São Paulo
São Paulo (English: Saint Paul) is the capital of the state of São Paulo estado in southeastern Brazil and the most populous city of the country. It is the largest city in the southern hemisphere and Americas, and the world's seventh largest city by population. It is located at 23°32′36″S, 46°37′59″W (Latitude -23.59 Longitude -46.63). The city has an area of 1,523.0 square kilometres (588 sq mi) and a population of 11,016,703 (2006 IBGE estimate), which makes it the most populous in the southern hemisphere (metro area: 22,2 million; macrometropolis: 33,652,991 million).
People from the city of São Paulo are known as paulistanos, while paulistas designates anyone from the whole of São Paulo state, including the paulistanos. The city's Latin motto is Non ducor, duco, which translates as "I am not led, I lead". A famous nickname for the city is "Sampa". São Paulo is also known for its smog, the sheer size of its helicopter fleet, unreliable weather, and multitude of skyscrapers, holding the 7th position in the skyline ranking and with the 3rd biggest skyline (first and second are Hong Kong and New York, respectively).
History
Jesuit missionaries Manuel da Nóbrega and José de Anchieta founded the village of São Paulo dos Campos de Piratininga on January 25, 1554. Along with their entourage, they established a mission named Colégio de São Paulo de Piratininga aimed at converting the Tupi-Guarani Native Brazilians to the Catholic religion. Located just beyond the Serra do Mar cliffs, overlooking the port city of Santos, and close to River Tietê, the new settlement became the natural entrance from the South East coast to the vast and fertile plateau to the West that would eventually become the State of São Paulo.
In the 17th and 18th centuries, groups of explorers who called themselves the Bandeirantes traversed forests and new territories within the South American continent searching for gold, diamonds and other riches. The Bandeirantes are regarded as being responsible for a great deal of the Brazilian territorial expansion beyond the Tordesilhas Line and for the discovery of many mines of precious metals and stones. There are several monuments in honor of their contribution to the city, including the Monumento das Bandeiras, one of the landmarks of São Paulo.
São Paulo officially became a city in 1711. In the 19th century, it experienced a flourishing economic prosperity, brought about chiefly through coffee exports, which were shipped abroad from the port of the neighbouring city of Santos. After 1881, waves of immigrants from Italy, Portugal, Spain, Germany and many other countries emigrated to São Paulo in order to, among other reasons, work at the enormous coffee plantations established in the State. At the beginning of the 20th century, the coffee cycle had already plummeted due to, among other factors, a sharp decline in international coffee prices. The local entrepreneurs then started investing in the industrial development of São Paulo, attracting new contingents of overseas immigrants to the city. In addition to Europeans, Japanese and Arab immigrants arrived in large numbers in the first half of the 20th century. Along the 20th century, the booming economy of the city also attracted huge waves of immigrants from poor regions of Brazil, specially from Northeast Brazil.
However, due to competition with many other Brazilian cities, which sometimes offer tax advantages for companies to build manufacturing plants in situ, São Paulo's main economic activities have gradually left its industrial profile in favour of the services industry over the late 20th century. The city is home to a large number of local and international banking offices, law firms, multinational companies and consumer services.
Another important historical landmark is the University of São Paulo's Law School, also known as Largo São Francisco, claimed to be one of the three first academic institutions in Brazil along with the Law School of Recife and the Universidade Federal do Amazonas. Originally installed into a monastery, it was founded by an Imperial Decree on 1 March 1828, shortly after the beginning of the Brazilian Empire, following the increasing need for lawyers and politicians. As wealthy Brazilians would often go to Europe to take undergraduate law courses, the Brazilian Emperor, Dom Pedro I, decided that it would be fitting to create a national law school. It began to attract students from across the country, who were a strong contributing factor to São Paulo's distinctly bohemian lifestyle.
