Brazil Eco Adventure Tours
Rainforest - Hiking & Biking - Wildlife

São Paulo is the capital of São Paulo State in Southeast Brazil. It is located 440 km (270 miles) southwest of Rio de Janeiro and 400 km (245 miles) northeast of Curitiba. The Atlantic coast is 80 km (50 miles) to the south, crossing the Serra do Mar mountain range.

The Tropic of Capricorn (22,5°S) north of the city divides Brazil in a northern tropical and a southern subtropical climate zone. The São Paulo basin which is located 760 m above sea level is surrounded by several conservation units such as the Cantareira State Park integrating the São Paulo City Green Belt Biosphere Reserve.

São Paulo's history officially began on January 25, 1554 when a group of Jesuit priests celebrated a mass at Patio do Colégio (actual historical center). In the Roman Catholic calender of saints, January 25 represents the feast day of the conversion of St. Paul (see also foundation of São Paulo).

Even 300 years after its foundation, São Paulo counted only 15.000 inhabitants, which were mostly Portuguese colonists or African slaves. After the abolishment of slavery, at the end of the 19th century, European, Asian and Arab immigrants pushed this number to 240.000. Only during the last 100 years, São Paulo's population exploded to 11 million people (19 million in the Greater São Paulo area) representing nowadays the most populous metropolitan area in the southern hemisphere.

Today, São Paulo is considered the New York of Latin America. Nowhere else than here more independent ethnical groups can be found. The Japanese village Liberdade, where even the traffic signs are in Japanese language, the little Italy Bela Vista (better known as Bixiga) or the Bazaar in Bom Retiro, where Jewish, Moslems and Christians live in peace with each other as if there would have never been a crisis in the middle east, are examples of such independent communities.

Its hard to say if São Paulo is beautiful or not but for sure it is international, in its colors, its smells and more than 30 languages and maybe this is the reason that 80% of the paulistanos love it, their Sampa.

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