São Paulo

Sao Paulo (Portuguese for Saint Paul) is the capital of the state of Sao Paulo, Brazil. It is the biggest city in South America and the Southern Hemisphere and the second biggest city in the Western Hemisphere (after Mexico City).
The city has an area of 1,523 km2 and more than 11 million people live there. It is the 11th most populous city on Earth.
History
In January 25, 1554, two priests, Manuel da Nobrega and Jose de Anchieta, built a school - Colegio de Sao Paulo de Piratininga - to convert natives to Catholic religion. Today, this building is the Padre Anchieta Museum.
The first people moved to the region in 1560, when Sao Paulo became a village.
Because Sao Paulo was a poor village and was far away from the colony centre, the bandeirantes (explorers) chose it to start expeditions to enslave natives, recapture runaway slaves, and to find precious metals and stones (gold, diamonds, etc.).
In 1711, Sao Paulo became a city. In the end of the 18th century, people started growing sugarcane in the rural area of the province, and Sao Paulo was the way to the port of Santos.
In the 19th century, after the construction of Sao Paulo's Law School, Sao Paulo became the capital of the province, politicians and philosophers went there, and the first newspapers and books were printed. At this time, many European immigrants, especially Italians, moved to Sao Paulo to work at the big coffee plantations.
At the end of the 19th century and the start of the 20th century, the city grew quickly. Some people who study Brazilian History says "the city was rebuilt".
In the 20th century, many factories were built, and more immigrants moved to work there.
Today, Sao Paulo is a centre of commerce, services and technology, and some people consider it the most important Latin American city.
Politics
The current mayor of Sao Paulo is Bruno Covas, and his party is "Partido da Social Democracia Brasileira", PSDB.
Geography
Sao Paulo is crossed by the Tropic of Capricorn. It is in a plateau (a high flat area), 760 metres above the sea level.
Because of its altitude, its climate (subtropical) is not so warm as it is near the coast. Sao Paulo is 70 km far from the coast, 420 km far from Rio de Janeiro, and 1,020 km far from Brasilia, the Brazilian capital city.
The metropolitan area formed by Sao Paulo and 39 surroundings cities is the biggest in the Latin America. More than 19 million people live in this metropolitan area, which is also called Greater Sao Paulo and is the fifth biggest of the world.
Subdivisons
The city is divided into 31 boroughs, and each borough is divided into neighbourhoods. The boroughs form nine regions (or "zones"), with similar geographic location and history, but most people and companies prefer to use another division, with only five regions.
Ethnic diversity
Descendants of many peoples live in Sao Paulo: Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, African, German, Lebanese, Japanese. There are also descendant of peoples from other South American countries, for example Argentina and Bolivia, and other places, for example Chinese people, Jews, and South Koreans.
Every day, people from other cities or states move to Sao Paulo. Many are people from the Northeast region of Brazil that try to find a job in the city.
Economics
Sao Paulo is the commercial and industrial center of Brazil. There are factories and shops of all sizes and kinds. For example, in Sao Paulo there are some of the more expensive shops of Brazil, but also there are commercial districts formed only by cheap shops, and people from many places (also from other cities) buy clothing, electronics and other products at these districts.
Sports
Football is the sport with the biggest number of fans in the city. The most important clubs from the city are Corinthians, Palmeiras, and Sao Paulo. They are all playing in the Brazilian Serie A, the major football championship in Brazil. Except Palmeiras.
There are also other big and medium teams from Sao Paulo, for example Portuguesa and Juventus, and many small teams. However, Santos FC, that is a club from Santos, a city in the coast, is the fourth team in number of supporters.
Sao Paulo also hosts the Formula One Brazilian Grand Prix, in Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace (known as Autodromo de Interlagos).
Other major sports are basketball and volleyball. Some people also play handball, tennis, and other sports.
Transportation
Some people do not like Sao Paulo because of the big number of cars, trucks and motorcycles on streets and avenues. The public transport is also very important for the people who live there. There are many bus lanes in the city, and a big Metro (underground railway) and railway system.
Sao Paulo has three airports and is the second city in number of helicopters of the world (New York City is the first).
Born in Sao Paulo
Below is a list of famous people born in Sao Paulo.
Ayrton Senna
Rubens Barrichello
Leandro Barbosa
Gustavo Borges
Luciano Burti
Cafu
Helio Castroneves
Mario de Andrade
Oswald de Andrade
Emerson Fittipaldi
Eder Jofre
Amyr Klink
Anita Malfatti
Felipe Massa
Fernando Meirelles
Nene
Jose Carlos Pace
Rivelino
Robert Scheidt
Ricardo Semler
Fernando Meligeni
Johan Pineda
Other websites
Sao Paulo State Official Home Page (in English)
Sao Paulo City Official Home Page (in Portuguese)
Sao Paulo Tourism Site (in Portuguese)
VisitSP Sao Paulo travel guide (in English)
References
Capitals of Brazilian states
1550s establishments in South America
16th-century establishments in Brazil
1554 establishments