CITY OF SAO PAULO

Sao Paulo is the capital of Sao Paulo State, being the most populated city of Brazil and of the entire Southern Hemisphere of the planet. It’s the main city in Brazil be it in the social, cultural, economical and political points of view and, seen as a beta global city, playing significant influence in regional, national and international bounds.

Its metropolitan region has approximately 19.677.000 inhabitants, making it eh most populated metropolis in Brazil and the third in the world after Tokyo and Mexico City. The city’s motto (present in its armorial bearings) is the phrase in Latin "Non Ducor, Duco", which in Portuguese "I’m no lead, I lead".

Sao Paulo is a great cultural and entertainment centre and the richest city in South America. The city also presents a quite heterogeneous culture resulted by the diversity of social layers (economic and cultural) present in it. Besides being the largest production centre and consume market in the country, Sao Paulo is also a very large highway system junction linking Brazil from North to South. It is served by Campo de Marte, Congonhas, Cumbica and Viracopos airports, being the last two international and cargo airports.

> Weather

The weather in Sao Paulo is considered subtropical , with average annual temperature of 18,3 ºC, mild winters and summers of relatively high temperatures, raised by pollution effect and very high concentration of tall buildings. The hottest month, January, has average temperature of 21,2ºC and, July the coldest one, of 14,8ºC.

Due to being near the sea, maritimity is constant in the local weather, being responsible for avoiding days of intense heat in the summer or cold in the winter and making the city humid. Humidity levels have reasonable indexes all through the year, although pollution may achieve critical indexes in the winter due to thermal inversion phenomena and less frequent showers from May to September.

> Tourism

Sao Paulo stands out as a remarkable city for business tourism rather than leisure tourism. Large hotel nets whose target is corporate are present in the city and have branches spread in various of its centralities.

The city also promotes one of the most important fashion shows of the world, Sao Paulo Fashion Week.

Cultural tourism is also relevant to the city, especially when numerous international events happen in the city (like the Bienal de Artes de Sao Paulo and several concerts of international celebrities who usually choose only a few metropolis.).

The city has many cultural activities and its night life is taken as the east in the country. Over cinema theatres, 120 theatres, 71 museums and 39 cultural centres, some focused on the citizens of high acquisition power, others aimed at a more popular audience, which leads people to say "there’s always something to do in Sao Paulo."

The diversity of peoples and culture that build the city also contributes to its rich gastronomy making it a great tourism. This is proved by the wide variety of kitchens in the city ranging from 50 different types of cuisine.

> Curiosities

• Sao Paulo was elected by an American magazine as the 4th kindest city in the world.
• The city of Sao Paulo has the second largest helicopter fleet in the world, only behind New York.
• Sao Paulo has the 5th biggest zoo in the world.
• The city of Sao Paulo’s gross domestic product summed 76 billion dollars in 2005.
• During the 10th International Congress of Gastronomy, Hospitality and Tourism in 1997 the city of Sao Paulo got the title of "World Gastronomy Capital" from a committee made of representatives of 43 nations.
• Oscar Freire St. is one of the 8 most luxurious shopping streets in the world according to Mistery Shopping International.
• Sao Paulo is one the most important centres that generates fashion tendencies in the world.
• Nowadays, the city’s official dish is pizza, with a production of around 1 million units a day, only behind New York .
• Sao Paulo it the 3rd largest Italian city in the world.
• Sao Paulo is the largest Japanese city outside Japan.
• Sao Paulo is the largest Spanish city outside Spain.

Source: Wikepedia

To learn more about Sao Paulo visit the website Cidade de Sao Paulo - click here