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{{Infobox City|official_name = São Paulo|image_skyline = Saopaulo_copan.jpg|imagesize =|image_caption = São Paulo skyline|nickname = Terra da Garoa (Land of Drizzle) and Sampa]"(Latin language)"I am not led, I lead"|image_flag = São Paulo City flag.svg|image_shield = Brasao SaoPaulo SaoPaulo Brasil.svg|image_map = SaoPaulo Municip SaoPaulo.svg|mapsize = 250px|map_caption = Location in the São Paulo state.|subdivision_type = List of countries|subdivision_type1 = Regions of Brazil|subdivision_type2 = States of Brazil|subdivision_name = Brazil|subdivision_name2 = [São Paulo state|leader_title = Mayor of São Paulo|leader_name = Gilberto Kassab (Democrats (Brazil))|area_note =|area_magnitude = 1 E9|area_total_km2 = 1522.989|population_as_of = 2006|population_metro = 22,677,506|area_metro_km2 = 8051|population_total = 11016703|population_density_km2 = 7233|population_density_metro_km2 = 2277|timezone = UTC-3|utc_offset_DST = -2|latd=23 |latm=47 |lats= |latNS=S|longd=46 |longm=58 |longs= |longEW=W|elevation_m = 760|elevation_ft = 2493.4|blank_name = [Human Development Index (2000)|blank_info = 0.841 – high|website = São Paulo|footnotes =-->

São Paulo ( Pronunciation ; (see tilde) Portuguese language for Paul the Apostle) is the capital of the States of Brazil of São Paulo (state) in the Southeastern Brazil of Brazil. It is located at (Latitude -23.59 Longitude -46.63)

The city has an area of "IBGE Área Territorial Oficial", Orcamento e Gestão, Accessed Sep 16 2006 and a population of 11,016,703 IBGE 2006 population estimate (2006 IBGE estimate), which makes it the List of cities by population in the southern hemisphere Citimayors website - Largest cities (metro area: about 19 million).

People from the city of São Paulo are known as paulistanos, while paulistas designates anyone from the whole of São Paulo state, including the paulistanos. The city's Latin motto is Non ducor, duco, which translates as "I am not led, I lead". A famous nickname for the city is "Sampa".

São Paulo is also known for its smog, the sheer size of its helicopter fleet, unreliable weather, and multitude of skyscrapers.

History s. in São Paulo the site where Brazilian independence was proclaimed in 1822Jesuit missionaries Manuel da Nóbrega and José de Anchieta founded the village of São Paulo dos Campos de Piratininga on January 25, 1554. Along with their entourage, they established a Mission (Christian) named Pátio do Colégio aimed at converting the Tupi-Guarani indigenous people of Brazil to the Catholic religion. Located just beyond the Serra do Mar cliffs, overlooking the port city of Santos (São Paulo), and close to Tietê River, the new settlement became the natural entrance from the South East coast to the vast and fertile plateau to the West that would eventually become the State of São Paulo.

In the 17th and 18th centuries, groups of explorers who called themselves the Bandeirantes traversed forests and new territories within the South American continent searching for gold, diamonds and other riches. The Bandeirantes are regarded as being responsible for a great deal of the Brazilian territorial expansion beyond the Tordesilhas Line and for the discovery of many mines of precious metals and stones. There are several monuments in honor of their contribution to the city, including the Monumento das Bandeiras, one of the landmarks of São Paulo.

São Paulo officially became a city in 1711. In the 19th century, it experienced a flourishing economic prosperity, brought about chiefly through coffee exports, which were shipped abroad from the port of the neighbouring city of Santos. After 1881, waves of immigrants from Italy, Portugal, Spain, Germany and many other countries emigrated to São Paulo in order to, among other reasons, work at the enormous coffee plantations established in the State. At the beginning of the 20th century, the coffee cycle had already plummeted due to, among other factors, a sharp decline in international coffee prices. The local entrepreneurs then started investing in the industrialization of São Paulo, attracting new contingents of overseas immigrants to the city. In addition to Europeans, Japanese and Arab immigrants arrived in large numbers in the first half of the 20th century. Along the 20th century, the booming economy of the city also attracted huge waves of immigrants from poor regions of Brazil, specially from Northeast Brazil.

