilling the lines of the CPTM, inherited from the Federal Railways and Fepasa, began converting some lines for metropolitan subway Surface. This experiment began on Line 11 in its passage known as "East Express", which serves the East Zone and runs parallel to Line 3 – Red. The section completed (within the capital, until the station Guaianases) now has stations and trains new and modern, plus a new track. The stretch between the station Guaianases in the capital, and Students in Mogi das Cruzes, which also covers the towns of Ferraz de Vasconcelos, Suzano and Poá had forecast a resumption of construction in 2007, but was again postponed, this time to 2008.
Aiming to facilitate the location of stops along the rows, the São Paulo Metro and CPTM have adopted numbers to identify the lines. This change was implemented in early 2008.
Main highways of São Paulo:
(2010–2014)(PSDB).
São Paulo politics are controlled by the Brazilian Social Democracy Party
(PSDB), which has formed the government of the state since 1994, and was re-elected in 2006 for four more years.
Local politicians of note (with party affiliations) include: former president of Brazil (1994–2002) Fernando Henrique Cardoso
(PSDB), former president (2002–2010) Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva
(PT), José Serra
(PSDB), Geraldo Alckmin
(PSDB), Mário Covas
(PSDB), José Anibal (PSDB), Antonio Palocci
(PT), Eduardo Suplicy
(PT), Aloízio Mercadante
(PT), Marta Suplicy
(PT), Gilberto Kassab
(DEM
), and Paulo Maluf
(Progressive Party
). Maluf is a controversial figure in São Paulo City politics, and is frequently accused of corruption. However, many voters used to support him because of his achievements during his governments, which the most well-known was the São Paulo Subway System (the first in Brazil) and the Costa e Silva expressway, also known as Minhocão. Maluf has, however, failed to be elected in the last elections for governor of the state of São Paulo and for mayor of the state capital.
The last two Brazilian presidents, Fernando Henrique Cardoso
(PSDB) and Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva
(PT), were both politicians from São Paulo, although Cardoso was actually born in the state of Rio de Janeiro
, and Lula in Pernambuco
. Cardoso lives in São Paulo
city and Lula lives in São Bernardo do Campo
city.
Soccer is the most popular sport in the state. The biggest clubs from the state are Corinthians
, São Paulo
, Santos
, Palmeiras
, Portuguesa
, Ponte Preta
and Guarani
. Other sports like Basketball
and Volleyball
are also quite popular. In basketball, famous Brazilian players such as Hortência Marcari
, Janeth Arcain
and Oscar Schmidt
are from São Paulo. Many of the internationally recognized racing drivers, like Emerson Fittipaldi
, Ayrton Senna
, Rubens Barrichello
, Hélio Castroneves
and Felipe Massa
are also from São Paulo.
São Paulo
is one of the 18 remaining candidates to host games for the 2014 FIFA World Cup
, to take place in Brazil.
The São Silvestre Race takes place every New Year's Eve
. It was first held in 1925, when the competitors ran about 8,000 metres across the streets. Since then, the distance raced has varied, and it is now fixed at 15 km. Registration takes place from 1 October, with the maximum number of entrants limited to 15,000.
The Brazilian Grand Prix
is a Formula One
championship race which occurs at the Autódromo José Carlos Pace
in Interlagos
. In 2006 the Grand Prix was the final round of the FIA Formula 1 World Championship. The Spanish driver Fernando Alonso
won the 2006 drivers championship at this circuit by coming second in the race. The race was won by the young Brazilian driver Felipe Massa
, driving for the Scuderia Ferrari
team.
, Guarulhos
, Campinas
, São Bernardo do Campo
, Osasco
, Santo André, São José dos Campos
, Sorocaba
, Ribeirão Preto
, São José do Rio Preto
and Santos
.
Other cities include: Americana
, Araçatuba
, Araraquara
, Bauru
, Franca
, Guarujá
, Indaiatuba
, Jacareí
, Jaú
, Jundiaí
, Limeira
, Marília
, Mogi das Cruzes
, Piracicaba
, Praia Grande
, Presidente Prudente
, São Carlos
, São Vicente
and Taubaté
.
Official Website Official Website (version in English) State Assembly (Assembléia Legislativa)
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 the major industrial and economic powerhouse of the Brazilian economy. Named after Saint Paul
Paul of Tarsus
Paul the Apostle , also known as Saul of Tarsus, is described in the Christian New Testament as one of the most influential early Christian missionaries, with the writings ascribed to him by the church forming a considerable portion of the New Testament...
, São Paulo has the largest population
Population
A population is all the organisms that both belong to the same group or species and live in the same geographical area. The area that is used to define a sexual population is such that inter-breeding is possible between any pair within the area and more probable than cross-breeding with individuals...
, industrial complex, and economic production in the country. It is the richest state in Brazil. The capital, São Paulo
São Paulo
São Paulo is the largest city in Brazil, the largest city in the southern hemisphere and South America, and the world's seventh largest city by population. The metropolis is anchor to the São Paulo metropolitan area, ranked as the second-most populous metropolitan area in the Americas and among...
, is also the largest city in 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...
.
Often dubbed the "locomotive of Brazil", the state alone is responsible for 33.9% of the Brazilian GDP, being the state with the highest GDP. In addition to increased GDP, São Paulo also has the third highest Human Development Index
Human Development Index
The 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...
, the second highest GDP per capita, the second lowest infant mortality
Infant mortality
Infant 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...
rate and the fourth lowest rate of illiteracy among the states of Brazil.
With over 40 million inhabitants, São Paulo is the most populous state in Brazil and the third most populous political unit of South America, only surpassed by that country and Colombia
Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...
, ahead of all other South American countries. Sao Paulo's capital city is ranked seventh among the largest city on the planet
World's largest municipalities by population
This is a non-exhaustive list of the world's most populous municipalities, defined according to the concept of city proper. In demography, city proper is one of the three basic concepts used to define urban areas and populations. The other two are urban agglomeration, and the metropolitan area...
and its metropolitan area, with 19,223,897 inhabitants, is also the 7th biggest in the world.
Regions near the city of São Paulo are also metropolitan areas, such as Campinas
Campinas
Campinas is a city and municipality located in the coastal interior of the state of São Paulo, Brazil. is the administrative center of the meso-region of the same name, with 3,783,597 inhabitants as of the 2010 Census, consisting of 49 cities....
, Santos, Sorocaba
Sorocaba
Sorocaba is a city in the state of São Paulo, Brazil. Sorocaba is the fourth largest city in the state of São Paulo. Outside the Greater São Paulo region, it ranks behind only Campinas, Sao Jose dos Campos and Ribeirão Preto...
and São José dos Campos
São José dos Campos
São José dos Campos is a municipality and a major city in the state of São Paulo, Brazil and one of the most important industrial and research centers in Latin America. It is located in the Paraíba Valley, between the two most active production and consumption regions in the country, São Paulo ...
; other nearby cities include urban areas in the conurbation process, such as Santo André, São Bernardo, São Caetano
São Caetano
São Caetano is the Portuguese language name for Saint Cajetan, and is a common toponym in parts of the world where that language is or was spoken...
, Diadema
Diadema
Diadema* Diadema, São Paulo, a city in São Paulo* Diadema , a genus of sea urchin belonging to the family Diadematidae* Damon diadema, a species of arachnid, sometimes known as the tailless whip scorpion...
, Guarulhos
Guarulhos
Guarulhos is the second largest city in the Brazilian state of São Paulo and a suburb of São Paulo city itself. In the last few years it has outgrown Campinas. The population in 2006 is 1,283,253, the density is 4,035.26 inh./km² and the area is 318 km²...
, Osasco
Osasco
Osasco is a municipality and city in São Paulo State, Brazil, is located in the Greater São Paulo and ranking 5th in population among São Paulo municipalities. The current mayor is Emidio Pereira de Souza ....
, Taboão da Serra
Taboão da Serra
Taboão da Serra is a municipality in the state of São Paulo in Brazil. The population in 2004 was 221,176 and the area is 20 km². It is the second smallest city in São Paulo Metropolitan Area and it has a population density of 11,058.8 people per square kilometre, or 18,431.33 people per...
and Jundiaí
Jundiaí
Jundiaí is a city and municipality in the state of São Paulo, Brazil. The population in 2009 was 349,929, and the area is 433.958 km². The elevation is 761 m. Distance is 60 km north of the city of São Paulo.- History and Geography :...
. The total population of these areas coupled with the capital – the so-called Expanded Metropolitan Complex – exceeds 29 million inhabitants, i.e. approximately 75% of the population of São Paulo state-wide. The metropolitan regions of Campinas and São Paulo now form the first macro-metropolis in the southern hemisphere, joining 65 municipalities that together are home to 12% of the Brazilian population.
Early period
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 to settle in the area was João Ramalho, a Portuguese
Kingdom of Portugal
The Kingdom of Portugal was Portugal's general designation under the monarchy. The kingdom was located in the west of the Iberian Peninsula, Europe and existed from 1139 to 1910...
sailor who may have been shipwrecked around 1510, ten years after the first Portuguese landfall in Brazil. He married the daughter of a local chieftain and became a settler. In 1532, the first colonial expedition, led by Martim Afonso de Sousa
Martim Afonso de Sousa
Martim Afonso de Sousa was a Portuguese fidalgo and explorer.Born in Vila Viçosa, he was commander of the first official Portuguese expedition into mainland Brazil...
of Portugal, landed at São Vicente
São Vicente, São Paulo
São Vicente is a coastal city of southern São Paulo, Brazil. Its estimated population in 2006 was 329,370 inhabitants.It was the first Portuguese permanent settlement in the Americas and the first capital of the Captaincy of São Vicente, now the state of São Paulo...
(near the present-day port at Santos). De Sousa added Ramalho's settlement to his colony.
Early European colonisation of Brazil was very limited. Portugal was more interested in Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
and Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
. But with English
Kingdom of England
The Kingdom of England was, from 927 to 1707, a sovereign state to the northwest of continental Europe. At its height, the Kingdom of England spanned the southern two-thirds of the island of Great Britain and several smaller outlying islands; what today comprises the legal jurisdiction of England...
and 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...
privateer
Privateer
A privateer is a private person or ship authorized by a government by letters of marque to attack foreign shipping during wartime. Privateering was a way of mobilizing armed ships and sailors without having to spend public money or commit naval officers...
ships just off the coast, the territory had to be protected. Unwilling to shoulder the burden of defence himself, the Portuguese ruler, King João III of Portugal, divided the coast into "captaincies", or swathes of land, 50 leagues apart. He distributed them among well-connected Portuguese, hoping that each would be self-reliant. The early port and sugar-cultivating settlement of São Vicente was one rare success connected to this policy. In 1548, João III brought Brazil under direct royal control.
Fearing Indian attack, he discouraged development of the territory's vast interior. Some whites headed nonetheless for Piratininga, a plateau near São Vicente, drawn by its navigable rivers and agricultural potential. Borda do Campo, the plateau settlement, became an official town (Santo André da Borda do Campo) in 1553. The history of São Paulo city proper begins with the founding of a Jesuit mission on January 25, 1554—the anniversary of Saint Paul's conversion. The station, which is at the heart of the current city, was named São Paulo dos Campos de Piratininga (or just Pateo do Colégio). In 1560, the threat of Indian attack led many to flee from the exposed Santo André da Borda do Campo to the walled Colegio. Two years later, the Colégio was besieged. Though the town survived, fighting took place sporadically for another three decades.
By 1600, the town had about 1,500 citizens and 150 households. Little was produced for export, save a number of agricultural goods. The isolation was to continue for many years, as the development of Brazil centred on the 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...
plantations in the north-east.
The city’s location, at the mouth of the Tietê-Paranapanema river system (which winds into the interior), made it an ideal base for another activity: enslaving expeditions. The economics were simple. Enslaved manpower for Brazil's northern 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...
plantations were in short supply. Enslaved Africans were expensive, so demand for indigenous captives soared. The task was, nonetheless, hard, if not impossible, to achieve.
Expansion
Bandeirantes
The bandeirantes were composed of Indians , caboclos , and some whites who were the captains of the Bandeiras. Members of the 16th–18th century South American slave-hunting expeditions called bandeiras...
. From their base in São Paulo, they also combed the interior in search for natural riches. Silver
Silver
Silver is a metallic chemical element with the chemical symbol Ag and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it has the highest electrical conductivity of any element and the highest thermal conductivity of any metal...
