São José dos Campos

Sister cities

• Kadoma
• Mexicali

History

The origins of São José dos Campos lie at the end of the 16th Century when Jesuits founded a cattle farm, Aldeia do Rio Comprido. The farm was created through a concession of settlements around 1590 to the Society of Jesus. The farm was located on the banks of the Rio Comprido, natural division between São José and the city of Jacareí today. The farm status was an artifice to hide a religious outpost, one of the several Jesuit Reductions in Brazil, known for their resistance to enslavement, from the Portuguese expedition leaders and indigenous people hunters, known as the Bandeirantes. On September 10, 1611, the local was officially recognized and the farmers precluded from utilizing the Natives as slaves. However, a turmeric conflict between farmers and the religious led to the expulsion of the Jesuits in 1640 from the region and the consequent dispersion of the mission. Nevertheless, the Jesuits returned and reestablished a new settlement, where the current city center is spotted. It was about northeast of the previous mission, on a higher plain with a privileged view above a geological depression, which guaranteed security against invasions and floods. Again, despite being a new mission, it was officially treated as a cattle farm. The initial urbanization plan is attributed to the Jesuit priest Manoel de Leão, whose main occupation was really to be an administrator of the community. In 1692, documents named the village as Residência do Paraíba do Sul; in 1696 as Residência de São José. At the beginning of the gold mining economic cycle in Brazil, the settlement goes through serious difficulties due to the exit of labor to the mines. After the definitive expulsion of Jesuits from the Portuguese Empire in 1759, all the religious order's assets, such as farms,…

Geography

* total area: **urban area: (32.18%) **rural: (67.82%) *Northern Border: Camanducaia, Sapucaí Mirim in Minas Gerais *Southern Border: Jacareí, Jambeiro in São Paulo State *Eastern Border: Monteiro Lobato, Caçapava in São Paulo State *Western border: Igaratá, Joanópolis, Piracaia in São Paulo State The intense conurbation process has been creating a metropolis whose center city is São José dos Campos, reaching many other municipalities like Jacareí, Taubaté, Aparecida, Caçapava, Guaratinguetá, Campos do Jordão, Caraguatatuba, Pindamonhangaba and Lorena. The Paraíba Valley metropolitan area is currently made up of 39 cities, comprising 2,453,387 inhabitants. The metro area is part of the Expanded Metropolitan Complex, being a megalopolis that connects São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, encompassing São José dos Campos and Campinas with over 30 million inhabitants in total. The municipality comprises three districts: São José dos Campos — the city itself (also the seat), Eugênio de Melo and São Francisco Xavier. The last one is known for its natural sites and ecotourism. The district of São José dos Campos is also subdivided into 2 subdistricts (São José dos Campos and Santana do Paraíba). However, for administrative purposes, the city is composed of 7 urban regions: Center, North, South, West, East, Southeast and São Francisco Xavier. Highlands predominate in the northern region of the municipality with altitudes ranging from . The northern border of the municipality lies over the Serra da Mantiqueira Mountains (Mantiqueira Range), with some peaks reaching over 2,000 meters (6,562 ft.). The highest point in the municipality is known as 'Pico do Selado' at an altitude of 2082 meters (6,831 ft). In the urban area, there are rolling plateaus and hills.…