However, due to competition with many other Brazilian cities, which sometimes offer tax advantages for companies to build manufacturing plants in situ, São Paulo's main economic activities have gradually left its industrial profile in favour of the services industry over the late 20th century. The city is home to a large number of local and international banking offices, law firms, multinational companies and consumer services.

Another important historical landmark is the Universidade de São Paulo's Law School, also known as Largo São Francisco, claimed to be one of the three first academic institutions in Brazil along with the Law School of Recife and the Universidade Federal do Amazonas. Originally installed into a monastery, it was founded by an Imperial Decree on 1 March 1828, shortly after the beginning of the Brazilian Empire, following the increasing need for lawyers and politicians. As wealthy Brazilians would often go to Europe to take undergraduate law courses, the Brazilian Emperor, Dom Pedro I, decided that it would be fitting to create a national law school. It began to attract students from across the country, who were a strong contributing factor to São Paulo's distinctly bohemian lifestyle.

Law and government In light of its economic and demographic weight, São Paulo has always played a pivotal role in Politics of Brazil. With a constituency larger than that of many Brazilian states, the mayor's office is viewed by politicians as a springboard for state and national-level offices.

São Paulo's most recent mayors were:

{| class="wikitable"! Mayor! Entry in! Left Office in! Political Party|-| [Gilberto Kassab

|-| [José Serra|-| [Marta Suplicy|-Dasmin

| [Celso Pitta, later PTN|-| [Paulo Maluf|-| [Luiza Erundina|-| [Jânio Quadros|-| [Mário Covas|}

Geography s in the city, built in the mid 20th century one of the world's most recent major buildings in the Gothic style.of the Greater São Paulo metropolitan area (centre), Jundiaí (above), Sao Jose dos Campos (right), and the coastal towns of Santos (São Paulo) and São Vicente, Brazil (below)

Physical setting São Paulo is located on a plateau that is part of the Serra do Mar (Portuguese for "Sea Range"), part of the vast region known as the Brazilian Highlands, with an average elevation of around 800 metres (2,625 ft) above sea level - though at a distance of only about from the Atlantic Ocean. This distance is covered by two highways, the Rodovia Anchieta and the Rodovia dos Imigrantes, (see "Transportation" section below) that roll down the range, leading to the portuary city of Santos (São Paulo) and the beach resort of Guarujá. Rolling terrain prevails within the urbanized areas of São Paulo but in the North of the city - where the Serra da Cantareira Range boasts higher elevations and a sizable remnant of the Mata Atlântica. The entire region is very stable tectonically, and no significant earthquake has ever been recorded.

The river Tietê was once a source of freshwater and leisure for São Paulo. However, in the latter half of the 20th century, it became grossly polluted by raw sewage and industrial effluents, much like its tributary river Pinheiros. However, a substantial clean-up program for both rivers are in the pipeline, financed by international development banks such as the Japan Bank for International CooperationBrazilian Departamento de Águas e Energia Elétrica, "International Competitive Bidding Tender Announcement". Neither river is navigable in the stretch that flows through the city, however water transport becomes increasingly important on the river Tietê further downstream (towards South, near Paraná River), as the river is part of the Río de la Plata basin.

There are no large natural lakes in the region, but the Guarapiranga and Billings reservoirs in the outskirts of São Paulo are used for power generation, water storage, and leisure activities such as sailing.

The original flora consisted mainly of a great variety of broadleaf evergreens. Today, non-native species are common, as the mild climate and abundant rainfall permit a multitude of tropical, subtropical and temperate plants to be cultivated, with eucalyptus being especially ubiquitous.