, gold
Gold
Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and an atomic number of 79. Gold is a dense, soft, shiny, malleable and ductile metal. Pure gold has a bright yellow color and luster traditionally considered attractive, which it maintains without oxidizing in air or water. Chemically, gold is a...
and diamonds were companion pursuits, as well as the exploration of unknown territories. Roman Catholic missionaries sometimes tagged along, as efforts at converting the native worked hand in hand with Portuguese colonialism. Despite their atrocities, the bandeirantes are now equally remembered for penetrating Brazil’s vast interior. Trading posts established by them became permanent settlements. Interior routes opened up. Though the bandeirantes had no loyalty to the Portuguese crown, they did claim land for the king. Thus, the borders of Brazil were pushed forward to the Amazon
Amazon Basin
The Amazon Basin is the part of South America drained by the Amazon River and its tributaries that drains an area of about , or roughly 40 percent of South America. The basin is located in the countries of Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, and Venezuela...
region and the Andes
Andes
The Andes is the world's longest continental mountain range. It is a continual range of highlands along the western coast of South America. This range is about long, about to wide , and of an average height of about .Along its length, the Andes is split into several ranges, which are separated...
.
Napoleon's invasion of 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...
in 1807 prompted the British navy to evacuate King João VI of Portugal, Portugal’s prince regent, to Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro , commonly referred to simply as Rio, is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America, boasting approximately 6.3 million people within the city proper, making it the 6th...
and Brazil became the temporary headquarters of the Portuguese Empire
Portuguese Empire
The Portuguese Empire , also known as the Portuguese Overseas Empire or the Portuguese Colonial Empire , was the first global empire in history...
. João VI rewarded his hosts with economic reforms that would prove crucial to São Paulo’s rise. Brazil's ports—long closed to non-Portuguese ships—were opened up. Restrictions on manufacturing were waived.
When Napoleon was defeated in 1815, João gave political shape to his territory, which became the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves. Portugal and Brazil, in other words, were ostensibly co-equals. Returning to Portugal six years later, João left his son, Pedro, to rule as regent and governor.
Brazilian independence
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...
, resisting demands from Lisbon
Lisbon
Lisbon is the capital city and largest city of Portugal with a population of 545,245 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Lisbon extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of 3 million on an area of , making it the 9th most populous urban...
that Brazil should be ruled from 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...
once again. Legend has it that in 1822 the regent was riding outside São Paulo
São Paulo
São Paulo is the largest city in Brazil, the largest city in the southern hemisphere and South America, and the world's seventh largest city by population. The metropolis is anchor to the São Paulo metropolitan area, ranked as the second-most populous metropolitan area in the Americas and among...
when a messenger delivered a missive demanding his return to Europe, and Dom Pedro waved his sword and shouted “Independência ou morte!” (Independence or death).
João
John VI of Portugal
John VI John VI John VI (full name: João Maria José Francisco Xavier de Paula Luís António Domingos Rafael; (13 May 1767 – 10 March 1826) was King of the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves (later changed to just King of Portugal and the Algarves, after Brazil was recognized...
had whetted the appetite of Brazilians, who now sought a full break from the monarchy. The ever-restless Paulistanos were at the vanguard of the independence movement. The small mother country of 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...
was in no position to resist — on September 7, 1822, Dom Pedro rubber-stamped Brazil's independence. He was crowned emperor shortly afterwards. The emperors ruled an independent Brazil until 1889. Over this time, the growth of liberalism in Europe had a parallel in Brazil. As the Brazilian provinces became more assertive, São Paulo was the scene of a minor (and unsuccessful) liberal revolution in 1842. When independence was declared, São Paulo had just 25,000 people and 4,000 house
House
A house is a building or structure that has the ability to be occupied for dwelling by human beings or other creatures. The term house includes many kinds of different dwellings ranging from rudimentary huts of nomadic tribes to free standing individual structures...
s, but the next 60 years would see gradual growth. In 1828, the Law
Law
Law is a system of rules and guidelines which are enforced through social institutions to govern behavior, wherever possible. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus...
Academy, the pioneer of the city's intellectual tradition, opened. The first newspaper, O Farol Paulistano, appeared in 1827. Municipal developments such as botanical garden
Botanical garden
A botanical garden The terms botanic and botanical, and garden or gardens are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word botanic is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens. is a well-tended area displaying a wide range of plants labelled with their botanical names...
s, an 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...
and a library
Library
In a traditional sense, a library is a large collection of books, and can refer to the place in which the collection is housed. Today, the term can refer to any collection, including digital sources, resources, and services...
, gave the city a cultural boost.
Regardless, São Paulo still faced many hurdles, especially transport
Transport
Transport or transportation is the movement of people, cattle, animals and goods from one location to another. Modes of transport include air, rail, road, water, cable, pipeline, and space. The field can be divided into infrastructure, vehicles, and operations...
. Mule-trains were the main method of transportation, and the road from the plateau down to the port of Santos was famously arduous. In the late 1860s São Paulo got its first railway line, developed by British engineers, to the Port of Santos
Port of Santos
The Port of Santos is located in the city of Santos, Brazil. As of 2006, it is the busiest container port in Latin America. It possesses a wide variety of cargo handling terminals - solid and liquid bulk, containers and general loads. It is Brazil's leading port in container traffic...
. Other lines, such as a railway to Campinas, were soon built. This was good timing, because in the 1880s the coffee craze hit in earnest. Brazil, which had been growing it since the mid-18th century, could grow more. The Paraiba valley, which spans the states of Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, had suitable 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...
and climate
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...
. São Paulo city, at the western end of the Paraiba valley, was well positioned to channel the coffee to the port of Santos.
Meanwhile, the Brazilian monarchy had fallen in 1889. A feudalistic regime, it had friends only among the sugar planters of the northeast, whose dominance Paulistanos, among others, despised. In 1891, a new federal constitution, which delegated power to the states, was approved. The new coffee elite saw its chance. São Paulo ironed out a power-sharing understanding—known as the "café com leite" (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,...
-and-milk
Milk
Milk is a white liquid produced by the mammary glands of mammals. It is the primary source of nutrition for young mammals before they are able to digest other types of food. Early-lactation milk contains colostrum, which carries the mother's antibodies to the baby and can reduce the risk of many...
) deal—with dairy-rich Minas Gerais
Minas Gerais
Minas Gerais is one of the 26 states of Brazil, of which it is the second most populous, the third richest, and the fourth largest in area. Minas Gerais is the Brazilian state with the largest number of Presidents of Brazil, the current one, Dilma Rousseff, being one of them. The capital is the...
, Brazil's other dominant state. Together, they held a virtual lock on federal power. Brazilian politics now became a favourite pastime of the once-rebellious Paulistanos, who sent several presidents to Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro , commonly referred to simply as Rio, is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America, boasting approximately 6.3 million people within the city proper, making it the 6th...
—including Prudente de Morais
Prudente de Morais
Prudente José de Morais Barros was the third president of Brazil . His presidency lasted from November 15, 1894 until November 15, 1898...
, post-colonial Brazil
Colonial Brazil
In the history of Brazil, Colonial Brazil, officially the Viceroyalty of Brazil comprises the period from 1500, with the arrival of the Portuguese, until 1815, when Brazil was elevated to kingdom alongside Portugal as the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves.During the over 300 years...
's first civilian president, who took office in 1891.
Plantation labour was needed—this time for coffee, not sugar. Slavery had been fading since the import of enslaved Africans was outlawed in 1850. São Paulo, thanks to such figures as Luiz Gama (a former slave), was a centre of abolitionism. In 1888, Brazil abolished slavery (it was the last country in the Americas
Americas
The Americas, or America , are lands in the Western hemisphere, also known as the New World. In English, the plural form the Americas is often used to refer to the landmasses of North America and South America with their associated islands and regions, while the singular form America is primarily...
to do so) and the freed African-Brazilians who had been helping build the nation were then forced to beg for their jobs back, working for food and shelter only because of the failure of the system to integrate them as equal citizens with Euro-Brazilians. In an effort to "bleach the race," as the nation's leaders feared 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...
was becoming a "black country," Spanish
Spanish immigration to Brazil
Spanish emigration peaked in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and it was concentrated to Argentina and Cuba. Between 1882 and 1930, 3,297,312 Spaniards emigrated, of whom 1,594,622 went to Argentina and 1,118,960 went to Cuba...
, Portuguese and Italian
Italian Brazilian
-Italian immigration to Brazil:The Italian government claims there are 25 million Brazilians of Italian descent, which would be the largest population of Italian background outside of Italy itself. There are no actual surveys, or even verifiable calculations supporting such claims. According to...
nationals were given incentives to become farm workers in São Paulo. The state government was so eager to bring in European immigrants that it paid for their trips and provided varying levels of subsidy. By 1893, foreigners made up over 55% of São Paulo's population. Fearing oversupply, the government applied the brakes briefly in 1899; then the boom resumed. From 1908, the Japanese arrived in great numbers, many destined for the plantations on fixed-term contracts. By 1920, São Paulo was Brazil's second-largest city; a half-century before, it had been just the tenth-largest. Immigration and migration of Paulistas from other towns as well as Nordestinos and citizens from other states, the coffee industry, and modernization through the manufacturing of textiles, car and airplane pieces, as well as food and technological industries, construction, fashion, and services transformed the greater São Paulo area into a thriving megalopolis
Megalopolis (city type)
A megalopolis is typically defined as a chain of roughly adjacent metropolitan areas. The term was used by Oswald Spengler in his 1918 book, The Decline of the West, and Lewis Mumford in his 1938 book, The Culture of Cities, which described it as the first stage in urban overdevelopment and...
and one of the world
World
World is a common name for the whole of human civilization, specifically human experience, history, or the human condition in general, worldwide, i.e. anywhere on Earth....
's greatest multiethnic regions.
Early 20th century
Money
Money is any object or record that is generally accepted as payment for goods and services and repayment of debts in a given country or socio-economic context. The main functions of money are distinguished as: a medium of exchange; a unit of account; a store of value; and, occasionally in the past,...
to buy coffee and stockpiling it, in order to have a surplus during bad harvests, and meanwhile taxing coffee exports to pay off loans—seemed feasible in the short term (as did its manipulation of foreign-exchange rates to the advantage of coffee growers). But in the longer term, these actions contributed to oversupply and eventual collapse.
São Paulo's industrial development, from 1889 into the 1940s, was gradual and inward looking. Initially industry
Industry
Industry refers to the production of an economic good or service within an economy.-Industrial sectors:There are four key industrial economic sectors: the primary sector, largely raw material extraction industries such as mining and farming; the secondary sector, involving refining, construction,...
was closely associated with agriculture
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...
: cotton plantations led to the growth of textile manufacturing
Textile manufacturing
Textile manufacturing is a major industry. It is based in the conversion of three types of fibre into yarn, then fabric, then textiles. These are then fabricated into clothes or other artifacts. Cotton remains the most important natural fibre, so is treated in depth...
. Coffee planters were among the early industrial investors. The boom in immigration
Immigration to Brazil
Immigration to Brazil is the movement to Brazil of foreign persons to reside permanently. It should not be confused with the colonisation of the country by the Portuguese, or with the forcible bringing of people from Africa as slaves....
provided a market for goods, and sectors such as food processing grew. Traditional immigrant families such as the Matarazzo
Matarazzo
Matarazzo is an Italian family name. Originating in Sicily, it derived from the Arabic "Matrah", a place to lie down, and subsequently the Sicilian word "Matarazzu", mattress.The following articles refer to this name:...
, Diniz, Mofarrej and Maluf became industrialists, entrepreneurs, and leading politicians. Restrictions on imports forced by world wars and government policies of "import substitution" and trade tariffs, all contributed to industrial growth. By 1945, São Paulo
São Paulo
São Paulo is the largest city in Brazil, the largest city in the southern hemisphere and South America, and the world's seventh largest city by population. The metropolis is anchor to the São Paulo metropolitan area, ranked as the second-most populous metropolitan area in the Americas and among...
had become the largest industrial centre in 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...
. World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
sent ripples through Brazil. Inflation was rampant. Some 50,000 workers went on strike. Thus, the growing urban population grew increasingly resentful of the coffee elite. Disaffected intellectuals expressed their views during a memorable “Week of Modern Art” in 1922. Two years later, a garrison of soldier
Soldier
A soldier is a member of the land component of national armed forces; whereas a soldier hired for service in a foreign army would be termed a mercenary...
s staged a revolt (eventually squashed by government troops).
The stand-off was also political: politics had been long monopolised by the Paulista Revolutionary Party, but in 1926 a more left-leaning party rose in opposition. In 1928, the PRP amended São Paulo's state constitution to give it more control over the city. The turbulence was mirrored on Brazil’s national scene. With the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
, coffee prices plunged, as did real GDP. Americans
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, keen investors during the 1920s, backed away. The opening of the first highway between São Paulo and Rio in 1928 was one of the few bright spots. Into the breach stepped Getulio Vargas
Getúlio Vargas
Getúlio Dornelles Vargas served as President of Brazil, first as dictator, from 1930 to 1945, and in a democratically elected term from 1951 until his suicide in 1954. Vargas led Brazil for 18 years, the most for any President, and second in Brazilian history to Emperor Pedro II...
