São Paulo

Industrial city and capital of São Paulo state, southeast Brazil, 72 km/45 mi northwest of its port Santos, and 400 km/249 mi southwest of Rio de Janeiro; population (2001 est) 9,785,600; metropolitan area (2001 est) 17,833,800. It is Latin America's second-largest city after Mexico City and is 900 m/3,000 ft above sea level and 2° south of the Tropic of Capricorn. São Paulo is also South America's leading industrial city, producing electronic equipment, steel, motor vehicles, chemicals, and packed meat. It is Brazil's chief financial centre as well as the centre of the country's coffee trade.

São Paulo was founded in 1554 by two Jesuit priests as a mission station on the banks of the River Tietê, and has become one of the fastest-growing cities in the world. It was originally named Sá Paulo dos Campos de Piratininga until 1681 when it became known as Sáo Paulo. The coffee boom in the late 1800s, combined with the arrival of large numbers of Europeans, contributed to its growth; until that time most of its buildings were made of mud and clay. São Paulo dominates the Brazilian economy, producing 50% of the nation's industrial output.

The city is home to the Se Metropolitan Cathedral (1954) and four universities, including the University of São Paulo (1934), which is the largest in Brazil and a major scientific research centre. The Instituto Butantã (1901) is a biomedical research institute for the production of antidotes for snakebite.

São Paulo

State in southern Brazil, bordering in the east on the Atlantic Ocean; area 247,898 sq km/95,713 sq mi; population (1996) 34,120,886. The capital is the city of São Paulo, and the main port is Santos; other major towns include Sorocaba, Ribeirão Prêto, Jundiai, Campinas, and Limeira. São Paulo is Brazil's most populous state. It has a wide range of industries and the largest agricultural production of any Brazilian state.

Its inhabitants include a significant proportion of people of German, Italian, and Spanish descent. The state was transformed in the early 20th century by the coffee boom, which led to an influx of Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, and Japanese immigrants.

Physical The Serra do Mar, a chain of low mountains, separates the tropical coastal lowlands of São Paulo from the more temperate inland plateau, which is drained westwards by tributaries of the River Paraná. Rainfall in the coastal area is abundant, and adequate on the plateau, while temperatures inland are also considerably cooler.

Economy São Paulo's economy was originally based on coffee, but the state is now the centre of the country's industry, accounting for almost two-thirds of Brazil's total output. Power is supplied by a number of hydroelectric projects (including the Ibitinga dam on the Tietê River). Traditional food-processing concerns and textile industries are still predominant, but rapid advances have been made in the metallurgical, mechanical, chemical and pharmaceutical, and electrical industries.

Coffee and cotton are the main cash crops – two-thirds of Brazil's total production of each commodity comes from here, together with half the national output of sugar cane and rice. Other important crops are cereals, particularly maize, and a wide variety of fruits. Livestock farming is prevalent in the west.