Climate According the Köppen climate classification São Paulo has a humid subtropical climate. Temperatures seldom reach 30 °C (86 °F) during summer, while frost is rare during winter. All-time record temperatures are 35.3 °C (96.6 °F) in November 15, 1985 and -2.1 °C (28 °F) in August 2, 1955 (both at the Mirante de Santana National Weather Station, in the north region). In the mountains around the city (Horto Florestal), -3.9 °C (25 °F) were registered also in August 2, 1955 (unofficially). Snow flurries were reported officially just on one occasion in June 25, 1918. Rainfall is abundant, especially in the warmer months, but rare between June and August. Neither São Paulo nor the nearby coast has ever been hit by a tropical cyclone, and tornado activity is uncommon. August is a month which, in the last years, despite of belonging to the winter, is mostly dry and hot, sometimes reaching temperatures of 28°C. This is a phenomenon called "veranico" (in portuguese, "little summer").

Metropolitan region in São PauloSão Paulo is officially inserted in a larger metropolitan region named "Grande São Paulo" ("Greater São Paulo"). The region holds 39 towns in total, and a population of more than 19 million inhabitants (as of 2005, according to IBGE).

Because São Paulo is sprawling like Los Angeles, it has two definitions for its metropolitan area. By its CSA (Combined Statistical Area) type definition of metropolitan area, it is the second largest city in the world with 29 million inhabitants (Complexo Metropolitano Expandido), Empresa Paulista de Planejamento Metropolitano S.A.. The more narrowly defined Greater São Paulo metropolitan area, which doesn't include Campinas, Baixada Santista and many other nearby areas (Região Metropolitana de São Paulo) has around 19.7 million inhabitants (2006), making it the fifth List of metropolitan areas by population metropolitan area in the world.

Boroughs The City of São Paulo is divided into 31 boroughs, called subprefectures (subprefeituras in Portuguese):Each subprefecture is divided into several districts (in most cases, two or three). The subprefectures with the largest number of districts are the boroughs of Sé, in the historical downtown, Butantã, the location of USP, Lapa, Penha and Mooca, all having eleven districts.Together with the administrative division, there is also a geographic radial division established in 2007 by the mayor Gilberto Kassab. The city is divided in ten regions (historical downtown, extended downtown, north, south, east, west, northeast, northwest, southeast and southwest), each one identified with a distinct color in the buses and in the street plaques. These divisions have no relationship with the subprefectures and districts, and, in some cases, the same district may be in two or more geographic regions.The district where the headquarters of the subprefecture is located receives the same name of the subprefecture, with exception of M'Boi Mirim. Some important districts which don't own a subprefecture

Economy São Paulo is the 19ª richest city of the world . According to data of IBGE, its Gross domestic product (GDP) in 2006 was R$ 175.253.702.274,00 (about US$ 95.000.000.000,00), equivalent to approximately 7% of the Brazilian GDP and 29% of all production of goods and services of the State of São Paulo.

One of the biggest financial centers of Brazil and the world , São Paulo's economy is going through a deep transformation. Once a city with a strong secondary sector, São Paulo's economy has become increasingly based on the tertiary sector, focusing on services and businesses for the country.

Many analysts point to São Paulo as an important global city, even though this assignment can be criticized considering its serious problems of social exclusion and spacial seggregation FERREIRA, João Sette Whitaker; The myth of the global city , presented thesis of doutorado to the FAUUSP, 2003. Although being the most important financial center of the country, São Paulo's economy also presents a high degree of informal economy .

Demographics arriving in São Paulo.São Paulo is the most ethnically diverse city of Brazil. After the end of the slave traffic in the country (1850), São Paulo started to replace the African manpower for immigrants in the coffee plantations. The pioneer in this new project was the senator Nicolau Vergueiro, who brought German people, Swiss people and Portuguese people to work in his own properties.http://www.faal.com.br/historiacidade.htm

After the abolition of the slavery (1888), São Paulo received large numbers of immigrants, most of them coming from Italy. In 1897, Italians were over half of the city's population. Portuguese, Spaniards, Germans, Lebanese, Syrians and Jews also came in significant numbers. In 1908, Japanese Brazilian started to immigrate.http://www1.folha.uol.com.br/folha/especial/2005/saopaulo451/cronologia.shtmlIn the mid-20th century, many people from the poor Northeast Brazil started to migrate to São Paulo.

