Sao Paulo Travel Guide: Sao Paulo Introduction

São Paulo is the biggest city in South America, the economic heart of Brazil, and amongst the largest metropolises in the world. With a population that has grown to over 20 million (metropolitan area), São Paulo is predominantly a city of immigrants: millions of Italians arrived here in the 19th century, followed by a massive Japanese immigration wave. Smaller groups of Lebanese and Germans, among others, followed. In the second half of the 20th century, mass immigration from rural Brazil, mainly from the northeast, changed the demographic landscape of São Paulo drastically as people sought to escape the drought and poverty of the arid sertão. This ethnic diversity and industrial development has produced Brazil’s largest, most cultured, and best educated middle class.

Travelers in São Paulo will experience a dynamic city, with skyscrapers that spread all over the enormous metropolitan area, restaurants to suit the most extravagant tastes, and a nightlife that lasts until the sun rises.