, a southerner veteran in state politics. In Brazil's 1930 presidential elections, he opposed Julio Prestes
Júlio Prestes
Júlio Prestes de Albuquerque was a Brazilian politician. Governor of São Paulo state in 1926, he was elected president of Brazil on March 1, 1930, but never took office because the government was overthrown in the Revolution of 1930 that brought Getulio Vargas to power, three weeks before Prestes'...
, a favourite son of São Paulo. Vargas lost the election, but with backing from Minas Gerais state—São Paulo's ever-jealous former ally and neighbor to the north--, he seized power regardless.
Paulista War
The Constitutionalist Revolution of 1932 or Paulista War is the name given to the uprising of part of the population of the Brazilian state of São Paulo against the federal government of Vargas. The movement grew out of local disappointment at the loss of political pre-eminence São Paulo elites had enjoyed prior to the 1930 Revolution. Its main goal was to press the provisional government headed by Getúlio Vargas to enact a new Constitution, since it had revoked the previous one, adopted in 1889. However, as the movement developed and resentment against President Vargas grew deeper, it came to advocate the overthrow of the Federal Government and the secession of São Paulo from the Brazilian federation. But, it is noted that the separatist scenario was used as guerrilla tactics by the Federal Government to turn the population of the rest of the country against the state of São Paulo, broadcasting the alleged separatist notion throughout the country. There is no evidence that the movement's commanders sought separatism.The uprising started on July 9, 1932, after five protesting students were killed by government troops on May 23, 1932. On the wake of their deaths, a movement called MMDC (from the initials of the names of each of the four students killed, Martins, Miragaia, Dráusio and Camargo) started. A fifth victim, Alvarenga, was also shot that night, but died months later.
Revolutionary troops entrenched in the battlefield. In a few months, the state of São Paulo rebelled against the federal government. Counting on the solidarity of the political elites of three other powerful states, (Rio Grande do Sul, Minas Gerais and Rio de Janeiro), the politicians of São Paulo expected a quick war. However, that solidarity was never translated into actual support, and the São Paulo revolt was militarily crushed on October 2, 1932.
In spite of its military defeat, some of the movement's main demands were finally granted by Vargas afterwards: the appointment of a non-military state Governor, the election of a Constituent Assembly and, finally, the enactment of a new Constitution in 1934. However that Constitution was short lived, as in 1937, amidst growing extremism on the left and right wings of the political spectrum, Vargas closed the National Congress and enacted another Constitution, which established an authoritarian regime called Estado Novo.
Late 20th century
VargasGetúlio Vargas
Getúlio Dornelles Vargas served as President of Brazil, first as dictator, from 1930 to 1945, and in a democratically elected term from 1951 until his suicide in 1954. Vargas led Brazil for 18 years, the most for any President, and second in Brazilian history to Emperor Pedro II...
's rule was a study in political turbulence. Elected in 1934, he ruled by dictatorship (albeit a popular one, thanks to his health and social-welfare programmes) from 1937 to 1945—a period dubbed the "Estado Novo
Estado Novo (Brazil)
Vargas Era is the period in the history of Brazil that lasted from 1930 to 1945, when the country was under the leadership of Getúlio Dornelles Vargas....
". Thrown out by a coup in 1945, he ran for office again in 1950, and was overwhelmingly elected. On the verge of being overthrown from office again, he committed suicide in 1954. Vargas's main legacy was the centralisation of power. The encouragement of industry and diversification of agriculture, not to mention the abolition of subsidies on coffee, finally did away with the dominance of the coffee oligarchies. His replacement, Juscelino Kubitschek, focused on heavy industry. Kubitschek built car factories, steel plants, hydropower infrastructure and roads. Petrobras
Petrobras
Petróleo Brasileiro or Petrobras is a semi-public Brazilian multinational energy corporation headquartered in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is the largest company in Latin America by market capitalization and revenue, and the largest company headquartered in the Southern Hemisphere by market...
, Brazil's oil monolith, was set up in 1953. By 1958, São Paulo state controlled some 55% of Brazil's industrial production, up from 17% in 1907. Another of Kubitschek’s pet projects was the creation of 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...
, which became Brazil's capital in 1960—the year Kubitschek stepped down. 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...
was founded in 1934; two years after São Paulo's failed uprising. It has established itself as the most prestigious higher learning institution in the country.
With a transitional government from military to civil and a new currency that made stagnant the economy during the mid- to late 1980s, unemployment and crime became rampant. São Paulo, by now the world's third-largest city after Mexico City
Mexico City
Mexico City is the Federal District , capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole...
and Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
, was hard-hit. Wealthy Brazilians retreated to suburban highly secured housing complexes such as Alphaville
Alphaville, São Paulo
Alphaville is the commercial name of a real estate and gated communities development in Brazil and Portugal, constituted by a number of business and residential condominia. The name evokes the "first among cities" concept...
, and favelas, pockets of substandard living slums that lined the periphery, had a tremendous growth. For the first time in history, Brazil experienced large segments of its population immigrating to continents such as North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
, Europe, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, and East Asia, particularly to Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
.
Geography
The state of São Paulo has an area of approximately 248,800 km² (95.700 mi²), and a population of about 40 million (21.5% of the population of Brazil), which makes it the most populous country subdivision in the Western HemisphereWestern Hemisphere
The Western Hemisphere or western hemisphere is mainly used as a geographical term for the half of the Earth that lies west of the Prime Meridian and east of the Antimeridian , the other half being called the Eastern Hemisphere.In this sense, the western hemisphere consists of the western portions...
. The climate of São Paulo is tropical to subtropical, altitude being the largest contributor to what variation there is. The capital, São Paulo City, barely outside the tropics in the south of the state and about 800 meters (2,600 ft) above sea level, has daily minima and maxima averaging about 17°C and 28°C (62°F and 82°F) respectively at the warmest time of year and about 3°C and 18°C (37°F and 64°F) respectively at the coolest time of year. Temperatures reach around 33°C (91°F) on the hottest days and fall as low as 1°C (33°F) on the coldest nights. In the low-lying northwest of the state, temperatures average around 4°C (39°F) higher.
São Paulo is the richest state in Brazil. It has the second highest per-capital income (lower than only the Federal District) and, with the states of Rio Grande do Sul
Rio Grande do Sul
Rio Grande do Sul is the southernmost state in Brazil, and the state with the fifth highest Human Development Index in the country. In this state is located the southernmost city in the country, Chuí, on the border with Uruguay. In the region of Bento Gonçalves and Caxias do Sul, the largest wine...
and Santa Catarina
Santa Catarina (state)
Santa Catarina is a state in southern Brazil with one of the highest standards of living in Latin America. Its capital is Florianópolis, which mostly lies on the Santa Catarina Island. Neighbouring states are Rio Grande do Sul to the south and Paraná to the north. It is bounded on the east by...
, the highest standard of living in Brazil, despite the poverty in some peripheral parts of the largest cities.
Major cities
| Rank | City | Population |
|---|---|---|
| Total population of São Paulo (State) | 41,253,503 | |
| 1 | São Paulo (City) São Paulo São Paulo is the largest city in Brazil, the largest city in the southern hemisphere and South America, and the world's seventh largest city by population. The metropolis is anchor to the São Paulo metropolitan area, ranked as the second-most populous metropolitan area in the Americas and among... |
11,221,979 |
| 2 | Guarulhos Guarulhos Guarulhos is the second largest city in the Brazilian state of São Paulo and a suburb of São Paulo city itself. In the last few years it has outgrown Campinas. The population in 2006 is 1,283,253, the density is 4,035.26 inh./km² and the area is 318 km²... |
1,299,283 |
| 3 | Campinas Campinas Campinas is a city and municipality located in the coastal interior of the state of São Paulo, Brazil. is the administrative center of the meso-region of the same name, with 3,783,597 inhabitants as of the 2010 Census, consisting of 49 cities.... |
1,080,113 |
| 4 | São Bernardo do Campo São Bernardo do Campo São Bernardo do Campo is a municipality in the state of São Paulo, in southern Metropolitan São Paulo and São Paulo microregion. The municipality's total area is 408.45 km ² and a population estimated at 1 July 2009, according to the IBGE, was 810,979 inhabitants, which results in a population... |
765,463 |
| 5 | Santo André | 676,407 |
| 6 | Osasco Osasco Osasco is a municipality and city in São Paulo State, Brazil, is located in the Greater São Paulo and ranking 5th in population among São Paulo municipalities. The current mayor is Emidio Pereira de Souza .... |
666,740 |
| 7 | São José dos Campos São José dos Campos São José dos Campos is a municipality and a major city in the state of São Paulo, Brazil and one of the most important industrial and research centers in Latin America. It is located in the Paraíba Valley, between the two most active production and consumption regions in the country, São Paulo ... |
629,921 |
| 8 | Ribeirão Preto Ribeirão Preto 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,... |
604,682 |
| 9 | Sorocaba Sorocaba Sorocaba is a city in the state of São Paulo, Brazil. Sorocaba is the fourth largest city in the state of São Paulo. Outside the Greater São Paulo region, it ranks behind only Campinas, Sao Jose dos Campos and Ribeirão Preto... |
586,625 |
| 10 | Santos | 419,400 |
| 11 | Mauá | 417,064 |
| 12 | São José do Rio Preto São José do Rio Preto São José do Rio Preto is a city and municipality in the state of São Paulo, Brazil. Is located at the north/northwest portion of the state, 450 km from the city of São Paulo and 700 km from Brasília.... |
408,258 |
| 13 | Mogi das Cruzes Mogi das Cruzes Mogi das Cruzes is a municipality in the state of São Paulo metropolitan region of the state capital. The population in 2010 according to the Census population is 387,241 inhabitants, resulting in a population density of 533.90 inhabitants per km ².... |
387,779 |
| 14 | Diadema Diadema, São Paulo Diadema is a city in São Paulo state, Brazil. The distance from the capital is 17 km . The city has an area of 30.65 square kilometres and a population of 357,064, and is accessed by a transit called EMTU .- History :Since its beginning, Diadema occupation process had one fundamental... |
386,089 |
| 15 | Jundiaí Jundiaí Jundiaí is a city and municipality in the state of São Paulo, Brazil. The population in 2009 was 349,929, and the area is 433.958 km². The elevation is 761 m. Distance is 60 km north of the city of São Paulo.- History and Geography :... |
370,126 |
| 16 | Carapicuíba | 369,584 |
| 17 | Piracicaba Piracicaba Piracicaba is a city located in the Brazilian state of São Paulo. The population in 2009 was 368,843 in an area of 1,369.511 km², at an elevation of 547 m above sea level.-Name:... |
364,571 |
| 18 | Bauru Bauru Bauru is a Brazilian city and municipality in midwestern region of the state of São Paulo. It is also the capital of the micro-region of Bauru... |
343,937 |
| 19 | São Vicente São Vicente, São Paulo São Vicente is a coastal city of southern São Paulo, Brazil. Its estimated population in 2006 was 329,370 inhabitants.It was the first Portuguese permanent settlement in the Americas and the first capital of the Captaincy of São Vicente, now the state of São Paulo... |
332,445 |
| 20 | Itaquaquecetuba Itaquaquecetuba Itaquaquecetuba is a municipality in the state of São Paulo, in Brazil. The estimated population in 2006 is 352,755, the density is 4,313.46/km² and the area is 82 km². The elevation is 790 m... |
321,770 |
Demographics
IBGE
The Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics or IBGE , is the agency responsible for statistical, geographic, cartographic, geodetic and environmental information in Brazil...
of 2008, there were 41,779,000 people residing in the state. The population density was 160.5 PD/km2.
Urbanization
Urbanization
Urbanization, urbanisation or urban drift is the physical growth of urban areas as a result of global change. The United Nations projected that half of the world's population would live in urban areas at the end of 2008....
: 94.6% (2006); 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....
: 1.8% (1991–2000); House
House
A house is a building or structure that has the ability to be occupied for dwelling by human beings or other creatures. The term house includes many kinds of different dwellings ranging from rudimentary huts of nomadic tribes to free standing individual structures...
s: 12,610,000 (2006).