Nowadays, people of 100 different ethnicity make São Paulo their home.http://www.radiobras.gov.br/especiais/saopaulo450/sp450_mat9_2004.htm Some communities are more visible:

Ethnically, São Paulo is made up of 7 million Whites (64%), 2.6 million Pardos (Brown) (23%), 527 thousand Blacks (5%), 456 thousand Asian Brazilian (4%)and 18.7 thousand Amerindians (0,01%).http://www.radiobras.gov.br/especiais/saopaulo450/sp450_mat15_2004.htm

Culture Music Adoniran Barbosa was a famous samba singer and composer that became successful in São Paulo's radio era. Born in 1912 in the town of Valinhos, Barbosa became the composer of the lower classes of São Paulo, particularly the poor Italian immigrants living in the quarters of Bexiga (Bela Vista) and Brás, and the poor who lived in the city's many shanties and cortiços (degraded multifamily row houses). The topics of his songs are drawn from the life of low-wage urban workers, the unemployed and the vagabonds. His first big hit was Saudosa Maloca ("Shanty of Fond Memories", 1951), where three homeless friends recall with nostalgia their improvised shanty, which was torn down by the landowner to make room for a building. In his Trem das Onze ("The 11 PM Train", 1964) record, which has been ranked one of the five best samba songs ever, the protagonist explains to his lover that he cannot stay any longer because he has to catch the last train to the Jaçanã suburb, for his mother will not sleep before he arrives. An old-school samba band called Demônios da Garoa still plays his songs in the traditional Bar Brahma venue in Centro.

In the late 1960s, a psychedelic rock band called Os Mutantes led the way in the national avant garde music scene. Their success is sometimes related to that of other tropicalia musicians, but they also had a musical style and ideas of their own. They were regarded as very paulistanos in their behaviour and clothing. Os Mutantes released five albums together before lead singer Rita Lee departed in 1972 to start a solo career. Although almost exclusively known in Brazil at that time, Os Mutantes became quite successful abroad after the 1990s (a well-spread legend has it that one Brazilian girl in an exchange programme in California, U.S., forgot one Mutantes' vinyl record in her American host family, leading the way to the popularisation of the band in that U.S. state). In 2000, a record sung in English, Tecnicolor, was released with artwork designed by Sean Lennon.

After the two oil price shocks in the 1970s, the country suffered from an economic recession during the 1980s, a phenomenon that was named the lost decade. A late punk and garage scene became strong in the 1980s, perhaps associated with the gloomy scenario of unemployment and few actual prospectives from the viewpoint of the youth. Underground rock bars and clubs in town were full of thriving musicians and artists waiting for their moment to come. Examples of bands originating from this movement include Ira! and Titãs. In the 1990s, drum & bass became another musical movement in São Paulo, with artists such as DJ Marky, DJ Patife, XRS, Drumagick, and Fernanda Porto. Movement website Many heavy metal bands also originated in São Paulo, such as Angra, Tortured Squad and Mad Dragzter. Many "alternative" cultures of São Paulo mingle at a small shopping mall dubbed Galeria do Rock (English: "Rock Gallery"), which includes shops which cater to a broad range of alternative niches.

The classical music in São Paulo is also very influent. Many of the most important classical brazilian composers who are still alive, like Amaral Vieira, Osvaldo Lacerda and Edson Zampronha are born and live in São Paulo. São Paulo has two important opera houses: Teatro Municipal de São Paulo and Theatro São Pedro, and some opera performances are sometimes hosted in other theaters like Credicard Hall. The São Paulo State Symphony is one of the outstanding orchestras in Latin America and in the world.

