São Paulo
São Paulo is the capital city of the state of São Paulo, as well as the most populous city in Brazil, South America, the Americas, and in the Western and Southern Hemispheres.
The city exerts international influence in commerce, finance, culture, gastronomy, arts, fashion, technology, entertainment and media, having been listed by UNESCO's Creative Cities Network as a "City of Film" and the title of "World Capital of Gastronomy", and by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network as an alpha global city. It is the largest urban area by population outside Asia and the most populous Portuguese-speaking city in the world. The city's name honors Paul the Apostle and people from the city are known as paulistanos. The city's Latin motto is Non ducor, duco, which translates as "I am not led, I lead".
Founded in 1554 by Jesuit priests, São Paulo is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities on the American continent. It played a strategic role during the Brazilian colonial period, serving as the center and starting point for the expeditions of the Paulista bandeirantes settlers for the territorial and economic expansion of the country; however, its economic opulence was consolidated during the Brazilian coffee cycle in the mid-19th century. From that period onward, it became the stage for landmark events in Brazilian history, such as the Cry of Ipiranga, the Modern Art Week, the 1932 Revolution, and the Diretas Já movement. In the 20th century, it consolidated its role as the main national economic hub with industrialization in Brazil, which made the city a cosmopolitan melting pot, home to the largest Arab, Italian, and Japanese diasporas in the world, with ethnic neighborhoods like Bixiga, Bom Retiro, and Liberdade, and people from more than 200 other countries. The city's metropolitan area, Greater São Paulo, is home to more than 20 million inhabitants and ranks as the most populous in Brazil and one of the most populous in the world. The process of conurbation between the metropolitan areas around Greater São Paulo also created the São Paulo Macrometropolis, the first megalopolis in the Southern Hemisphere, with more than 30 million inhabitants.
São Paulo is the largest urban economy in Latin America and one of the world's major financial centres, representing around 10% of the Brazilian GDP and just over a third of São Paulo state's GDP. The city is the headquarters of B3, the largest stock exchange of Latin America by market capitalization, and has several financial districts, mainly in the areas around Paulista, Faria Lima and Berrini avenues. Home to 63% of established multinationals in Brazil and the source of around one third of the Brazilian scientific production, São Paulo is among the top 50 science and technology clusters in the world. Its main university, the University of São Paulo, is often considered the best in Brazil and Latin America, while the city is regularly ranked as one of the best cities in the world to be a university student in the QS World University Rankings. The metropolis is also home to several of the tallest skyscrapers in Brazil, including the Alto das Nações, Platina 220, Figueira Altos do Tatuapé, Mirante do Vale, Edifício Itália, Altino Arantes Building, North Tower and many others. It is the state capital with the best basic sanitation, the second-most developed, according to the FIRJAN Municipal Development Index, the sixth in the Social Progress Index in Brazil, and the ninth most wooded in the country, which earned it the international titles of "Tree City of the World" from the United Nations and "Ibero-American Green Capital", in addition to recognition from Guinness World Records for the "largest food security program in the world".
The place of origin and/or disseminator of countless artistic, cultural, and gastronomic expressions, such as the caipira culture and cuisine, sertanejo music, Brazilian hip-hop and rock, and samba paulista, and the culinary matrix of creations like bauru, beirute, calabresa, coxinha, dadinho, parmegiana, pastel de feira, and picanha, the city is one of the main cultural, gastronomic, and entertainment hubs in the world. It is home to monuments, parks, and museums, such as the Latin American Memorial, Ibirapuera Park, São Paulo Museum of Art, Pinacoteca, Cinemateca, Itaú Cultural, Museum of Ipiranga, Catavento Museum, Football Museum, Museum of the Portuguese Language, and the Museum of Image and Sound. São Paulo also holds relevant cultural events like the São Paulo Art Biennial, São Paulo Fashion Week, Lollapalooza, Primavera Sound, Comic Con Experience and the São Paulo Gay Pride Parade, the second-largest LGBT event in the world after the New York City Pride March. São Paulo was also host of many sporting events such as the 1950 and 2014 FIFA World Cups, the 1963 Pan American Games, the São Paulo Indy 300 and the NFL Brazil Games in addition to hosting the annual Brazilian Grand Prix of Formula One and the Saint Silvester Road Race.