The last PNAD (National Research for Sample of Domiciles) census revealed the following numbers: 29,245,300 White
White Brazilian
White Brazilians make up 48.4% of Brazil's population, or around 92 million people, according to the IBGE's 2008 PNAD . Whites are present in the entire territory of Brazil, although the main concentrations are found in the South and Southeastern parts of the country...
people (70.0%), 10,026,000 Brown (Multiracial) people (24.0%), 1,671,000 Black
Afro-Brazilian
In Brazil, the term "preto" is one of the five categories used by the Brazilian Census, along with "branco" , "pardo" , "amarelo" and "indígena"...
people (4.0%), 584,000 Asian
Asian Brazilian
An Asian Brazilian is is a Brazilian citizen of full or partial Asian ancestry, who remains culturally connected to Asia, or an Asian-born person permanently residing in Brazil. Brazil received many immigrants from Asia, both from Middle East and East Asia...
people (1.
8%), 83,000 Amerindian
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...
people (0.2%).
People of Italian
Italian Brazilian
-Italian immigration to Brazil:The Italian government claims there are 25 million Brazilians of Italian descent, which would be the largest population of Italian background outside of Italy itself. There are no actual surveys, or even verifiable calculations supporting such claims. According to...
descent predominate in many towns, including the capital city and the northeast part of the state, which is 65% Italian.
Portuguese and Spanish
Spanish immigration to Brazil
Spanish emigration peaked in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and it was concentrated to Argentina and Cuba. Between 1882 and 1930, 3,297,312 Spaniards emigrated, of whom 1,594,622 went to Argentina and 1,118,960 went to Cuba...
descendants are present in most towns. Those of African
Afro-Brazilian
In Brazil, the term "preto" is one of the five categories used by the Brazilian Census, along with "branco" , "pardo" , "amarelo" and "indígena"...
ancestry or of Brown
Pardo
In Brazil, Pardo is a race/colour category used by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics in Brazilian censuses. It is a Portuguese word that encompasses various shades of brown, but is usually translated as "grayish-brown"...
background are relatively numerous.
São Paulo is home to the largest Asian
Asian Brazilian
An Asian Brazilian is is a Brazilian citizen of full or partial Asian ancestry, who remains culturally connected to Asia, or an Asian-born person permanently residing in Brazil. Brazil received many immigrants from Asia, both from Middle East and East Asia...
population in Brazil, as well to the largest Japanese community outside of Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
itself. There are many people of Levant
Levant
The Levant or ) is the geographic region and culture zone of the "eastern Mediterranean littoral between Anatolia and Egypt" . The Levant includes most of modern Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Israel, the Palestinian territories, and sometimes parts of Turkey and Iraq, and corresponds roughly to the...
ine descent, mostly Syrian and Lebanese people
Lebanese people
The Lebanese people are a nation and ethnic group of Levantine people originating in what is today the country of Lebanon, including those who had inhabited Mount Lebanon prior to the creation of the modern Lebanese state....
.
The majority of Brazilian Jews live in the state, especially in the capital city but there are also communities in Greater São Paulo
Greater São Paulo
The Greater São Paulo is a nonspecific term for one of the multiple definitions the large metropolitan area located in the São Paulo state in Brazil.-Definitions:-Metropolitan Area:...
, 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...
, Guarujá
Guarujá
Guarujá is a municipality in the São Paulo state of Brazil. The population in 2006 was 305,171, the population density is 1,969.47/km² and the area is 143 km². This place name comes from the Tupi language, and mean "narrow path". The population is highly urbanized.-Geography:Guarujá is...
, Campinas
Campinas
Campinas is a city and municipality located in the coastal interior of the state of São Paulo, Brazil. is the administrative center of the meso-region of the same name, with 3,783,597 inhabitants as of the 2010 Census, consisting of 49 cities....
, Valinhos
Valinhos
Valinhos is a city and municipality in the state of São Paulo, Brazil. It is the birthplace of Adoniran Barbosa. Valinhos is famous for its purple fig, the theme of its annual Fig Fest. It is geographically close to Campinas. The city's estimated population in 2009 was107,481. Its area is...
, Vinhedo
Vinhedo
Vinhedo is a municipality in the state of São Paulo in Brazil. The population in 2004 was 54,194 and its area is 81.956 km². The elevation is 725 m. It was founded in 1949....
, São José dos Campos
São José dos Campos
São José dos Campos is a municipality and a major city in the state of São Paulo, Brazil and one of the most important industrial and research centers in Latin America. It is located in the Paraíba Valley, between the two most active production and consumption regions in the country, São Paulo ...
, Ribeirão Preto
Ribeirão Preto
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,...
, Sorocaba
Sorocaba
Sorocaba is a city in the state of São Paulo, Brazil. Sorocaba is the fourth largest city in the state of São Paulo. Outside the Greater São Paulo region, it ranks behind only Campinas, Sao Jose dos Campos and Ribeirão Preto...
, Itu
Itu
Itu is an old and historic municipality in the state of São Paulo in Brazil. The population in 2009 was 157,384 and the area is 641.68 km². The elevation is 583 m. This place name comes from the Tupi language, meaning big waterfall. Itu is linked with the highway numbered the SP-75 and are flowed...
.
According to an autosomal DNA genetic study (from 2006), European genes account for 79% of the heritage of the people of São Paulo, 14% are of African origin, and 7% Native American.
In support of the conclusion of that study, another autosomal DNA genetic study (from 2010) also found out that European ancestry predominates in the São Paulo population as a whole ("whites", "pardos" and "blacks" altogether). European ancestry is dominant throughout Brazil at 80% (São Paulo is a Southeastern state), except for the Southern part of Brazil, where the European heritage reaches 90%. "A new portrayal of each ethnicity contribution to the DNA of Brazilians, obtained with samples from the five regions of the country, has indicated that, on average, European ancestors are responsible for nearly 80% of the genetic heritage of the population. The variation between the regions is small, with the possible exception of the South, where the European contribution reaches nearly 90%. The results, published by the scientific magazine 'American Journal of Human Biology' by a team of the Catholic University of Brasília, show that, in Brazil, physical indicators such as skin colour, colour of the eyes and colour of the hair have little to do with the genetic ancestry of each person, which has been shown in previous studies"(regardless of census classification)
Economy
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...
represents 6.5% of GDP (2004). São Paulo (state) exports: vehicles 17.2%, airplanes and helicopter
Helicopter
A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by one or more engine-driven rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forwards, backwards, and laterally...
s 11.6%, food industry
Food industry
The food production is a complex, global collective of diverse businesses that together supply much of the food energy consumed by the world population...
10%, 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 fuel
Alcohol fuel
Although fossil fuels have become the dominant energy resource for the modern world, alcohol has been used as a fuel throughout history. The first four aliphatic alcohols are of interest as fuels because they can be synthesized chemically or biologically, and they have characteristics which allow...
7.8%, 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...
5.2%, telecommunication
Telecommunication
Telecommunication is the transmission of information over significant distances to communicate. In earlier times, telecommunications involved the use of visual signals, such as beacons, smoke signals, semaphore telegraphs, signal flags, and optical heliographs, or audio messages via coded...
s 4.1% (2002).
Share of the Brazilian economy: 33.9% (2005).
São Paulo state is responsible for approximately half of Brazilian GDP (Someone please explain how this figure differ from the share of the economy). The state's GDP (PPP) consists of 550 billion dollars, making it also the biggest economy of 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...
and one of the biggest economies in Latin America
Latin America
Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...
, second after Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
. Its economy is based on machinery, the automobile
Automobile
An automobile, autocar, motor car or car is a wheeled motor vehicle used for transporting passengers, which also carries its own engine or motor...
and aviation
Aviation
Aviation is the design, development, production, operation, and use of aircraft, especially heavier-than-air aircraft. Aviation is derived from avis, the Latin word for bird.-History:...
industries, services, financial companies, commerce, textile
Textile
A textile or cloth is a flexible woven material consisting of a network of natural or artificial fibres often referred to as thread or yarn. Yarn is produced by spinning raw fibres of wool, flax, cotton, or other material to produce long strands...
s, orange growing, sugar cane and 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,...
production.
Wealth is unequally distributed in the state, however. The richest municipalities are centered around Greater São Paulo
Greater São Paulo
The Greater São Paulo is a nonspecific term for one of the multiple definitions the large metropolitan area located in the São Paulo state in Brazil.-Definitions:-Metropolitan Area:...
(such as Campinas
Campinas
Campinas is a city and municipality located in the coastal interior of the state of São Paulo, Brazil. is the administrative center of the meso-region of the same name, with 3,783,597 inhabitants as of the 2010 Census, consisting of 49 cities....
, Jundiaí
Jundiaí
Jundiaí is a city and municipality in the state of São Paulo, Brazil. The population in 2009 was 349,929, and the area is 433.958 km². The elevation is 761 m. Distance is 60 km north of the city of São Paulo.- History and Geography :...
, Paulínia
Paulínia
Paulínia is a municipality in the state of São Paulo in Brazil. As of 2009, its population was 84.577 inhabitants in an area of 145.27 km². The elevation is 590 m...
, Americana
Americana, São Paulo
Americana is a municipality located in the Brazilian state of São Paulo. As of 2006, its population was 203,845.The original settlement developed around the local railway station, founded in 1875, and the development of a cotton weaving factory in a nearby farm.After 1866, several Confederate...
, Indaiatuba
Indaiatuba
Indaiatuba is a municipality in the state of São Paulo in Brazil. The population in 2006 is 181,124 and has an area is 311.34 km². The elevation is 624 m. The city's name comes from the Tupi language. One of the most important city of the area....
, São José dos Campos
São José dos Campos
São José dos Campos is a municipality and a major city in the state of São Paulo, Brazil and one of the most important industrial and research centers in Latin America. It is located in the Paraíba Valley, between the two most active production and consumption regions in the country, São Paulo ...
, 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...
, etc.), as well as a few other more distant nuclei, such as around São Carlos
São Carlos
São Carlos is a city of 221,950 inhabitants in the state of São Paulo, Brazil. It is located at , at about 231 km from the city of São Paulo.-History:...
, Jaú
Jaú
Jaú is a municipality in the center of the state of São Paulo, in Brazil. The population in 2008 was 133,333 and the area is 690.18 km². The elevation is 522 m...
, Ribeirão Preto
Ribeirão Preto
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,...
and São José do Rio Preto
São José do Rio Preto
São José do Rio Preto is a city and municipality in the state of São Paulo, Brazil. Is located at the north/northwest portion of the state, 450 km from the city of São Paulo and 700 km from Brasília....
.
São Paulo
São Paulo
São Paulo is the largest city in Brazil, the largest city in the southern hemisphere and South America, and the world's seventh largest city by population. The metropolis is anchor to the São Paulo metropolitan area, ranked as the second-most populous metropolitan area in the Americas and among...
, one of the largest economic
Economics
Economics is the social science that analyzes the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. The term economics comes from the Ancient Greek from + , hence "rules of the house"...
poles in Latin
Latin America
Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...
/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...
, has a diversified economy. Some of the largest industries are metal-mechanics
Mechanical
Mechanical may refer to:* Mechanical engineering, a branch of engineering concerned with the application of physical mechanics* HVAC , the mechanical systems of a building...
, sugarcane, textile
Textile
A textile or cloth is a flexible woven material consisting of a network of natural or artificial fibres often referred to as thread or yarn. Yarn is produced by spinning raw fibres of wool, flax, cotton, or other material to produce long strands...
and car
Automobile
An automobile, autocar, motor car or car is a wheeled motor vehicle used for transporting passengers, which also carries its own engine or motor...
and aviation
Aviation
Aviation is the design, development, production, operation, and use of aircraft, especially heavier-than-air aircraft. Aviation is derived from avis, the Latin word for bird.-History:...
manufacturing. Service and financial sectors, as well as the cultivation of oranges
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....
, cane sugar and coffee
Coffea
Coffea is a genus of flowering plants in the Rubiaceae family. They are shrubs or small trees native to tropical and southern Africa and tropical Asia. Seeds of several species are the source of the popular beverage coffee. Coffee ranks as one of the world's most valuable and widely traded...
form the basis of an economy which accounts for 33.9% of Brazil's GDP
Gross domestic product
Gross domestic product refers to the market value of all final goods and services produced within a country in a given period. GDP per capita is often considered an indicator of a country's standard of living....
(equivalent to $727.053 billion).
Statistics
Vehicles: 19.945.140 (October/2009);Mobile phone
Mobile phone
A mobile phone is a device which can make and receive telephone calls over a radio link whilst moving around a wide geographic area. It does so by connecting to a cellular network provided by a mobile network operator...
s: 25 million (April/2007); Telephone
Telephone
The telephone , colloquially referred to as a phone, is a telecommunications device that transmits and receives sounds, usually the human voice. Telephones are a point-to-point communication system whose most basic function is to allow two people separated by large distances to talk to each other...
s: 13,8 million (April/2007); Cities: 645 (2007).