Literature To be expanded. Please help contributing and explaining the historical roles of these artists.

Sites of interest , at Paulista Avenue.São Paulo is a major cultural centre. The city has an ethnically diverse metropolitan area, with heavy Italian, Portuguese, African, Spanish, German, Arab and Japanese influences.

The city is known for its varied and sophisticated cuisine, ranging from Chinese cuisine to French cuisine, from fast food chains to five star restaurants. There are approximately 52 different types of cuisines in São Paulo, and more than 12,000 restaurantsSão Paulo Convention and Visitors Bureau, "City Facts", retrieved 05 June 2007. Other venues such as bars, pubs, lounges and discos cater to a variety of music tastes.

São Paulo is home to the São Paulo Museum of Art (MASP) and "Pinacoteca do Estado" art museums, a symphonic orchestra (São Paulo State Symphony (OSESP - based in the Sala São Paulo theatre), and a Formula One Grand Prix motor racing racing circuit (Autódromo José Carlos Pace).

Sights

Events There are some websites and magazines specialized in the cultural events in the city, including the Agenda Cultural de São Paulo (São Paulo's Cultural Calendar) Agenda Cultural.

Bienal de São Paulo The São Paulo Art Biennial is a cultural event hosted in town every two years. Almost 1 million people visited the 26th Bienal in 2004. Its theme was chosen to enable a wide range of artistic positions to feel comfortable. The concept of "Free Territory" involved various dimensions: it had a physical-geographical, a socio-political as well as an aesthetic dimension — the latter, of course, being of greatest interest in the context of this exhibition.

In order to emphasise the thematic unity of the overall exhibition, the invited artists and those representing the countries are mixed together on the 25,000 square metres of the spacious Oscar Niemeyer Pavilion. Despite the complexity of individual voices, the final result was intended to be a unity.

In addition to an intensification of the North-South dialogue inside Brazil, the Bienal's aims include the promoting of links between non-European cultures along a South-South orientation. The next edition of the Biennale will take place in 2008.

São Paulo Fashion Week Brazil first entered the international fashion circuit with the increasing reputation of famous Brazilian top models such as Adriana Lima, Gisele Bündchen, Alessandra Ambrosio, Fernanda Tavares, Ana Beatriz Barros, Izabel Goulart and Ana Hickmann, and the "discovery" of some fresh talents such as Alexandre Herchcovitch by some international fashion magazines. As a consequence of this, SPFW is the place to see and to be seen in Brazilian fashion scene, always attracting a number of international editors and models.

São Paulo Fashion WeekSão Paulo Fashion Week's Official Website is nowadays one of the most relevant fashion events in the country. It takes place twice a year at the building of Bienal de São Paulo.

São Paulo Gay Parade The tourist event in the city, the São Paulo Gay Parade attracted about 2.5 million people to Paulista Avenue in 2006. It is usually opened by the city's mayor. A large carnival runs along the avenue, with several Trio Elétricos. The last parade was held on June 10, 2007, and its organizers claimed a record-breaking 3.5 million attendees, though no official estimate was given by the Military Police (Brazil)BBC News website, "Sao Paulo holds Gay Pride parade", retrieved 14 June 2007. Folha Online website, "Parada Gay bate recorde, dizem organizadores", retrieved 14 June 2007..

March for Jesus The March for Jesus is a Protestant parade that takes place every year in Paulista Avenue, now in another downtown avenue. It is organized by the Igreja Renascer em Cristo, a Pentecostal denomination created in the 1980s and which has grown significantly in the first decade of the 21st century. In 2007, about three million people took part in the event, according to official estimates.

