Life in Different Cities: Sao Paulo, Brazil

"The foremost industrial center in Latin America, São Paulo is Brazil’s most populous city. It is also the most populous city in the Southern Hemisphere, with one of the largest metropolitan populations in the world ... "

"From the dense vegetation of the Amazon rainforest to the open sands of Atlantic beaches, Brazil encompasses a vast territory of more than 8.3 million square kilometers (3.2 million square miles) ... "

National Geographic Education's resources relevant to Sao Paulo.

Connect to Barcelona's Field Studies Centre. Access pull and push factors for rural/urban migration to Sao Paulo and more.

"São Paulo is Brazil's largest urban area and ranks among the top 10 most populous in the world. Between 1950 and 1975, São Paulo was also among the globe’s fastest growing urban areas ... "

"In today’s globalized and interdependent world, over half the world’s population (54%) lives in urban areas. This radical global urban transformation, from a 30% urban world in 1950, to a predicted 66% urban world in 2050, will bring further profound changes to the size and spatial distribution of the global population ... "

"São Paulo is a city in south east Brazil. An estimated 20 million people live there and over 15% of these people live in informal shanty towns or favelas. As migrants move into the city from rural areas they will move first to the informal favela areas where they build shelter and makeshift homes for themselves ... "

"São Paulo is Latin America's power-house. A centre of commerce, dynamism and innovation, Brazil's largest state has a GDP bigger than Argentina. Last year its GDP grew 2.6%, twice the national average ... "

" ... Over the years, the village expanded beyond the mud fence, which eventually collapsed. It was from São Paulo that the so-called Bandeirantes – prospectors who hunted, killed and enslaved thousands across the land, and who extended the Brazilian territory in search of wealth – set off ... "