History
Pre-colonial period
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 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.
Colonial period
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 Paulo was the only colonial village in Brazil's interior, as travel was too difficult for many to reach the area. Mem de Sá forbade colonists to use the Caminho do Piraquê ' and today known as Piaçaguera, because of frequent Indian raids along it.
On 22 March 1681, Luís Álvares de Castro, the Second Marquis de Cascais and donee of the Captaincy of São Vicente, moved the capital to the village of São Paulo ', designating it the "Head of the captaincy". The new capital was established on 23 April 1683, with public celebrations.
The Bandeirantes
In the 17th century, São Paulo was one of the poorest regions of the Portuguese colony. It was also the center of interior colonial development. Because they were extremely poor, the Paulistas could not afford to buy African slaves, as did other Portuguese colonists. The discovery of gold in the region of Minas Gerais, in the 1690s, brought attention and new settlers to São Paulo. The Captaincy of São Paulo and Minas de Ouro was created on 3 November 1709, when the Portuguese crown purchased the Captaincies of São Paulo and Santo Amaro from the former grantees.Conveniently located in the country, up the steep Serra do Mar escarpment/mountain range when traveling from Santos, while also not too far from the coastline, São Paulo became a safe place to stay for tired travelers. The town became a center for the bandeirantes, intrepid invaders who marched into unknown lands in search for gold, diamonds, precious stones, and Indians to enslave. The bandeirantes, which could be translated as "flag-bearers" or "flag-followers", organized excursions into the land with the primary purpose of profit and the expansion of territory for the Portuguese crown. Trade grew from the local markets and from providing food and accommodation for explorers. The bandeirantes eventually became politically powerful as a group, and forced the expulsion of the Jesuits from the city of São Paulo in 1640. The two groups had frequently come into conflict because of the Jesuits' opposition to the domestic slave trade in Indians.
On 11 July 1711, the town of São Paulo was elevated to city status. Around the 1720s, gold was found by the pioneers in the regions near what are now Cuiabá and Goiânia. The Portuguese expanded their Brazilian territory beyond the Tordesillas Line to incorporate the gold regions. When the gold ran out in the late 18th century, São Paulo shifted to growing sugar cane. Cultivation of this commodity crop spread through the interior of the Captaincy. The sugar was exported through the Port of Santos. At that time, the first modern highway between São Paulo and the coast was constructed and named the Calçada do Lorena . Nowadays, the estate that is home to the Governor of the State of São Paulo, in the city of São Paulo, is called the Palácio dos Bandeirantes, in the neighborhood of Morumbi.
Imperial period
After Brazil became independent from Portugal in 1822, as declared by Emperor Pedro I where the Monument to the Independence of Brazil is located, he named São Paulo as an Imperial City. In 1827, a law school was founded at the Convent of São Francisco, today part of the University of São Paulo. The influx of students and teachers gave a new impetus to the city's growth, thanks to which the city became the Imperial City and Borough of Students of St. Paul of Piratininga.The expansion of coffee production was a major factor in the growth of São Paulo, as it became the region's chief export crop and yielded good revenue. It was cultivated initially in the Paraíba Valley region in the East of the State of São Paulo, and later on in the regions of Campinas, Rio Claro, São Carlos and Ribeirão Preto.
From 1869 onward, São Paulo was connected to the port of Santos by the Estrada de Ferro Santos-Jundiaí, nicknamed The Lady. By the late 19th century, several other railroads connected the interior to the state capital. São Paulo became the point of convergence of all railroads from the interior of the state. Coffee was the economic engine for major economic and population growth in the State of São Paulo.
In 1888, the "Golden Law" was sanctioned by Isabel, Princess Imperial of Brazil, abolishing slavery in Brazil. Until then, enslaved had been the main source of labor in the coffee plantations. After abolition, and following governmental stimulus towards the increase of immigration, the province began to receive a large number of immigrants, largely Italians, Japanese and Portuguese peasants, many of whom settled in the capital. The region's first industries also began to emerge, providing jobs to the newcomers, especially those who had to learn Portuguese.