Crime
São Paulo state's attack on its crime rate has seen numbers steadily fall from the 1990s. São Paulo's annual security budget of about $4.8 billion currently dwarfs the less than $250 million in similar funds the government hands to all 26 states each year. However, according to data published on February 2, 2010 in the Official São Paulo State Press São Paulo's robbery rate per 100,000 population is 576.9 during the fourth trimester period of 2009. This is about 6 times higher than Canada's robbery rate during the entire 2008 (96.9). São Paulo Civil Police declared 2601 homicides during the fourth trimester of 2009 (including those deaths resulting from police action), while Canada reported 600 homicides for entire 2008.Education
Educational institutions
- Instituto de Pesquisas Energéticas e Nucleares (IPEN) (Nuclear and Energetic Research Institute);
- Instituto Tecnológico de AeronáuticaAeronautics Technological InstituteThe Instituto Tecnológico de Aeronáutica or Aeronautical Institute of Technology is an institution of higher education and advanced research with emphasis in aerospace science and technology maintained by the Brazilian Federal Government with the support of the Brazilian Air Force. It is located...
(ITA) (Aeronautics Technological Institute); - Universidade de São Paulo (USP) (University of São Paulo);
- Universidade Federal de São Paulo (Unifesp) (Federal University of São Paulo);
- Universidade Estadual Paulista (Unesp) (Paulista State University);
- Universidade Estadual de CampinasUniversidade Estadual de CampinasUniversidade Estadual de Campinas is one of the three public universities of the Brazilian state of São Paulo, along both USP and UNESP....
(Unicamp) (State University of Campinas); - Universidade Federal de São Carlos (UFSCar) (Federal University of São Carlos);
- Instituto Mauá de Tecnologia (Mauá) (Mauá Institute of Technology);
- Pontifícia Universidade Católica de São Paulo (PUC-SP) (Pontifical Catholic University of São Paulo);
- Universidade Cruzeiro do Sul (Unicsul) (University of São Paulo);
- Universidade Presbiteriana Mackenzie (Mackenzie) (Mackenzie Presbyterian University);
- Fundação Getulio VargasFundação Getúlio VargasFundação 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...
(FGV) (Getúlio Vargas Foundation); - Pontifícia Universidade Católica de Campinas (PUCCAMP);
- Universidade de TaubatéUniversidade de TaubatéThe University of Taubaté is a public university in Taubaté, São Paulo state, Brazil.-External links:*...
(Unitau) (University of Taubaté); - Universidade Federal do ABCUniversidade Federal do ABCUniversidade Federal do ABC is a Brazilian institution of higher learning based in Santo André, with operations scheduled for several municipalities in the ABC region, all in the state of São Paulo....
(UFABC) (Federal University of ABC); - Universidade Metodista de São PauloUniversidade Metodista de São PauloThe Universidade Metodista de São Paulo or Umesp is a private university based primarily in the city of São Bernardo do Campo, in the São Paulo state of Brazil....
(Umesp) (Methodist University of São Paulo); - Universidade Metodista de Piracicaba (Unimep) (Methodist University of Piracicaba);
- Universidade Paulista (Unip) (Paulista University);
- Universidade de Santo Amaro (Unisa) (University of Santo Amaro)
- Universidade de Sorocaba (Uniso) (University of Sorocaba)
- Faculdade de Direito de Sorocaba (FADI) (Sorocaba's Law School)
- Faculdades Integradas Rio BrancoFaculdades Integradas Rio BrancoThe Faculdades Integradas Rio Branco, is a Brazilian private institution of higher education, nestled at São Paulo's neighborhood of Lapa, it's appeared as an initiative from the Fundação de Rotarianos de São Paulo - a non-profitable entity that promotes the sponsoring of education, created in 1946...
(FRB) (Fauldades Integradas Rio Branco) - Universidade de Mogi das Cruzes (UMC) (University of Mogi das Cruzes)
Culture
São Paulo state is a cosmopolitan region, due to its history as a land influenced by the encounter of different traditions, beginning with the Tupi-Guarani native American nation and others, the intrusion of Iberian and other European elements and the traffic of enslaved Africans. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, European, Asian, and Middle-Eastern immigrants also made their way there. Earlier, the land had been the starting point of the bandeirantes
Bandeirantes
The bandeirantes were composed of Indians , caboclos , and some whites who were the captains of the Bandeiras. Members of the 16th–18th century South American slave-hunting expeditions called bandeiras...
expeditions, which sought to enslave the Natives of the hinterlands and explore their mineral wealth. Hence, São Paulo influenced most of Western Brazil, as well as the states of Minas Gerais
Minas Gerais
Minas Gerais is one of the 26 states of Brazil, of which it is the second most populous, the third richest, and the fourth largest in area. Minas Gerais is the Brazilian state with the largest number of Presidents of Brazil, the current one, Dilma Rousseff, being one of them. The capital is the...
, its neighbor North of it, and Paraná
Paraná (state)
Paraná is one of the states of Brazil, located in the South of the country, bordered on the north by São Paulo state, on the east by the Atlantic Ocean, on the south by Santa Catarina state and the Misiones Province of Argentina, and on the west by Mato Grosso do Sul and the republic of Paraguay,...
, which was originally part of the old São Paulo province. A very distinctive character in the culture of São Paulo state is the
Caipira
Caipira
Caipira is a Brazilian Portuguese term used to designate inhabitants of rural, remote areas of some Brazilian states—it refers to the people of lesser schooling. It can be considered pejorative when used to describe others, but it can also be used as a self-identifier without negative connotations...
tradition, a mixture of African-Luso-Native-Brazilian and immigrant elements, mainly Southern Italian, which influenced its dialect, somewhat different from the Portuguese spoken in São Paulo city, although the latter is also heavily Italianized. The caipira culture is strong in countryside cities, although centers like Piracicaba, São Carlos, Sao José do Rio Preto, Araraquara, Ribeirão Preto, Barretos, Campinas, Marilia, Assis, Presidente Prudente, Jaú and Bauru also have a strong American pronunciation of their r's and unusual usage of words. It seems that the influence is actually from the Calabrian or Sicilian Italian dialect though, and many of the words peculiar to the region are actually archaic Portuguese forms. Native languages might also have stressed the more nasal sounds of words ending in /m/ or /n/, which is also a feature of other dialects in Brazil.
The Caipira food is known for being tasty and abundant. It expresses itself through fried or barbecued beef steaks, fried eggs, couve (collard green), taioba, or cabage, manioc or corn flour farofa or stuffing, frango Caipira (fresh baked or pan-seared farm non frozen chicken) or frango a Passarinho (fried small chicken pieces), fried breaded sardine or fish fillet, pork chops or whole baked pork with plenty of smooth ot Boston type lettuce or thinly tossed cabbage, and tomato, seasoned with garlic, lemon, and onions salty juice. Bean stew with carne seca or dried charque beef, toicinho or bacon, white rice are always the staple, but macarronada, or spaghetti are always present on Sunday luncheons and fried sausages can be a daily menu. Mildly spiced legumes, such as zuchini and other types of squash are often prepared as a stew with or without meat, and sometimes with quiabo (ocra) and abobora or butternut squash are a favorite dessert, as are sweetened sidra, canjica (white corn kernels cooked in milk, coconut, and condensed milk and peanut bits). Pudim de leite, or milk custard, pave' (mounted cookies in rich condensed and heavy cream sauce) and manjar (white flan) are other mouth-watering treats. If none of these desserts are present, countryside meals will rarely leave out citrics such as oranges and mexericas, bananas, caquis or abacaxi (pineapple). Home-made loaves or regular bakery fresh rolls with butter or corn meal or orange cakes are served with coffee and milk or mate tea in the afternoon before dinner or before bed. Pastries like chicken coxinha fried dumplings and risolis, and the Mediterranean or Syrian-Lebanese kibe and open sfihas are often served in birthday and wedding parties followed by a glazed cake, guarana' and other sodas, champagne, caipirinha sugar-cane liquor or beer. Chopp or draft beer is a must in weddings celebrations.
Another distinctive character in the state of São Paulo is the so-called "Brazilian erudite culture." São Paulo was the home of the Brazilian Week of Modern Art
Week of Modern Art
The Modern Art Week was an arts festival in São Paulo, Brazil, that ran from February 11 to February 18, 1922...
(Semana da Arte Moderna), organized mostly by poets and artists from São Paulo, like Mário de Andrade
Mário de Andrade
Mário Raul de Morais Andrade was a Brazilian poet, novelist, musicologist, art historian and critic, and photographer. One of the founders of Brazilian modernism, he virtually created modern Brazilian poetry with the publication of his Paulicéia Desvairada in 1922...
, Oswald de Andrade
Oswald de Andrade
José Oswald de Andrade Souza was a Brazilian poet and polemicist. He was born and spent most of his life in São Paulo....
, Menotti del Picchia
Menotti Del Picchia
Paulo Menotti Del Picchia was a Brazilian poet, journalist, and painter. He is associated with the Generation of 1922, the first generation of Brazilian modernists....
and Anita Malfatti
Anita Malfatti
Anita Catarina Malfatti is heralded as the first Brazilian artist to introduce European and American forms of Modernism to Brazil...
, Victor Brecheret
Victor Brecheret
Victor Brecheret was an Italian-Brazilian sculptor. He lived most of his life in São Paulo, except for his studies in Paris in his early twenties...
and Lasar Segall
Lasar Segall
The artist Lasar Segall was a Brazilian Jewish painter, engraver and sculptor born in Lithuania. Segall's work is derived from impressionism, expressionism and modernism...
. São Paulo was also the birthplace of Brazilian classical composers, like Carlos Gomes (the most famous Brazilian opera composer), Elias Álvares Lobo
Elias Álvares Lobo
Elias Álvares Lobo was a Brazilian composer.Lobo was born at Itu. He wrote the first Brazilian opera in the Portuguese language, A Noite de São João . -References:...
and Camargo Guarnieri
Camargo Guarnieri
Mozart Camargo Guarnieri was a Brazilian composer.-Name:He was registered at birth as Mozart Guarnieri, but when he began a musical career, he decided his first name was too pretentious and subject to puns. Thus he adopted his mother's maiden name Camargo as a middle name, and thenceforth signed...
. OSESP, the São Paulo state orchestra is known internationally and it has had both national and international directors. São Paulo has some of the most impressive museums in the country, such as the Museu Paulista do Ipiranga, which honors the site of the independence of Brazil and has numerous Native American artifacts, funeral urns and other historic objects, besides the monument resting place of Brazil's first emperor and his wife. The Museu de Arte de São Paulo or MASP on Avenida Paulista is the most important Latin American collection of European paintings, and the Pinacoteca do Estado on Avenida Tiradentes exhibits paintings and sculptures. The Museu de Arte Sacra in the same avenue features national Barroc art and an Italian nativity scene, besides having in the chapel next door, the tomb of Frei Galvão, the first Brazilian saint. Across from Pinacoteca is the Luz station built in Britain and assembled in Brazil with the innovating Museu da Língua Portuguesa, the first interactive language museum in the world. Ibirapuera park features Museu do Presepio or Creche museum, AfroBrasil, the African-Brazilian museum, Bienal book and art fair site conducted every two years. The city of São Carlos in the center of the state has the Museu do Avião, an open airplane museum, and Campinas, Ribeirão Preto, Bauru, Sao José do Rio Preto, Piracicaba, Jaú, Marilia, Botucatu, Assis, and Ourinhos are important university, engineering, agricultural, zootechnique, technology, or health sciences centers. The Instituto Butantan in São Paulo is a serpentary that collects snakes and other poisonous animals, as it produces venom antidotes. The Instituto Pasteur produces vaccines. The state is also at the vanguard of ethanol production, soybeans, airplanes in São José dos Campos, and its rivers have been important in generating electricity through its hydrelectric plants. Moreover, São Paulo is one of the world's most important beans, rice, wheat, orange and other fruit, coffee, sugar cane, alcohol, flowers and vegetables, corn, cattle, swine, milk, cheese, wine, and oil producers. Textile and manufacturing centers such as Rua José Paulino and 25 de Marco in São Paulo city is a magnet for retail shopping and shipping that attracts customers from the whole country and as far as Cape Verde and Angola in Africa. The most important heart and cancer treatment centers in Brazil and Latin America are also in São Paulo state and city.
Tourism
A significant portion of the state economy is tourism. Besides being a financial center the state also offers a huge variety of tourist destinations:Capital: The capital city is the center of business tourism in Brazil, which gives the city about 45 000 events per year.São Paul also has the largest hotel network in Brazil. For real estate speculation in the mid-1990s, today there is excess supply in the number of vacancies. The city also has demand in gastronomic tourism, after receiving the title of world capital of gastronomy. Cultural tourism is also highlighted given the amount of museums, theaters and events like the Biennale and the Biennale of Arts of the Book.
