São Paulo (Portuguese pronunciation: [sÉ Ìƒw̃ ˈpawlu] (listen)) is
one of the 26 states of the Federative Republic of Brazil and is named
after Saint Paul of Tarsus. As the richest Brazilian state and a major
industrial complex, often dubbed the "locomotive of Brazil", the
state, which has 21.9% of the Brazilian population, is responsible for
33.9% of the Brazilian GDP. São Paulo also has the second-highest
Human Development Index (HDI) and GDP per capita, the fourth-lowest
infant mortality rate, the third-highest life expectancy, and the
third-lowest rate of illiteracy among the federative units of Brazil,
being by far, the safest state in the country. The homicide rate is
3.8 per 100 thousand as of 2018, almost 1/4 of the Brazilian rate.
São Paulo alone has a bigger economy than Argentina, Uruguay,
Paraguay, and Bolivia combined. The economy of São Paulo state is the
most developed in Brazil. São Paulo is also the world's
twenty-eighth-most populous sub-national entity and the most populous
sub-national entity in the Americas.With more than 46 million
inhabitants in 2019, São Paulo is the most populous Brazilian state,
the most populous national subdivision in the Americas, and the third
most populous political unit of South America, surpassed only by the
rest of the Brazilian Federation and Colombia. The local population is
one of the most diverse in the country and descended mostly from
Italians, who began immigrating to the country in the late 19th
century; of the Portuguese, who colonized Brazil and installed the
first European settlements in the region; indigenous peoples, many
distinct ethnic groups; Africans, who were brought from Africa as
slaves in the colonial era and migrants from other regions of the
country. In addition, Arabs, Germans, Spanish, Japanese, Chinese, and
Greeks also are present in the ethnic composition of the local
population.The area that today corresponds to the state territory was
already inhabited by indigenous peoples from approximately 12,000 BC.
In the early 16th century, the coast of the region was visited by
Portuguese and Spanish explorers and navigators. In 1532 Martim Afonso
de Sousa would establish the first Portuguese permanent settlement in
the Americasâ€"the village of São Vicente, in the Baixada Santista.
In the 17th century, the paulistas bandeirantes intensified the
exploration of the colony's interior, which eventually expanded the
territorial domain of Portugal and the Portuguese Empire in South
America. In the 18th century, after the establishment of the Province
of São Paulo, the region began to gain political weight. After
independence in 1820, São Paulo began to become a major agricultural
producer (mainly coffee) in the newly constituted Empire of Brazil,
which ultimately created a rich regional rural oligarchy, which would
switch on the command of the Brazilian government with Minas Gerais's
elites during the early republican period in the 1880s. Under the
Vargas Era, the state was one of the first to initiate a process of
industrialization and its population became one of the most urban of
the federation.The city of São Paulo, the homonymous state capital,
is ranked as the world's 12th largest city and its metropolitan area,
with 20 million inhabitants, is the 9th largest in the world and first
in the Americas. Regions near the city of São Paulo are also
metropolitan areas, such as Campinas, Santos, Sorocaba and São José
dos Campos. The total population of these areas coupled with the state
capitalâ€"the so-called "Expanded Metropolitan Complex of São
Paulo"â€"exceeds 30 million inhabitants, i.e. approximately 75 percent
of the population of São Paulo statewide, the first macro-metropolis
in the southern hemisphere, joining 65 municipalities that together
are home to 12 percent of the Brazilian population.
one of the 26 states of the Federative Republic of Brazil and is named
after Saint Paul of Tarsus. As the richest Brazilian state and a major
industrial complex, often dubbed the "locomotive of Brazil", the
state, which has 21.9% of the Brazilian population, is responsible for
33.9% of the Brazilian GDP. São Paulo also has the second-highest
Human Development Index (HDI) and GDP per capita, the fourth-lowest
infant mortality rate, the third-highest life expectancy, and the
third-lowest rate of illiteracy among the federative units of Brazil,
being by far, the safest state in the country. The homicide rate is
3.8 per 100 thousand as of 2018, almost 1/4 of the Brazilian rate.
São Paulo alone has a bigger economy than Argentina, Uruguay,
Paraguay, and Bolivia combined. The economy of São Paulo state is the
most developed in Brazil. São Paulo is also the world's
twenty-eighth-most populous sub-national entity and the most populous
sub-national entity in the Americas.With more than 46 million
inhabitants in 2019, São Paulo is the most populous Brazilian state,
the most populous national subdivision in the Americas, and the third
most populous political unit of South America, surpassed only by the
rest of the Brazilian Federation and Colombia. The local population is
one of the most diverse in the country and descended mostly from
Italians, who began immigrating to the country in the late 19th
century; of the Portuguese, who colonized Brazil and installed the
first European settlements in the region; indigenous peoples, many
distinct ethnic groups; Africans, who were brought from Africa as
slaves in the colonial era and migrants from other regions of the
country. In addition, Arabs, Germans, Spanish, Japanese, Chinese, and
Greeks also are present in the ethnic composition of the local
population.The area that today corresponds to the state territory was
already inhabited by indigenous peoples from approximately 12,000 BC.
In the early 16th century, the coast of the region was visited by
Portuguese and Spanish explorers and navigators. In 1532 Martim Afonso
de Sousa would establish the first Portuguese permanent settlement in
the Americasâ€"the village of São Vicente, in the Baixada Santista.
In the 17th century, the paulistas bandeirantes intensified the
exploration of the colony's interior, which eventually expanded the
territorial domain of Portugal and the Portuguese Empire in South
America. In the 18th century, after the establishment of the Province
of São Paulo, the region began to gain political weight. After
independence in 1820, São Paulo began to become a major agricultural
producer (mainly coffee) in the newly constituted Empire of Brazil,
which ultimately created a rich regional rural oligarchy, which would
switch on the command of the Brazilian government with Minas Gerais's
elites during the early republican period in the 1880s. Under the
Vargas Era, the state was one of the first to initiate a process of
industrialization and its population became one of the most urban of
the federation.The city of São Paulo, the homonymous state capital,
is ranked as the world's 12th largest city and its metropolitan area,
with 20 million inhabitants, is the 9th largest in the world and first
in the Americas. Regions near the city of São Paulo are also
metropolitan areas, such as Campinas, Santos, Sorocaba and São José
dos Campos. The total population of these areas coupled with the state
capitalâ€"the so-called "Expanded Metropolitan Complex of São
Paulo"â€"exceeds 30 million inhabitants, i.e. approximately 75 percent
of the population of São Paulo statewide, the first macro-metropolis
in the southern hemisphere, joining 65 municipalities that together
are home to 12 percent of the Brazilian population.
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