Electronic Language International Festival The Electronic Language International Festival (FILE) official website. is a non-profit cultural organization, whose purpose is to disseminate and to develop arts, technologies and scientific research, by means of exhibitions, debates, lectures, and courses. The festival promotes a yearly meeting in Brazil, in the city of São Paulo. The event is open to the public, and intends to expand its educational reach to local and eventually remote audiences, thus sharing the experiences learned with FILE, through technologies of education, communication, registration and memory. The File Festival show in its events web art, net.art, artificial life, hypertext, computer animation, real time teleconferences, virtual reality, panoramas, interactive movie, e- video, electronic art installations and robotics through interactive and immersive rooms.

Festival for Electronic Art Every two years, Videobrasil's International Electronic Art Festival brings groundbreaking work by cream-of-the-crop artists from all over the world to São Paulo. In keeping with the constant transformations in media and support, the curatorship has added installations, performances, VJs, CD-ROM art, and internet art to the programme.

The Festival includes a competitive exhibition of so-called southern circuit and an extensive parallel programme. Art shows, debates and meetings introduce new ideas and art work, setting new guidelines for contemporary art in Brazil.

Exhibitions featuring work by prominent electronic artists are also part of the Festival. Brazilian pioneers such as Rafael França and Olhar Eletrônico, and international guests such as Nam June Paik, Bill Viola and Gary Hill, have featured in the event’s past editions. Each edition has a theme of its own Video Brasil website.

Other events

Sports Football

As in the rest of Brazil, Association Football is by far the most important sport in the city. The major teams in São Paulo are Sport Club Corinthians Paulista, Sociedade Esportiva Palmeiras and São Paulo Futebol Clube. These teams are all playing in the Campeonato Brasileiro. The fourth most important club of the city is Associação Portuguesa de Desportos, playing in Campeonato Brasileiro. There are two other small clubs in the city, Clube Atlético Juventus and Nacional Atlético Clube. Another popular club in São Paulo is Santos Futebol Clube from the nearby coastal city of the same name, Santos (São Paulo).

Soccer/Football teams

{| class="wikitable"|-! scope="col" | Club! scope="col" | League! scope="col" | Venue! scope="col" | Established|-!style="font-weight: normal; text-align: center;" | Sport Club Corinthians Paulista| Campeonato Brasileiro Série A(First Division)| Estádio do Parque São Jorge - Not used for matches due to small size.

| 1910|-!scope="row" style="font-weight: normal; text-align: center;" | Sociedade Esportiva Palmeiras| Campeonato Brasileiro Série A(First Division)| Palestra Itália| 1914|-! scope="row" style="font-weight: normal; text-align: center;" | São Paulo Futebol Clube| Campeonato Brasileiro Série A(First Division)| Estádio do Morumbi| 1930|-! scope="row" style="font-weight: normal; text-align: center;" | Associação Portuguesa de Desportos| Campeonato Brasileiro Série B(Second Division)| Estádio do Canindé| 1920|-! scope="row" style="font-weight: normal; text-align: center;" | Clube Atlético Juventus| Campeonato Brasileiro Série C(Third Division)| Estádio Rua Javari| 1924|-! scope="row" style="font-weight: normal; text-align: center;" | Nacional Atlético Clube| Campeonato Brasileiro Série C(Third Division)| Nicolau Alayon Stadium| 1919|}

Corrida de Sao Silvestre The São Silvestre Race takes place every New Year's Eve (31 December). It was first held in 1925, when the competitors ran about 8,000 metres across the streets. Since then, the distance raced has varied, and it is now fixed at 15 km. Registration takes place from 1 October, with the maximum number of entrants limited to 15,000.

Brazilian Grand Prix The Brazilian Grand Prix (Portuguese language: Grande Prêmio do Brasil) is a Formula One championship race which occurs at the Autódromo José Carlos Pace in Interlagos. In 2006 the Grand Prix was the final round of the FIA Formula 1 World Championship. The Spanish driver Fernando Alonso won the 2006 drivers championship at this circuit by coming second in the race. The race was won by the young Brazilian driver Felipe Massa, driving for the Scuderia Ferrari team.

