São Paulo << sown POW loo or sow POW loh >> is Brazil’s largest city and leading commercial, financial, and industrial center. The municipality of São Paulo has a population of 11,253,503. A municipality may include rural areas as well as the urban center. São Paulo is one of the largest cities in the world in terms of population. It is also the chief city in one of the most populous urban centers in the world. São Paulo is the capital of the state of São Paulo. The city lies in southeastern Brazil, about 240 miles (386 kilometers) west of Rio de Janeiro.
In 1554, Jesuit missionaries from Portugal founded São Paulo as an Indigenous (native) mission. It remained a small town until the mid-1800’s, when it became the commercial center of Brazil’s booming coffee industry. Plantation owners first used enslaved Africans as laborers. After the abolition of slavery in Brazil in 1888, Asians and Europeans came to São Paulo State to work on the coffee plantations, and many later moved to São Paulo City. In time, the coffee growers invested much of their profits in industries in São Paulo. Today, the city and its surrounding area account for about half of Brazil’s total industrial output.
The city
lies on a high plateau about 30 miles (48 kilometers) from the Atlantic Ocean. A steep slope separates São Paulo from the coastal city of Santos, to the southeast. Santos serves as São Paulo’s port (see Santos). São Paulo covers 576 square miles (1,493 square kilometers), and its metropolitan area occupies 3,070 square miles (7,951 square kilometers). The Tiete and Pinheiros rivers flow through the city.
Wide avenues and unusually designed skyscrapers give the city a modern appearance. Few of São Paulo’s buildings are even 100 years old, though a chapel that was built in 1554 and a few old churches still stand. The center of the business district of São Paulo is called the Triangle. This name dates back to the 1500’s, when three mission buildings that stood in the area were connected by paths that formed the shape of a triangle.
Next to the Triangle on the northwest are many hotels and restaurants. A public square called the Plaza of the Republic features an arts and crafts market each Sunday. Mansions once lined the fashionable Paulista Avenue, southwest of the Triangle, but most have been replaced by skyscrapers. Apartment and office buildings also have taken the place of homes in the center of the city. Many people have moved to the suburbs.
São Paulo has a number of parks, the largest of which is the beautifully landscaped Ibirapuera Park. A monument to the bandeirantes (pioneers) of São Paulo stands at the entrance to the park. The nearby Santo Amaro lake region is a popular recreation area. Sports events are held at Morumbi and Pacaembu stadiums.
São Paulo faces many problems associated with a rapid population growth. For example, many homes have neither running water nor sewerage service. Other problems include air pollution, overcrowding, and traffic congestion. In an attempt to solve some of its problems, the city started several water and sewerage improvement projects during the early 1970’s. Construction of commercial and recreational facilities outside the central part of the city helped relieve the overcrowding. A rapid transit system opened in 1974.
People
of São Paulo are called Paulistanos. Most of them have ancestors who emigrated from Germany, Italy, Japan, Lebanon, Portugal, Spain, or Syria. Some Paulistanos have African or Indigenous ancestry. Since the 1930’s, immigration from other countries to São Paulo has decreased. At the same time, migration from other areas of Brazil to São Paulo has increased. Brazilians who move to São Paulo from other parts of the country do so largely because the city has more jobs and higher wages than other areas of Brazil.
Paulistanos speak a variety of languages, but most of them also speak Portuguese, Brazil’s official language. Most of the people are Roman Catholics. Other religious groups include Protestants and followers of African religions.
Paulistanos have the reputation of being the most energetic, hard-working people in Brazil. But they also like to relax. After a morning at their job, many people eat a long, leisurely lunch before returning to work in the afternoon. The people of São Paulo enjoy sports, especially soccer.
Poverty is a serious problem in São Paulo despite the city’s prosperity. More than half the families have a monthly income of less than $150. Many of these families live in slum areas called corticos, which consist of many shacks jammed together. The large-scale migration to the city intensifies the problem of poverty. Most of the people who move to São Paulo lack job skills, and many cannot find employment. The city has made some progress in providing job training and adequate low-cost housing for these people.
Education and cultural life.
The University of São Paulo is the largest university in Brazil. The city also is the home of the Pontifical Catholic University of São Paulo, Mackenzie Presbyterian University, and several fine-arts schools.
São Paulo’s Mário de Andrade Library ranks as one of the largest public libraries in South America. The city also has a fine system of children’s libraries. São Paulo’s museums include institutions of art, folklore, forestry, history, Indigenous culture, and zoology. The Football Museum traces the history of soccer in Brazil. A scientific center, the Butantan Institute, became known for its development of snakebite serums.
São Paulo has sponsored an international art show known as the Bienal every other year since 1951. Theaters in the city present ballet, opera, concerts, and plays.
Economy.
About 40 percent of São Paulo’s workers have a job in construction or manufacturing. The city produces more than half of Brazil’s chemicals, pharmaceuticals, and textiles, plus more than 75 percent of the country’s electrical equipment, machinery, and rubber goods. São Paulo ranks as the leading Brazilian producer of motor vehicles. Other important products include cement, clothing, footwear, furniture, plastics, and processed foods. Nearby rivers provide São Paulo’s industries with hydroelectric power.
Highways and railroads link São Paulo to agricultural areas and to other Brazilian cities. Three airports serve the city.
São Paulo has become a major financial center, with many Brazilian and foreign banks. It also serves as the Brazilian or South American headquarters for a number of multinational companies.
History.
Jesuit missionaries from Portugal founded São Paulo as an Indigenous mission in 1554. As a result of attacks by Indigenous people, the Jesuit missionaries joined with some nearby Portuguese colonists and formed one community. The people of São Paulo were poor during this early period. Many of them organized groups to travel to the interior of South America in search of wealth. Members of these groups were known as bandeirantes.
Until the mid-1600’s, the bandeirantes sought mostly Indigenous people, whom they captured and sold as enslaved people to other settlers. The bandeirantes later prospected for gold and precious gems. In 1698, bandeirantes discovered gold northeast of São Paulo in what is now the state of Minas Gerais. The gold rush that followed this discovery produced little wealth for São Paulo. Instead, the port city of Rio de Janeiro captured the trade and wealth that came with the gold rush.
Cattle trading and sugar planting brought wealth to some Paulistanos. By 1800, São Paulo was a minor administrative and commercial center with only about 20,000 people. In 1822, Prince Regent Pedro of Portugal declared Brazil’s independence while on a visit to São Paulo.
Coffee planting spread to the area near São Paulo during the mid-1800’s. São Paulo soon became the commercial center of Brazil’s coffee industry. The state government encouraged immigration, and foreigners poured into the area. São Paulo’s industrial growth began in the late 1800’s, when coffee profits were invested in new industries in the city. The population of São Paulo increased from about 32,000 in the 1870’s to about 240,000 in 1900.
During the 1900’s, São Paulo played an important part in Brazilian politics. In 1932, the city was the base of an unsuccessful revolt against President Getulio Vargas. From 1968 to 1970, student protests and acts of guerrilla rebellion against the nation’s military rule took place in São Paulo.
São Paulo’s population grew rapidly during most of the 1900’s. Since the late 1900’s, however, the population has increased at a much slower rate. Overcrowding, pollution, and high operating costs have caused some industries to relocate to nearby small towns or to move even farther away.
In July 2007, a Brazilian passenger airplane crashed while attempting to land at São Paulo’s busy Congonhas airport. Nearly 200 people were killed. The crash focused criticism on Brazil’s airline industry.
