SãO PAULO (STATE)

'São Paulo'

Flag of São Paulo
See other Brazilian States
'Capital'	São Paulo
'Largest City'	São Paulo
'Area'	248,176.7 km²
'Population'   - Total   - Density	40,404,010 (est. May 2006) 149.2 inh./km²
'Governor'	José Serra (PSDB)
'Demonym'	''Paulista''
'HDI' (2000)	0.820 – high
'Timezone'	GMT-3
'ISO 3166-2'

'São Paulo' ( pron. ) is a state in Brazil. It is the major industrial and economic powerhouse of the Brazilian economy. It is named after Saint Paul.

Contents

Geography

Economy

Transportation

Demographics

Government and politics

Culture

Sports

Federal senators

Main cities

See also

References

External links

Geography

The state of São Paulo has an area of approximately 248,800 km² (95,700 mi²), and a population of about 40 million (21.5% of the population of Brazil), which makes it the most populous country subdivision in the Western Hemisphere. The climates of São Paulo is tropical to subtropical, altitude being the largest contributor to what variation there is. The capital, São Paulo City, barely outside the tropics in the south of the state and about 800 meters (2,600 feet) above sea level, has daily minima and maxima averaging about 19°C and 28°C (66°F and 82°F) respectively at the warmest time of year and about 12°C and 22°C (54°F and 72°F) respectively at the coolest time of year. Temperatures reach around 33°C (91°F) on the hottest days and fall as low as 5°C (41°F) on the coldest nights. In the low-lying northwest of the state, temperatures average around 4°C (7°F) higher.
São Paulo is the richest state in Brazil. It has the second highest per-capita income (lower than only the Federal District) and, with the states of Rio Grande do Sul and Santa Catarina, the highest standard of living in Brazil, despite the poverty in some peripheral parts of the largest cities.

Economy

São Paulo state is responsible for approximately one-third of Brazilian GDP. The state's GDP (PPP) consists of 550 billion dollars, making it also the biggest economy of South America and one of the biggest economies in Latin America, second after Mexico. Its economy is based on machinery, the automobile and aviation industries, services, financial companies, commerce, textiles, orange growing, sugar cane and coffee production.
Wealth is unequally distributed in the state, however. The richest municipalities are centered around Greater São Paulo (such as Campinas, Jundiaí, Paulínia, Americana, Indaiatuba, São José dos Campos, Santos, etc.), as well as a few other more distant nuclei, such as around São Carlos, Ribeirão Preto and São José do Rio Preto. Some regions, such as Registro and the Bananal region, in the border with Rio de Janeiro, are very poor, some of them nearly as poor as municipalities in the Northeast of Brazil.

Transportation

São Paulo is the state with the largest system of transportation in Latin America, comprising roads, railways, fluvial lanes, airports, river and sea ports. The São Paulo City also boasts of a metro and a suburban railway system.

Demographics

Color/Race	Percentage
White	70%
Black	5%
Mixed-race	23%
Asian	1%

''Source: PNAD.'' [1]
São Paulo has the most diverse population of Brazil. Strong immigration in the late 19th century and early 20th century brought people from all over the world to the state.

The main ancestry groups in São Paulo are the Italians, the Spanish, and the Portuguese. There are about 15 million people of Italian descent living in the state, and it is one of the largest concentration of Italians outside Italy. São Paulo always had a large Spanish and Portuguese population since the 16th century, though most Spanish and Portuguese arrived in the state in the early 20th century.
The Arab population, mainly Christians of Lebanese or Syrian descent are 5 million, and people of German descent are about 3 million.
The population of Afro-Brazilian descent in São Paulo, although large, was historically not as numerous as in the sugar plantation regions further north in coastal Brazil. The proportion declined during the era of rapid European immigration in the early twentieth century and has incrased in recent decades, due to heavy migration of people from the more impoverished northeastern region of Brazil.
The people of Asian descent make up 2% of the population (about 1 million people)^[1]
, most of them of Japanese descent (see Japanese-Brazilian). São Paulo has the largest Japanese population outside Japan. Other Asian groups include Chinese and Koreans.