Coast: The coast of São Paulo has 622 km of beaches of all kinds and sizes. Among the cities that receive the most tourists in the summer are Santos, Praia Grande, Ubatuba, Sao Sebastiao, among others.
Interior: The interior is possible to find resorts, rural tourism, eco-municipalities with European climate, waterfalls, caves, rivers, mountains, spas, parks, historical buildings from the XVI, XVII and XVIII, and Jesuit church architecture archaeological sites such as the Tourist State Park of Alto Ribeira (PETAR). Those looking for entertainment more intense can browse the Hopi Hari, a major theme parks in the country, in the Metropolitan Region of Campinas. In terms of ecotourism, and Sprout Juquitiba has the best infrastructure. In winter, the city of Campos do Jordao emerges as the main tourist reference state, with the Winter Festival and several other attractions in an environment where the temperature can reach negative marks.
Major Airports
- São PauloSão PauloSão Paulo is the largest city in Brazil, the largest city in the southern hemisphere and South America, and the world's seventh largest city by population. The metropolis is anchor to the São Paulo metropolitan area, ranked as the second-most populous metropolitan area in the Americas and among...
- Every day nearly 100,000 people pass through São Paulo-Guarulhos International Airport , which connects BrazilBrazilBrazil , 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...
to 28 countries. There are 370 companies established there, generating 53 thousand jobs. The airport's 2 terminals are designed to handle 16 million passengers a year, but the airport currently handles 27 million users. Construction of a third passenger terminal, which would raise yearly capacity to 29 million passengers, is pending. The project, in the tendering phase, is part of the airport’s master expansion plan. São Paulo International Airport is also one of the main air cargo hubs in Brazil. The roughly 100 cargo flights a day carry everything from fruits grown in the São Francisco Valley to medications. The airportAirportAn airport is a location where aircraft such as fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters, and blimps take off and land. Aircraft may be stored or maintained at an airport...
's cargo terminal is South AmericaSouth AmericaSouth 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...
’s largest and stands behind only Mexico CityMexico CityMexico City is the Federal District , capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole...
’s in all of Latin AmericaLatin AmericaLatin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...
. In 2003, over 75 thousand metric tons of freight passed through the container terminal. - Congonhas-São Paulo Airport or just Congonhas Airport is one of São PauloSão PauloSão Paulo is the largest city in Brazil, the largest city in the southern hemisphere and South America, and the world's seventh largest city by population. The metropolis is anchor to the São Paulo metropolitan area, ranked as the second-most populous metropolitan area in the Americas and among...
's three commercial airports, situated 8 kilometreKilometreThe kilometre is a unit of length in the metric system, equal to one thousand metres and is therefore exactly equal to the distance travelled by light in free space in of a second...
s (5 mileMileA mile is a unit of length, most commonly 5,280 feet . The mile of 5,280 feet is sometimes called the statute mile or land mile to distinguish it from the nautical mile...
s) from the city downtown at Washington LuísWashington Luís Pereira de SousaWashington Luís Pereira de Sousa was a Brazilian politician. His family was of Portuguese Romani descent. He was born in Macaé, Rio de Janeiro, and moved to São Paulo, where he became a lawyer. Elected governor of São Paulo state in 1920 and president of Brazil in 1926, Washington Luís was the...
Avenue, in the Campo Belo district. It is owned by the City of São Paulo and managed by InfraeroInfraeroEmpresa Brasileira de Infraestrutura Aeroportuária, Infraero in short, is a Brazilian government corporation created in 1972 and responsible for operating the main Brazilian commercial airports. In 2009, Infraero's airports carried 128,135,616 passengers and 1,114,754 tons of cargo and operated...
. In 2007, it was the busiest airport in BrazilBrazilBrazil , 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...
in terms of aircraft movements and the second busiest in terms of passengers, handling 205,130 aircraft movements and 15,244,401 passengers.
- Every day nearly 100,000 people pass through São Paulo-Guarulhos International Airport , which connects Brazil
- CampinasCampinasCampinas is a city and municipality located in the coastal interior of the state of São Paulo, Brazil. is the administrative center of the meso-region of the same name, with 3,783,597 inhabitants as of the 2010 Census, consisting of 49 cities....
- Located 14 kilometers from downtown Campinas and 99 kilometers from the city of São Paulo, Viracopos-Campinas International Airport can be reached by three highways: Santos Dumont, Bandeirantes and Anhanguera. The city of CampinasCampinasCampinas is a city and municipality located in the coastal interior of the state of São Paulo, Brazil. is the administrative center of the meso-region of the same name, with 3,783,597 inhabitants as of the 2010 Census, consisting of 49 cities....
is one of BrazilBrazilBrazil , 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...
's leaders in technologyTechnologyTechnology is the making, usage, and knowledge of tools, machines, techniques, crafts, systems or methods of organization in order to solve a problem or perform a specific function. It can also refer to the collection of such tools, machinery, and procedures. The word technology comes ;...
. Besides excellent highway connections, it is the location of major universities and many high-tech companies. Because of this, the airport is one of Infraero’s highest investment priorities. The old “landing field” as it was called has become one of the main connection points in Latin AmericaLatin AmericaLatin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...
. The air cargo import/export terminal has an area of over 81 thousand square meters. The airport began to concentrate in the international air cargo sector in the 1990s and today this is the airports leading source of revenue. Since 1995, InfraeroInfraeroEmpresa Brasileira de Infraestrutura Aeroportuária, Infraero in short, is a Brazilian government corporation created in 1972 and responsible for operating the main Brazilian commercial airports. In 2009, Infraero's airports carried 128,135,616 passengers and 1,114,754 tons of cargo and operated...
has been investing to implement the first phase of the airport's master plan, making major improvements to the cargo and passenger terminals. The second phase of the passenger terminal expansion project will be ready in early 2005. The first phase was completed in the first half of 2004, when the airportAirportAn airport is a location where aircraft such as fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters, and blimps take off and land. Aircraft may be stored or maintained at an airport...
received new departure and arrival lounges, public areas and commercial concessions.
- Located 14 kilometers from downtown Campinas and 99 kilometers from the city of São Paulo, Viracopos-Campinas International Airport can be reached by three highways: Santos Dumont, Bandeirantes and Anhanguera. The city of Campinas
Metro
The first of such systems in BrazilBrazil
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 began operations in 1974. It consists of four color-coded lines: Line 1-Blue, Line 2-Green, Line 3-Red and Line 5-Lilac; Line 4-Yellow started to work in May 2010, and will be completed in 2012. The metro system carries 2.8 million passengers a day. Metro itself is far from covering the entire urban area in the city of São Paulo. Another company, Companhia Paulista de Trens Metropolitanos
Companhia Paulista de Trens Metropolitanos
Companhia Paulista de Trens Metropolitanos is a commuter rail company owned by the São Paulo State Secretariat for Metropolitan Transports. It was created in 1992 from several railroads that already existed in Greater São Paulo, Brazil....
(CPTM), works along the metro system and runs railways converted into light rail service lines, which total six lines (7, 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12), 261 km long, serving 89 stations. Metro and CPTM are integrated through various stations. Metro and CPTM both operate as State-owned companies, and have received awards in the recent past as one of the cleanest systems in the world by ISO9001. The São Paulo metro transports three million people by day.
For Line 3-Red, as in the case of Line 1-Blue, a very bold political interference in relation to urban was approved. Construction works related to urban planning measures were taken at the Cathedral Square and the Republic, in broad Memory of Arouche and Santa Cecilia, in the central region of the city, beyond the implementation of a major Intermodal Passenger Terminal and construction of the Memorial of Latin America, in the western area of town. During the design of Line 3-Red, we sought to achieve effective integration between the internal spaces of the metro and the urban area through the use of large openings that allow penetration of air and natural light from the surface to the lower levels stations.
By adopting this concept, the architectural design of Line 3-Red helped to reduce the number of ventilation towers and equipment for electro-mechanical ventilation, which was widely applied in 1-Line Blue. Thus, simpler and more economical solutions were implemented and areas with better environmental quality and comfort were created. The basic feature of the concept of architecture adopted for the projects of the surface stations of Line 3-Red is the innovation of coating materials used. It consists of tiles of metal lattice, which allowed coverage of large distances, significantly reducing costs and conditions of the construction works.
The application of color on the roof of metal latticework, and on the front roof resulted in a strong element of identification for the stations, turning them into major landmarks in the urban landscape. The implementation of multimodal terminals, such as the Intermodal Terminal Palmeiras-Barra Funda, where the commuter trains as well as the municipal bus lines, intercity and interstate connect with the metro network, thus consolidating its role in structuring the transportation of different way. This deployment also considered the policy of decentralization to the terminal road, initiated by the city of Sao Paulo in 1977.
The 5th International Biennial of Architecture of Buenos Aires, received the architects of the Metro with the "Premio del Jurado Special" to the set of architectural plans by the Company of Metropolitan Trains. Of all the projects of Line 3-Red were awarded as follows: Station Barrafunda (arqui. Robert MacFadden); Station Marshal Deodoro (arqui. Robert MacFadden); Station Cathedral (arqui. John Paul and Robert MacFadden); Station Pedro II ( arch. Meire Gonçalves Selli); Station Artur Alvim (arqui. Katumi Sawada) and Station Corinthians-Itaquera (arch Meire Gonçalves Selli and Renato Viégas). The design of the Trianon-MASP-2 Green Line Architects Robert Mac Fadden, Renato Viégas and Hote Eduardo Parada Inglesa Station of Line 1-Blue's arch. Francisco Hideu Nunomura Station and the future Incor Line 4-Yellow, by the arch. Nery Filho Alfredo was also awarded.
Converting lines for metropolitan subway surface
The project of converting lines to metro area came up with the great demand of passengers using the lines of metropolitan Sao Paulo Metropolitan Train Company and the need to recover the old stations. Currently, the interval between trains is six minutes during peak hours in lines 9, 11 and 12, and seven minutes in rows 7:10 and ten to twelve minutes on weekends. In the operational extensions of the lines 7:08 interval ranges from 22 to 30 minutes, and there are still stations built in the 19th century that were never modernized. With the dire need to recover stations is discovered the conversion plan, which is nothing but the modernization of stations, purchase of new trains and reduction in headway (interval between trains) to less than three minutes, according to international standards.Between the late 1990s and early 2000s, this project of re-skilling the lines of the CPTM, inherited from the Federal Railways and Fepasa, began converting some lines for metropolitan subway Surface. This experiment began on Line 11 in its passage known as "East Express", which serves the East Zone and runs parallel to Line 3 – Red. The section completed (within the capital, until the station Guaianases) now has stations and trains new and modern, plus a new track. The stretch between the station Guaianases in the capital, and Students in Mogi das Cruzes, which also covers the towns of Ferraz de Vasconcelos, Suzano and Poá had forecast a resumption of construction in 2007, but was again postponed, this time to 2008.
Aiming to facilitate the location of stops along the rows, the São Paulo Metro and CPTM have adopted numbers to identify the lines. This change was implemented in early 2008.
Highways
- Rodoanel Mario CovasRodoanel Mário CovasRodoanel Mário Covas is the planned Greater São Paulo Beltway, around the largest megalopolis of Brazil. Upon its completion, it will have a length of , with a radius of approximately from the geographical center of the city...
(SP021) - Rodovia Raposo TavaresRodovia Raposo TavaresRodovia Raposo Tavares is the longest highway in the state of São Paulo, Brazil, with 664 km.The highway starts in the city of São Paulo and continues westward, serving the main cities of Cotia, Vargem Grande Paulista, São Roque, Sorocaba, Itapetininga, Angatuba, Ourinhos, Assis, Presidente...
(SP270) - Rodovia AnhangüeraRodovia AnhangüeraRodovia Anhangüera is a highway in the state of São Paulo, Brazil. It is one of the country's busiest transportation corridors...
(SP330) - Rodovia dos BandeirantesRodovia dos BandeirantesRodovia Bandeirantes is a highway in the state of São Paulo, Brazil.Once the traffic capacity of Anhangüera Highway was exceeded in the 1960s, the state government decided to built another highway, with a much higher capacity and modern design, directly connecting São Paulo City to Jundiaí,...
(SP348) - Rodovia Castelo BrancoRodovia Castelo BrancoRodovia Presidente Castelo Branco is a tollway in the state of São Paulo, Brazil. It was first opened on November 10, 1968, by, then, the Governor of the state of São Paulo, Abreu Sodré...
