São Paulo
About São Paulo
São Paulo (; Portuguese: [sɐ̃w ˈpawlu] ; Portuguese for 'Saint Paul') is the capital and largest city of the state of São Paulo. The largest city in Brazil, it is also the most populous city in the Americas. The city exerts international influence in commerce, finance, culture, gastronomy, arts, fashion, technology, entertainment and media, having been listed by UNESCO's Creative Cities Network as a "City of Film" and the title of "World Capital of Gastronomy", and by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network (GaWC) as an alpha global city. It is the largest urban area by population outside Asia and the most populous Portuguese-speaking city in the world. The city is named after Paul the Apostle and people from the capital city are known as paulistanos (while paulistas refers to people from the state of São Paulo more generally). Founded in 1554 by Jesuit priests, São Paulo is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities on the American continents. It played a strategic role during the Brazilian colonial period, serving as the center and starting point for the expeditions of the Paulista bandeirantes (pioneers) settlers for the territorial and economic expansion of the country; however, its economic opulence was consolidated during the Brazilian coffee cycle in the mid-19th century. From that period onward, it became the stage for landmark events in Brazilian history, such as the Cry of Ipiranga, the Modern Art Week, the 1932 Revolution, and the Diretas Já (Direct Elections Now) movement. In the 20th century, industrialisation consolidated its role as the main national economic hub, which made the city a cosmopolitan melting pot, home to the largest Arab, Italian, and Japanese diasporas in the world, with ethnic enclaves like Bixiga, Bom Retiro, and Liberdade, and people from more than 200 other countries. The city's metropolitan area, Greater São Paulo, is home to more than 20 million inhabitants and ranks as the most populous in Brazil and one of the most populous in the world.