Wellcome to São Paulo Profa Dra Suzana Lopes Salgado Ribeiro

São Paulo is a megalopolis in the south of Brazil. With more than 14 million inhabitants São Paulo is the most populous city in Brazil. And its metropolitan area, with more than 23 million people, is one of the biggest in the world.

The main tourist attractions in São Paulo are centered in two areas: downtown and Avenue Paulista.

In the Downtown area you will find the cathedral, the town's skyscrapers, the historical buildings, and the shopping streets.

In downtown São Paulo, one of the highlights is the building of Banespa. Buildings in central district are tall. Shops sell clothes, electronics, and other things. The population of this area has declined steadily since the 1970s. Despite ambitious revitalisation plans, wealthy residents and businesses still move out.

In Avenue Paulista you find the headquarters of Brazil's biggest companies, cultural institutions, some historical building, shopping malls and restaurants.

Avenida Paulista is a long avenue surrounded by skyscrapers. This is a good place to start to know and visit São Paulo. The area is quite safe.

Sao Paulo is ethnically diverse and young: 66% of its population is under 20.

The city has remained multicultural since the nineteenth century, when the region’s coffee plantations attracted workers from Spain, Italy and Japan. Many residents are of mixed ethnic origins, descendants of migrants from many parts of the world.

Sao Paulo is the largest Japanese city outside Japan, the largest Portuguese city outside Portugal, the largest Spanish city outside Spain, and the largest Lebanese city outside Lebanon. More recent migrants from Brazil’s poorest north-east regions form a large proportion of the city’s low- paid service workers.

Sao Paulo is prosperous compared to the rest of Brazil, but poverty, unemployment and crime remain major challenges. Ah! And the number of cars on the streets (transit, car traffic).

In contrast, the city’s wealthy population is reflected by its more than 1,000 private helicopters, a rate of ownership similar to New York City and Tokyo.

The population is growing most in peripheral areas with the poorest infrastructure.