The industrial center and largest city of Brazil is São Paulo. The city and suburbs together make up one of the largest urban areas in the world. São Paulo is the capital of a state with the same name. The name is the Portuguese form of the name of Saint Paul. São Paulo is in southeastern Brazil. It lies in hills about 30 miles (48 kilometers) inland from the coast of the Atlantic Ocean. Rio de Janeiro is about 220 miles (350 kilometers) to the northeast. CityscapeSão Paulo's central business district is a forest of tall office buildings. Around the business district are factories and warehouses. There are many areas of housing as well. Some neighborhoods, called favelas, consist of shacks that are very closely packed together. PeopleThe original settlers of São Paulo came from Portugal. Later they were joined by other Europeans, mostly from Spain, Italy, and Germany. Other residents of the city have their roots in the Middle East or Japan. São Paulo has more Japanese people than any city outside Japan. Most of the city's blacks moved there from other parts of Brazil. Their ancestors were African slaves. The most common religion in São Paulo is Roman Catholicism, and the main language is Portuguese. EconomySão Paulo is Brazil's center of business and industry. The goods that are made there include clothing, electrical products, furniture, and food. There are also oil refineries and chemical plants. An oil pipeline links São Paulo to the port of Santos on the Atlantic Ocean. HistoryRoman Catholic priests from Portugal established São Paulo in 1554. They lived there with Indians whom they converted to Christianity. In the 1600s Portuguese pioneers used the town as a base for their travels in search of treasure and Indians to capture and enslave. Brazil declared its independence in São Paulo in 1822. Later in the 1800s farmers made the city a center for coffee trading. Immigrants poured in from Europe and Asia to work in the fields. São Paulo's economy continued to grow in the 20th century with the creation of textile mills and other industries. The new industries drew many more people to the city. By the end of the 20th century São Paulo was the largest urban area in the Southern Hemisphere. Population (2003 estimate), 10,041,500; metropolitan area, 18,628,444. |