São Paulo (city) Guide, Meaning , Facts, Information and Description

São Paulo (meaning St. Paul in Portuguese) is the capital of São Paulo state in southeastern Brazil. It is located 250 miles (400 km) from Rio de Janeiro, and 640 miles (1030 km) from Brasília.

The city proper has 575 sq mi of area and had a population of 9.8 million in 2000, making it the largest city in Brazil by far. About 20 million people live in the Greater São Paulo metropolitan region, which is currently ranked as the fifth-largest in the world and the largest in the Southern Hemisphere.

Highlights

São Paulo is the most important business center of Brazil. As the default location for music concerts, plays, film festivals, fashion shows, and international sports events, São Paulo disputes with Rio de Janeiro the title of Brazil's capital of culture and sports. However, unlike the well-known Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo is not a popular destination for tourists, since its attractions are mostly hidden under a chaotic urban scenery.

The city has a multicultural metropolitan area, which some have compared to New York, with heavy Italian, Japanese, Chinese, Arabian and Portuguese influences. It is the city with the largest number of Japanese people outside Japan. São Paulo is known for its varied and sophisticated gastronomy, ranging from Chinese to French, from fast food chains to five star restaurants. Its night life is animated by thousands of bars, pubs, lounges, and discos, that cater for a variety of music tastes and are often open all night.

São Paulo is home to the largest university in Brazil (University of São Paulo), to a major art museum (MASP), a major symphonic orchestra (OSESP), a Formula One Grand Prix race track (Interlagos), and the world's largest private-owned sports stadium (Morumbi, site of the São Paulo soccer team).

There are two major airports in the São Paulo area, Guarulhos (GRU, international) and Congonhas (CGH, domestic).

Economics

São Paulo is the industrial and financial center of the country. Many national and multi-national corporations, including the largest private banks, have their headquarters in the city or in its metropolitan area. The city has more German companies than any other city outside Germany. São Paulo's stock exchange is the Bovespa, and its financial district is on Avenida Paulista.

Like many big cities in developing countries, a large percentage of São Paulo's population lives below the poverty line. The city is surrounded and permeated by extensive shantytowns (favelas), which were generally established by illegal occupation of public or private land, have woefully inadequate sanitation and infrastructure, and are home to a growing population of disenfranchised Brazilians who subsist largely outside the official political, social, and economic framework of the country.

Politics

Because of its economic and demographic weight, São Paulo has always played a pivotal role in Brazilian politics. With a constituency larger than that of many Brazilian states, the Mayor's office is viewed by politicians as a springboard for state- and national-level offices.

São Paulo's current mayor is Marta Suplicy of the Worker's Party (PT). On 01/01/2005, São Paulo's mayor is going to be José Serra from PSDB, who was elected on October 31st.

Some of the last São Paulo mayors were:

History

The city was founded on January 25, 1554, by Jesuit missionaries José de Anchieta and Manoel da Nóbrega, who established a mission — the Colégio de São Paulo de Piratininga — to convert the Tupi-Guarani indians. Located just beyond the Serra do Mar cliffs overlooking the port city of Santos, and close to the Tietê River, the new settlement became the natural entrance to the vast and fertile plateau that would eventually become the State of São Paulo.

São Paulo became officially a city in 1711. It experienced a boom during coffee cycle, starting in the late 19th century — chiefly because of its privileged position next to the port of Santos, through which most of the country's exports were shipped.

After 1881, waves of immigrants from Italy, Japan and other countries arrived in São Paulo, at first to work on the enormous coffee plantations established in the State. In the 20th century, with the industrial development of the country, many of them moved to the capital; which also attracted new contingents of immigrants, including Lebanese, Armenians, Greek, Jews, Chinese, and Koreans.

External links

• São Paulo City Hall website (in Portuguese)
• São Paulo city official tourism site

• Virtual postcards (requires to locate and click on the option entitled "postcards")
• Brazil Skyscrapers - Many Photos of São Paulo and its skyscrapers
• A very complete photo album

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