São Paulo

Sister cities

• Presidente Franco District
• Torreón
• Coimbra
• Mendoza
• La Plata
• San Cristóbal de La Laguna
• Ningbo
• İzmir
• Osaka
• Tel Aviv
• Funchal
• Bucharest

History

The region of modern-day São Paulo, originally known as Piratininga plains around the Tietê River, was inhabited by the Tupi people, such as the Tupiniquim, Guaianás, and Guarani. Other tribes also lived in areas that today form the metropolitan region. The region was divided in Caciquedoms (chiefdoms) at the time of encounter with the Europeans. The most notable cacique was Tibiriçá, known for his support for the Portuguese and other European colonists. Among the many indigenous names of places, rivers, neighborhoods, etc., that survive today are Tietê, Ipiranga, Tamanduateí, Anhangabaú, Piratininga, Itaquaquecetuba, Cotia, Itapevi, Barueri, Embu-Guaçu, etc. The Portuguese village of São Paulo dos Campos de Piratininga was marked by the founding of the Colégio de São Paulo de Piratininga on 25 January 1554. The Jesuit college of twelve priests included Manuel da Nóbrega and Spanish priest José de Anchieta. They built a mission on top of a steep hill between the Anhangabaú and Tamanduateí rivers. They first had a small structure built of rammed earth, made by Native Indian workers in their traditional style. The priests wanted to evangelize these Indians who lived in the Plateau region of Piratininga and convert them to Christianity. The site was separated from the coast by the Serra do Mar mountain range, called "Serra Paranapiacaba" by the Indians. The college was named for a Christian saint and its founding on the feast day of the celebration of the conversion of the Apostle Paul of Tarsus. Father José de Anchieta wrote this account in a letter to the Society of Jesus: For the next two centuries, São Paulo developed as a poor and isolated village that survived largely through the cultivation of subsistence crops by the labor of natives. For a long time, São…

Geography

São Paulo is the capital of the most populous state in Brazil, São Paulo, located at latitude 23°33'01 south and longitude 46°38'02 west. The total area of the municipality is , according to the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE), being the ninth largest in the state in terms of territorial extension. Of the entire area of the municipality, are urban areas (2015), being the largest urban area in the country. The city is on a plateau placed beyond the Serra do Mar (Portuguese for "Sea Range" or "Coastal Range"), itself a component of the vast region known as the Brazilian Highlands, with an average elevation of around above sea level, although being at a distance of only about from the Atlantic Ocean. The distance is covered by two highways, the Anchieta and the Imigrantes, (see "Transportation" below) that roll down the range, leading to the port city of Santos and the beach resort of Guarujá. Rolling terrain prevails within the urbanized areas of São Paulo except in its northern area, where the Serra da Cantareira Range reaches a higher elevation and a sizable remnant of the Atlantic Rain Forest. The region is seismically stable and no significant activity has ever been recorded. The Tietê River and its tributary, the Pinheiros River, were once important sources of fresh water and leisure for São Paulo. However, heavy industrial effluents and wastewater discharges in the later 20th century caused the rivers to become heavily polluted. A substantial clean-up program for both rivers is underway. Neither river is navigable in the stretch that flows through the city, although water transportation becomes increasingly important on the Tietê river further downstream (near river Paraná), as the river is part of the River Plate basin. No large…

Most-observed species

• Great Kiskadee

  Pitangus sulphuratus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  36,214
• Sayaca Tanager

  Thraupis sayaca (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  32,800
• Plain Parakeet

  Brotogeris tirica (Gmelin, 1788) · Aves
  32,011
• Rufous-bellied Thrush

  Turdus rufiventris Vieillot, 1818 · Aves
  31,373
• Bananaquit

  Coereba flaveola (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  27,000
• Rock Pigeon

  Columba livia J.F.Gmelin, 1789 · Aves
  24,815
• Black Vulture

  Coragyps atratus (Bechstein, 1793) · Aves
  20,300
• Ruddy Ground-Dove

  Columbina talpacoti (Temminck, 1810) · Aves
  18,143