Government and politics

The current governor is José Serra (PSDB).
Like other parts of Brazil, São Paulo politics is controlled by the Brazilian Social Democracy Party (PSDB), in the government of the state since 1994 and elected in 2006 for more four years, and the Workers' Party (PT). Both parties have their origins in this state.
Local politicians of note (with party affiliations) include: former president of Brazil (1994-2002) Fernando Henrique Cardoso(PSDB), current president (2002–2010) Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva(PT), José Serra (PSDB), Geraldo Alckmin (PSDB), José Genoino (PT), José Anibal (PSDB), Antonio Palocci (PT), Eduardo Suplicy (PT), Aloízio Mercadante (PT), Marta Suplicy (PT), Romeu Tuma (DEM), and Paulo Maluf (Progressive Party). Maluf is a controversial figure in São Paulo City politics, and is frequently accused of corruption. However, many voters used to support him because of his several accomplishments during his governments, which the most notorious was the São Paulo Subway System (the first in Brazil) and the Costa e Silva expressway, also know as Minhocão. Maluf has, however, failed to be elected in the last elections for governor of the state of São Paulo and for Mayor of the state capital.
The latter two Brazilian presidents, Fernando Henrique Cardoso (PSDB) and Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT), were politicians from São Paulo, although Cardoso was actually born in the state of Rio de Janeiro, and Lula in Pernambuco. Cardoso lives in São Paulo city. Lula, the current president, has a residence in the nearby city of São Bernardo do Campo.
The State is run by the Legislative Assmebly of São Paulo.

Culture

The state of São Paulo is a region of a very mixed culture, as it was the land for many immigrants from other parts of the world, particularly from Europe (mostly from Italy), Middle East (mostly from Lebanon) and Eastern Asia (mostly from Japan). The São Paulo state was also, earlier, the land where lived the bandeirantes, the adventurers who penetrate the brazilian west and south searching for indigenous slaves and mineral wealth. This is the reason because of the culture of São Paulo influenced most of the western Brazil, and also the states of Minas Gerais and Paraná. A very distinctive character in the culture of São Paulo is the caipira tradition, which has also its own dialect. This culture is very present in the countryside, while the largest cities like São Paulo City, Campinas and Santos are more cosmopolitan.
Another distinctive character in the state of São Paulo is the called brazilian erudite culture. São Paulo was the home of the Brazilian Week of Modern Art (Semana da Arte Moderna), organized mostly by poets and artists from São Paulo, like Mário de Andrade, Oswald de Andrade, Menotti del Picchia and Anita Malfatti, or foreigners living in São Paulo, like Victor Brecheret and Lasar Segall. São Paulo was also the birthplace for many brazilian classical composers, like Carlos Gomes (the most famous brazilian opera composer), Elias Álvares Lobo and Camargo Guarnieri.

Sports

Football (soccer) is the most important sport in the state. The most important clubs from the state are São Paulo, Palmeiras, Corinthians, Santos, Portuguesa, Ponte Preta and Guarani. Other sports like Basketball and Volleyball are also quite popular. In the basketball, the most famous brazilian players like Hortência Marcari, Janeth Arcain and Oscar Schmidt are from São Paulo. Many of the internationally recognized racing drivers, like Emerson Fittipaldi, Ayrton Senna, Rubens Barrichello, Filipe Massa, Helio Castroneves are also from São Paulo.

Federal senators

★ Aloízio Mercadante - PT (Worker's Party)

★ Eduardo Suplicy - PT (Worker's Party)

★ Romeu Tuma - DEM (Democrat Party)

Main cities

Main articles: List of cities in São Paulo, Brazil

São Paulo, Guarulhos, Campinas, São Bernardo do Campo, Osasco, Santo André, São José dos Campos, Sorocaba, Ribeirão Preto and Santos.
Other cities include: Americana, Araçatuba, Araraquara, Bauru, Franca, Jacareí, Jundiaí, Limeira, Marília, Piracicaba, Presidente Prudente, São Carlos, São José do Rio Preto and Taubaté.

See also

★ List of municipalities in the state of São Paulo by population

★ List of famous Paulistas

References

External links

★ Official homepage

★ State Assembly (Assembléia Legislativa)