(SP280) - Rodovia dos ImigrantesRodovia dos ImigrantesRodovia dos Imigrantes is a highway in the state of São Paulo, Brazil.The highway connects the city of São Paulo to the Atlantic coast and with the seaside cities of São Vicente and Praia Grande. It follows the route of Rodovia Anchieta and is also one of Brazil's busiest highways, particularly on...
(SP160) - Rodovia AnchietaRodovia AnchietaRodovia Anchieta is a highway connection between São Paulo and the Atlantic coast, the cities of Cubatão and Santos, in Brazil...
(SP150) - Rodovia Ayrton SennaRodovia Ayrton SennaRodovia Ayrton Senna da Silva , is a highway in the state of São Paulo, Brazil....
(SP070) - Rodovia Carvalho PintoRodovia Carvalho PintoRodovia Governador Carvalho Pinto is a highway in the state of São Paulo, Brazil.It is a continuation of the Rodovia Ayrton Senna , near the city of Guararema and ends by merging with Rodovia Presidente Dutra, which connects the cities of São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro; and Rodovia Floriano...
(SP070) - Rodovia Washington LuisRodovia Washington LuísRodovia Washington Luís is a highway in the state of São Paulo, Brazil.It runs in the North-Northwest direction, departing as a branch from the Anhangüera Highway near the city of Limeira...
(SP310) - Rodovia Floriano Rodrigues PinheiroRodovia Floriano Rodrigues PinheiroRodovia Floriano Rodrigues Pinheiro is a single-lane highway in the state of São Paulo, Brazil. It connects the Rodovia Carvalho Pinto and the Rodovia Presidente Dutra nearby the city of Taubaté, to the mountain resort of Campos do Jordão.SP-123 is one of the most scenic roads in the state...
(SP123) - Rodovia Santos DumontRodovia Santos DumontRodovia Santos Dumont is a highway in the state of São Paulo, Brazil.It runs in a North-South direction and interconnects the cities of Campinas, Indaiatuba, Salto, Itu and Sorocaba, crossing with two other major highways, Rodovia Castelo Branco, nearby Sorocaba, and the Rodovia dos Bandeirantes...
(SP075) - Rodovia Dom Pedro IRodovia Dom Pedro IRodovia Dom Pedro I is a highway in the state of São Paulo, Brazil.One of the best built and most scenic highways in the country, it interconnects the Anhangüera and the Presidente Dutra highways, serving the major cities of Campinas, Atibaia, Jacareí and São José dos Campos...
(SP065) - Rodovia Adhemar de BarrosRodovia Adhemar de BarrosRodovia Adhemar de Barros is a highway in the state of São Paulo, Brazil. It is 170 km long.The highway runs in an almost perfect South-North direction, departing from the city of Campinas, then passing by Jaguariúna, Holambra, Santo Antônio da Posse, Mogi Guaçu, Mogi Mirim, Estiva Gerbi,...
(SP340/SP342) - Rodovia General Milton Tavares de SouzaRodovia General Milton Tavares de SouzaRodovia Professor Zeferino Vaz is a highway in the state of São Paulo, Brazil....
(SP332) - Rodovia Jornalista Francisco Aguirre ProençaRodovia Jornalista Francisco Aguirre ProençaRodovia Jornalista Francisco Aguirre Proença is a state highway in the State of São Paulo which connects the cities of Campinas, Hortolândia, Monte Mor, Elias Fausto and Capivari. Its first 25 kilometers are double-laned, the rest is still single-laned...
(SP101) - Rodovia Dom Gabriel Paulino Bueno Couto (SP300)
- Rodovia Cônego Domenico Rangoni (Piaçagüera-Guarujá) (SP055)
- Rodovia Padre Manoel da Nóbrega (SP055)
Government and politics
The current governor is Geraldo AlckminGeraldo Alckmin
Geraldo José Rodrigues Alckmin Filho , known as Geraldo Alckmin is a Brazilian politician, who has been elected as the new governor of São Paulo, doing it for the second time, and former candidate for president of Brazil in the 2006 Elections...
(2010–2014)(PSDB).
São Paulo politics are controlled by the Brazilian Social Democracy Party
Brazilian Social Democracy Party
The Brazilian Social Democracy Party is a centrist political party in Brazil. Originally a centre-left party at the time of its foundation, PSDB moved to the centre after Fernando Henrique Cardoso forged an alliance with the right-wing Liberal...
(PSDB), which has formed the government of the state since 1994, and was re-elected in 2006 for four more years.
Local politicians of note (with party affiliations) include: former president of Brazil (1994–2002) Fernando Henrique Cardoso
Fernando Henrique Cardoso
Fernando Henrique Cardoso – also known by his initials FHC – was the 34th President of the Federative Republic of Brazil for two terms from January 1, 1995 to December 31, 2002. He is an accomplished sociologist, professor and politician...
(PSDB), former president (2002–2010) Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva
Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva
Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva , known popularly as Lula, served as the 35th President of Brazil from 2003 to 2010.A founding member of the Workers' Party , he ran for President three times unsuccessfully, first in the 1989 election. Lula achieved victory in the 2002 election, and was inaugurated as...
(PT), José Serra
José Serra
José Serra is a Brazilian politician, former secretary of state, congressman, senator, minister of Planning and Minister of Health, mayor of São Paulo and Governor of São Paulo state.-Background:...
(PSDB), Geraldo Alckmin
Geraldo Alckmin
Geraldo José Rodrigues Alckmin Filho , known as Geraldo Alckmin is a Brazilian politician, who has been elected as the new governor of São Paulo, doing it for the second time, and former candidate for president of Brazil in the 2006 Elections...
(PSDB), Mário Covas
Mário Covas
Mário Covas Júnior was a Brazilian politician.Covas studied engineering at the Polytechnic School of the University of São Paulo. He entered politics in his native city of Santos, in the state of São Paulo....
(PSDB), José Anibal (PSDB), Antonio Palocci
Antonio Palocci
Antonio Palocci Filho is a Brazilian physician and politician, and former Chief of Staff of Brazil under President Dilma Rousseff . He was the Finance minister of the Brazilian federal government from January 1, 2003 until March 27, 2006 , during the presidency of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva...
(PT), Eduardo Suplicy
Eduardo Suplicy
Eduardo Matarazzo Suplicy is a Brazilian left-wing politician, economist and professor. He is one of the founders and main political figures on the Workers Party of Brazil .-Biography:...
(PT), Aloízio Mercadante
Aloízio Mercadante
Aloízio Mercadante Oliva is an economist and Brazilian politician. He was one of the founders of the Workers' Party in February, 1980, and served as vice-president of the party from 1991 to 1999.-See also:...
(PT), Marta Suplicy
Marta Suplicy
Marta Teresa Smith de Vasconcelos Suplicy is a Brazilian politician and psychologist. She was Mayor of São Paulo from 2001 to 2004 as a member of the Brazilian Workers' Party...
(PT), Gilberto Kassab
Gilberto Kassab
Gilberto Kassab is a Brazilian politician, current mayor of São Paulo. His term ends in 2012. A civil engineer and economist, of Lebanese descent, Kassab took over from José Serra, after Serra decided to run for governor of São Paulo...
(DEM
Democrats (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...
), and Paulo Maluf
Paulo Maluf
Paulo Salim Maluf is a Brazilian politician with a career spanning over four decades and many functions, including those of State Governor of São Paulo, Mayor of the City of São Paulo, Congressman and Presidential candidate. As of 2011, Maluf is on a second consecutive term as Federal Deputy...
(Progressive Party
Progressive Party (Brazil)
The Progressive party is a centre-right Brazilian political party embracing conservatism and elements of populism and liberalism....
). Maluf is a controversial figure in São Paulo City politics, and is frequently accused of corruption. However, many voters used to support him because of his achievements during his governments, which the most well-known was the São Paulo Subway System (the first in Brazil) and the Costa e Silva expressway, also known as Minhocão. Maluf has, however, failed to be elected in the last elections for governor of the state of São Paulo and for mayor of the state capital.
The last two Brazilian presidents, Fernando Henrique Cardoso
Fernando Henrique Cardoso
Fernando Henrique Cardoso – also known by his initials FHC – was the 34th President of the Federative Republic of Brazil for two terms from January 1, 1995 to December 31, 2002. He is an accomplished sociologist, professor and politician...
(PSDB) and Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva
Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva
Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva , known popularly as Lula, served as the 35th President of Brazil from 2003 to 2010.A founding member of the Workers' Party , he ran for President three times unsuccessfully, first in the 1989 election. Lula achieved victory in the 2002 election, and was inaugurated as...
(PT), were both politicians from São Paulo, although Cardoso was actually born in the state of Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro (state)
Rio de Janeiro is one of the 27 states of Brazil.Rio de Janeiro has the second largest economy of Brazil behind only São Paulo state.The state of Rio de Janeiro is located within the Brazilian geopolitical region classified as the Southeast...
, and Lula in Pernambuco
Pernambuco
Pernambuco is a state of Brazil, located in the Northeast region of the country. To the north are the states of Paraíba and Ceará, to the west is Piauí, to the south are Alagoas and Bahia, and to the east is the Atlantic Ocean. There are about of beaches, some of the most beautiful in the...
. Cardoso lives in São Paulo
São Paulo
São Paulo is the largest city in Brazil, the largest city in the southern hemisphere and South America, and the world's seventh largest city by population. The metropolis is anchor to the São Paulo metropolitan area, ranked as the second-most populous metropolitan area in the Americas and among...
city and Lula lives in São Bernardo do Campo
São Bernardo do Campo
São Bernardo do Campo is a municipality in the state of São Paulo, in southern Metropolitan São Paulo and São Paulo microregion. The municipality's total area is 408.45 km ² and a population estimated at 1 July 2009, according to the IBGE, was 810,979 inhabitants, which results in a population...
city.
Sports
Sport Club Corinthians Paulista
Sport Club Corinthians Paulista, commonly just known as Corinthians , is a Brazilian football club based in the city of São Paulo. They play in the São Paulo state league, as well as the Brasileirão, Brazil's top national league...
, São Paulo
São Paulo Futebol Clube
São Paulo Futebol Clube , commonly known as São Paulo, is a professional football club based in São Paulo, Brazil. They play in the Campeonato Paulista, São Paulo's state league, and the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A or Brasileirão, Brazil's national league, and are one of the only five clubs to...
, Santos
Santos Futebol Clube
Santos Futebol Clube is a Brazilian professional football club based in Santos, São Paulo They play in the Campeonato Paulista and the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A, the highest professional leagues in São Paulo state and Brazil, respectively....
, Palmeiras
Sociedade Esportiva Palmeiras
Sociedade Esportiva Palmeiras is a Brazilian football club from São Paulo. The club was founded on August 26, 1914, as Palestra Italia but changed to the current name on September 14, 1942...
, Portuguesa
Associação Portuguesa de Desportos
Associação Portuguesa de Desportos, usually called Portuguesa or Lusa, is a sports club, and a Brazilian football team from São Paulo in São Paulo state, founded on August 14, 1920 by the Portuguese population of the city.-History:...
, Ponte Preta
Associação Atlética Ponte Preta
Ponte Preta is a Brazilian football club located in Campinas, São Paulo. Ponte Preta is also known as Macaca. Ponte Preta's biggest rival is from the same city: Guarani. The games between Ponte Preta and Guarani are known as derby . They are known as "pontepretanos"...
and Guarani
Guarani Futebol Clube
Guarani Futebol Clube is a Brazilian football club located in Campinas, São Paulo. Guarani is also known as Bugre, a popular term for an Indigenous Brazilian...
. Other sports like Basketball
Basketball
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...
and Volleyball
Volleyball
Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules.The complete rules are extensive...
are also quite popular. In basketball, famous Brazilian players such as Hortência Marcari
Hortencia Marcari
Hortência Maria de Fátima Marcari is a former basketball player who is often considered to be one of the greatest women's basketball player in Brazil, alongside with Paula, and regarded as one of the greatest women's basketball player of all ever in the world by specialists in the world...
, Janeth Arcain
Janeth Arcain
Janeth dos Santos Arcain is a retired Brazilian professional women's basketball player. She played in the United States for the Houston Comets in the Women's National Basketball Association from 1997–2005.-WNBA career:Arcain was one of the original players selected from the WNBA's inaugural...
and Oscar Schmidt
Oscar Schmidt
Oscar Daniel Bezerra Schmidt is a retired Brazilian basketball player. He is also known as Oscar Schmidt Bezerra in Spain, where he played for Fórum Valladolid for the 1993-94 and 1994-95 seasons, and simply Oscar or Mão Santa in his homeland. At his peak, he was 2.05 m tall and weighed...
are from São Paulo. Many of the internationally recognized racing drivers, like Emerson Fittipaldi
Emerson Fittipaldi
Emerson Fittipaldi |São Paulo]], Brazil) is a Brazilian automobile racing driver who throughout a long and successful career won the Indianapolis 500 twice and championships in both Formula One and CART.-Early and personal life:...