Other sports Volleyball, basketball and tennis are other major sports. There are several traditional sports clubs in São Paulo that are home for teams in many championships. The most important are Esporte Clube Pinheiros (volleyball, swimming, basketball and Team Handball), Clube Atlético Paulistano (basketball), Esporte Clube Banespa (volleyball, handball and futsal), Associação Atlética Hebraica (basketball) and São Paulo Athletic Club (rugby union).

International sports events The following international sports events have been held in São Paulo:



Transportation in downtown, one of two major roads connecting São Paulo to the Atlantic coastline through a range of hills known as Serra do Mar



Motorways The city is crossed by many of the most important Brazilian motorways, such as the BR-116, SP-270, Rodovia Anhangüera, Rodovia dos Bandeirantes, Rodovia Anchieta, Rodovia Castelo Branco and Rodovia dos Imigrantes. Automobiles are still the main means to get into the city.

Rodoanel São Paulo grew quickly from the 1940s to the 1980s and many roads and buildings were built without major planning. As a result, heavy traffic is common on the city's main avenues, and traffic jams are relatively common on its largest highways. The main means of commuting into the city is by car and by bus. An effective way of avoiding heavy vehicles traffic in the city, such as buses and trucks that crossed the city for other destinations, was planned by ex-governor Mário Covas as a road ring that circles the city, called Rodoanel Mario CovasDersa website, "Rodoanel Mario Covas", and is being built by DERSA. DERSA official website

Railways Although poorly served by heavy rail services, there is an infrastructure project to build a high-speed railway service linking Brazil's two largest cities, São Paulo and Rio de JaneiroNasdaq website 2007, "Brazil May Take Bids On Rio-To-Sao Paulo High-Speed Rail Link". The trains would go as fast as 280 km per hour (the trip would last about 1 hour and 30 minutes). This specific project is still waiting an official announcement by the Brazilian government, who is trying to obtain international financing through a public-private partnership.

The other important project is the "Expresso Bandeirantes", which is a medium-speed rail service (about 160 km/h) from São Paulo to Campinas, which would reduce the journey time from the current one hour and a half by car to about 50 minutes by train, linking the towns of São Paulo, Jundiaí, Campinas Airport, and Campinas city center. This service is also going to be connected to the railway service between São Paulo city center and Guarulhos Airport. Major works on this last railway service between São Paulo city center and Guarulhos Airport were announced by the São Paulo state government in 2007Secretaria dos Transportes Metropolitanos do Estado de São Paulo "PPP for construction of Guarulhos Airport Express railway", retrieved 05 Jun 2007, a milestone in the revitalisation and improvement of the Brazilian passenger railway services.

Airports São Paulo has three airports. There are two major airports in the São Paulo metropolitan area: São Paulo-Guarulhos International Airport (IATA Airport Code, for domestic and international flights) and Congonhas-São Paulo International Airport, (IATA Airport Code, for domestic flights). There's also a small airport known as Campo de Marte north of the Old Center for small, private aircraft and helicopters. Campo de Marte also hosts the Ventura Goodyear Blimp.

Congonhas Airport operates domestic and regional flights, mainly to Rio de Janeiro, Belo Horizonte and Brasília. Campo de Marte airport handles some private and small-sized airplanes. Guarulhos International Airport, also known to São Paulo dwellers as "Cumbica", is located 25 km North East of the city centre, in the neighbouring city of Guarulhos. Guarulhos airport operates both domestic and international flights.

On July 17, 2007, the worst airline accident in Brazil's history occurred at Congonhas airport, blamed on rain and a shortended runway. Nearly 200 people from the plane and on the ground died. Following the accident, pilots refused to land under rainy conditions and the Brazilian President signed an act so that ticket sales for flights to the airport be stopped. Aviation throughout the entire country reached a crisis state, which is slowly being overcome by new safety measures such as the introduction of a grooved pavement in the runways.

In 2005, about 33 million people went through the city's airports (mainly from Congonhas and Guarulhos International Airport, the only two operating commercial flights). Infraero - Brazil's main aviation authority - estimates that with the remodelling of Guarulhos Airport, São Paulo's airports will be able to handle about 45 million passengers a year within the next five years. There are also plans to expand the Viracopos-Campinas International Airport at Campinas, a city about 90 km North of São Paulo.

São Paulo has allegedly one of the highest per capita helicopter ownership in the world. The owners are an elite wealthy class who take advantage of around one hundred helipads and heliports to conveniently avoid heavy traffic Brazil's Elites Fly Above Their Fears Washington Post article dated June 1, 2002..

Underground and light rail system The city has 61 km of underground railway systems (34.6 km fully underground) (the São Paulo Metro Downloadable map (pdf) of the underground network retrieved from the Metro SP website., locally known as the Metrô), with 4 lines in operation and 55 stations, complemented by another 253,2 km of Companhia Paulista de Trens Metropolitanos (CPTM, or "Paulista Company of Metropolitan Trains") railways. Both CPTM and the underground railway lines carry some 3.5 million people on an average weekday, and a few new underground lines to be constructed are expected to add another million people to the system within the next five years. The projects expected to expand São Paulo's urban railway system from the current 330 km to more than 500 km on the next 10 yearsAll the main projects from the São Paulo railway and underground system for the next 10 years can be found on the Metrô website and CPTM (in Portuguese)..

São Paulo has three rapid transport systems:





São Paulo has no tram lines, although trams used to be common in the first half of the 20th centuryFor the history of São Paulo tramways, see Tramz website.

São Paulo's underground train system is modern, safe, clean and efficient, considered one of the best subway systems in the world, as certified by the NBR ISO 9001. It has four lines (the newest one, the Yellow line, is under construction, thus unavailable at the moment) and links to the metropolitan train network, the CPTM.











New underground lines By 2009, the new Line 4 - Yellow, will be ready for use. The state government has built some underground stations in the Line 5 - Lilac, but although operating fully, this line is yet to be integrated with the main subway system. The lilac line serves only the subprefecture of Santo Amaro, but it is planned to be extended and connected with the lines 1 and 2.

On January 12, 2007, at 3:15 p.m. local time, a huge hole in the ground opened by accident in the future line 4 (yellow) Pinheiros station of São Paulo's underground system. Seven people were killed (four of them in a passing shuttle bus which was swallowed and buried by the cave-in). The accident caused serious structural damage to many houses in the surrounding area, forcing their households to move to hotels and the homes of relatives. Prior to the accident, many reports concerning fissures in the walls of these houses had been noticed. Officials of the company hired by the State of São Paulo Government to build the station blamed excessive rain as a primary cause, although outside pundits say what really happened was insufficient soil analysis, since the future Pinheiros underground station is very close to the river Pinheiros. After the accident, another concern was a large crane that threatened to fall over neighboring homes, until it was later dismantled by engineers working in the project. News from UOL website Folha de S.Paulo newspaper website

Buses The bulk of the public transport (government and private companies) is composed of approximately 17,000 buses (including about 210 trolley buses), coloured uniformily according to the non-central region served (ex.: light green for the buses that go South West, dark blue for the Northern area). Until the past few years, there was a strong presence of informal transport vans (dab vans), but the vast majority of such vans are already fully registered with the city council, legalized and operating under the same color scheme of the main system.

Current critical problems Since the beginning of the 20th century, São Paulo has been the major economic center of Latin America. With the arrival of the two World war and the Great Depression, coffee exports to the United States and Europe were critically affected, leading wealthy coffee farmers to invest in industrial activities which eventually turned São Paulo into Brazil's largest industrial hub. The new job positions thereof contributed to attracting a significant number of immigrants from other regions of the country, especially northeastern states. From a population of merely 32,000 inhabitants in 1880, São Paulo increased its population to approximately 250,000 in 1900, 1,800,000 in 1940, 4,750,000 in 1960 and 8,500,000 in 1980. The effects of this population growth have been:



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Sao Paulo



 
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