, Ayrton Senna
Ayrton Senna
Ayrton Senna da Silva was a Brazilian racing driver. A three-time Formula One world champion, he is widely regarded as one of the greatest F1 drivers of all time...
, Rubens Barrichello
Rubens Barrichello
Rubens Gonçalves "Rubinho" Barrichello is a Brazilian Formula One racing driver. He is currently racing for Williams F1.Barrichello has scored the seventh highest points total in Formula One history. Barrichello drove for Ferrari from to , as Michael Schumacher's teammate, enjoying considerable...
, Hélio Castroneves
Hélio Castroneves
Hélio Castroneves is a Brazilian auto racing driver currently competing in the North American IndyCar Series. In IndyCar competition, Castroneves has 14 wins and 28 poles, and has never placed lower than sixth in the standings in a complete season of racing...
and Felipe Massa
Felipe Massa
Felipe Massa is a Brazilian Formula One racing driver. He finished second in the Drivers' World Championship, and is under contract to race for Scuderia Ferrari until the end of the season.-Early years:...
are also from São Paulo.
São Paulo
São Paulo
São Paulo is the largest city in Brazil, the largest city in the southern hemisphere and South America, and the world's seventh largest city by population. The metropolis is anchor to the São Paulo metropolitan area, ranked as the second-most populous metropolitan area in the Americas and among...
is one of the 18 remaining candidates to host games for the 2014 FIFA World Cup
2014 FIFA World Cup
The 2014 FIFA World Cup will be the 20th FIFA World Cup, an international association football tournament that will take place in Brazil from 12 June to 13 July 2014....
, to take place in Brazil.
Corrida de São Silvestre
- São PauloSão PauloSão Paulo is the largest city in Brazil, the largest city in the southern hemisphere and South America, and the world's seventh largest city by population. The metropolis is anchor to the São Paulo metropolitan area, ranked as the second-most populous metropolitan area in the Americas and among...
The São Silvestre Race takes place every New Year's Eve
New Year's Eve
New Year's Eve is observed annually on December 31, the final day of any given year in the Gregorian calendar. In modern societies, New Year's Eve is often celebrated at social gatherings, during which participants dance, eat, consume alcoholic beverages, and watch or light fireworks to mark the...
. It was first held in 1925, when the competitors ran about 8,000 metres across the streets. Since then, the distance raced has varied, and it is now fixed at 15 km. Registration takes place from 1 October, with the maximum number of entrants limited to 15,000.
Brazilian Grand Prix
- InterlagosInterlagos***Interlagos is an upper class neighborhood located in the city of São Paulo, Brazil. It includes the Autódromo José Carlos Pace race track, home of the Formula One Brazilian Grand Prix...
The Brazilian Grand Prix
Brazilian Grand Prix
The Brazilian Grand Prix is a Formula One championship race which occurs at the Autódromo José Carlos Pace in Interlagos, a district in the city of São Paulo, Brazil.- History :...
is a Formula One
Formula One
Formula One, also known as Formula 1 or F1 and referred to officially as the FIA Formula One World Championship, is the highest class of single seater auto racing sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile . The "formula" designation in the name refers to a set of rules with which...
championship race which occurs at the Autódromo José Carlos Pace
Autódromo José Carlos Pace
Autódromo José Carlos Pace, also known by its former name Interlagos, is a motor racing circuit located in the city of São Paulo, and named after Carlos Pace, a Brazilian Formula One driver, who had died prior to its naming...
in Interlagos
Interlagos
***Interlagos is an upper class neighborhood located in the city of São Paulo, Brazil. It includes the Autódromo José Carlos Pace race track, home of the Formula One Brazilian Grand Prix...
. In 2006 the Grand Prix was the final round of the FIA Formula 1 World Championship. The Spanish driver Fernando Alonso
Fernando Alonso
Fernando Alonso Díaz is a Spanish Formula One racing driver and a two-time World Champion, who is currently racing for Ferrari....
won the 2006 drivers championship at this circuit by coming second in the race. The race was won by the young Brazilian driver Felipe Massa
Felipe Massa
Felipe Massa is a Brazilian Formula One racing driver. He finished second in the Drivers' World Championship, and is under contract to race for Scuderia Ferrari until the end of the season.-Early years:...
, driving for the Scuderia Ferrari
Scuderia Ferrari
Scuderia Ferrari is the racing team division of the Ferrari automobile marque. The team currently only races in Formula One but has competed in numerous classes of motorsport since its formation in 1929, including sportscar racing....
team.
Federal senators
- Marta SuplicyMarta SuplicyMarta Teresa Smith de Vasconcelos Suplicy is a Brazilian politician and psychologist. She was Mayor of São Paulo from 2001 to 2004 as a member of the Brazilian Workers' Party...
– PT (Worker's Party) - Eduardo SuplicyEduardo SuplicyEduardo Matarazzo Suplicy is a Brazilian left-wing politician, economist and professor. He is one of the founders and main political figures on the Workers Party of Brazil .-Biography:...
– PT (Worker's Party) - Aloysio Nunes Ferreira – PSDB (Brazilian Social Democracy PartyBrazilian Social Democracy PartyThe Brazilian Social Democracy Party is a centrist political party in Brazil. Originally a centre-left party at the time of its foundation, PSDB moved to the centre after Fernando Henrique Cardoso forged an alliance with the right-wing Liberal...
)
Main cities
São PauloSão Paulo
São Paulo is the largest city in Brazil, the largest city in the southern hemisphere and South America, and the world's seventh largest city by population. The metropolis is anchor to the São Paulo metropolitan area, ranked as the second-most populous metropolitan area in the Americas and among...
, Guarulhos
Guarulhos
Guarulhos is the second largest city in the Brazilian state of São Paulo and a suburb of São Paulo city itself. In the last few years it has outgrown Campinas. The population in 2006 is 1,283,253, the density is 4,035.26 inh./km² and the area is 318 km²...
, Campinas
Campinas
Campinas is a city and municipality located in the coastal interior of the state of São Paulo, Brazil. is the administrative center of the meso-region of the same name, with 3,783,597 inhabitants as of the 2010 Census, consisting of 49 cities....
, São Bernardo do Campo
São Bernardo do Campo
São Bernardo do Campo is a municipality in the state of São Paulo, in southern Metropolitan São Paulo and São Paulo microregion. The municipality's total area is 408.45 km ² and a population estimated at 1 July 2009, according to the IBGE, was 810,979 inhabitants, which results in a population...
, Osasco
Osasco
Osasco is a municipality and city in São Paulo State, Brazil, is located in the Greater São Paulo and ranking 5th in population among São Paulo municipalities. The current mayor is Emidio Pereira de Souza ....
, Santo André, São José dos Campos
São José dos Campos
São José dos Campos is a municipality and a major city in the state of São Paulo, Brazil and one of the most important industrial and research centers in Latin America. It is located in the Paraíba Valley, between the two most active production and consumption regions in the country, São Paulo ...
, Sorocaba
Sorocaba
Sorocaba is a city in the state of São Paulo, Brazil. Sorocaba is the fourth largest city in the state of São Paulo. Outside the Greater São Paulo region, it ranks behind only Campinas, Sao Jose dos Campos and Ribeirão Preto...
, Ribeirão Preto
Ribeirão Preto
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,...
, São José do Rio Preto
São José do Rio Preto
São José do Rio Preto is a city and municipality in the state of São Paulo, Brazil. Is located at the north/northwest portion of the state, 450 km from the city of São Paulo and 700 km from Brasília....
and 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...
.
Other cities include: Americana
Americana, São Paulo
Americana is a municipality located in the Brazilian state of São Paulo. As of 2006, its population was 203,845.The original settlement developed around the local railway station, founded in 1875, and the development of a cotton weaving factory in a nearby farm.After 1866, several Confederate...
, Araçatuba
Araçatuba
Araçatuba is a city located in the northwest of São Paulo state, Brazil. The city has 181.579 inhabitants and 1,167.4 km² of area. The city name comes from the Tupi language and means "abundance of araçá "...
, Araraquara
Araraquara
Not to be confused with Araracuara, a town, region, genus of trees in ColombiaAraraquara is a city in the state of São Paulo in Brazil. It is also known as "the abode of the sun," because of its impressive sunset and because of its hazy temperature, especially in summer.More than 200,000 people...
, Bauru
Bauru
Bauru is a Brazilian city and municipality in midwestern region of the state of São Paulo. It is also the capital of the micro-region of Bauru...
, Franca
Franca
-Demography:*Total: 328.473 inhabitants on July 1, 2006.** Urban: 324.138** Rural: 6.999*Demographic density : 473,80*Child mortality until 1 year : 12,66 = 1,26%*Life expectancy : 73,03*Fertility : 2,26...
, Guarujá
Guarujá
Guarujá is a municipality in the São Paulo state of Brazil. The population in 2006 was 305,171, the population density is 1,969.47/km² and the area is 143 km². This place name comes from the Tupi language, and mean "narrow path". The population is highly urbanized.-Geography:Guarujá is...
, Indaiatuba
Indaiatuba
Indaiatuba is a municipality in the state of São Paulo in Brazil. The population in 2006 is 181,124 and has an area is 311.34 km². The elevation is 624 m. The city's name comes from the Tupi language. One of the most important city of the area....
, Jacareí
Jacareí
Jacareí is a city of approximately 211,308 inhabitants in the state of São Paulo, Brazil. The name comes from a native brazilan language . It's a word that means something like "the rivers where alligators are found"....
, Jaú
Jaú
Jaú is a municipality in the center of the state of São Paulo, in Brazil. The population in 2008 was 133,333 and the area is 690.18 km². The elevation is 522 m...
, Jundiaí
Jundiaí
Jundiaí is a city and municipality in the state of São Paulo, Brazil. The population in 2009 was 349,929, and the area is 433.958 km². The elevation is 761 m. Distance is 60 km north of the city of São Paulo.- History and Geography :...
, Limeira
Limeira
Limeira is a city in the eastern part of the Brazilian state of São Paulo. The population in 2004 is 270,733 and the area is 582.48 km². The elevation is 588 m. It is 154 km far from São Paulo, the state capital, and 1011 km far from Brasilia, Brazil's capital...
, Marília
Marília
Marília is a Brazilian city and municipality in the midwestern region of the state of São Paulo. Its distance from the state capital is by highway, by railway and in a straight line. It is located at latitude 22º 12'50 "south and longitude 49º 56'45" west, with an altitude of 675 meters...
, Mogi das Cruzes
Mogi das Cruzes
Mogi das Cruzes is a municipality in the state of São Paulo metropolitan region of the state capital. The population in 2010 according to the Census population is 387,241 inhabitants, resulting in a population density of 533.90 inhabitants per km ²....
, Piracicaba
Piracicaba
Piracicaba is a city located in the Brazilian state of São Paulo. The population in 2009 was 368,843 in an area of 1,369.511 km², at an elevation of 547 m above sea level.-Name:...
, Praia Grande
Praia Grande
Praia Grande is a municipality in the state of São Paulo in Brazil.-Population history:- History :Although the political emancipation is recent, the area covered today by the municipality of Praia Grande was one of the first areas colonized by the Portuguese, which began with the arrival of Martim...
, Presidente Prudente
Presidente Prudente
Presidente Prudente is a municipality in the state of São Paulo, Brazil. The city has a population of 207,610 inhabitants and area of 562.8 km². The city is named after president Prudente de Morais. Prudente is located 558 km from the city of São Paulo.Presidente Prudente is considered the...
, São Carlos
São Carlos
São Carlos is a city of 221,950 inhabitants in the state of São Paulo, Brazil. It is located at , at about 231 km from the city of São Paulo.-History:...
, São Vicente
São Vicente
São Vicente may refer to:-In Africa:In Cape Verde* São Vicente, Cape Verde, an island in Cape Verde* São Vicente, Guinea-Bissau, a village in Guinea-Bissau-In the Americas:In Brazil...
and Taubaté
Taubaté
Taubaté is a city in the State of São Paulo, in southeastern Brazil. Its strategic geographical location, between the two most important Brazilian cities , being crossed by Presidente Dutra Highway which connects the two megacities, and between high, cold mountains and the Atlantic Ocean has...
.
See also
BrazilBrazil
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...
Official Website Official Website (version in English) State Assembly (Assembléia Legislativa)