Situated 760 metres above sea level, the city of São Paulo, in the state of the same name, occupies an area of approximately 1500 square kilometres, of which almost two-thirds is urbanised and the rest rural. These two areas together are known as Grande São Paulo (Greater São Paulo) and, with more than 15 million people, have the largest population of any city in South America.

The old centre, the suburbs, and a huge number of districts that make up this megalopolis all help to reveal the history of the city and its population. Initially inhabited by Native Americans and later by Portuguese colonists, the city received a considerable population of African slaves in the 17th century, as did almost all the south, central and north-eastern regions of the country. Slaves provided the main source of manual labour for the coffee and sugar cane plantations. São Paulo's population, however, grew very slowly until the middle of the 19th century. At this time, the area we now know as Greater São Paulo was still made up of small scattered settlements, concentrated mainly in the present-day locations of the Pinheiros, Freguesia do Ó and Lapa districts.

As coffee became the biggest commodity in the area in the 1870s, the city prospered. Railways linked São Paulo with neighbouring Santos harbour, and banks and export companies contributed additional wealth, enticing more and more people and leading to the development of new districts. From 1870 onwards, the urbanisation of the city took place as swamps were transformed into gardens. Brás?one of the oldest districts and the former estate of the Portuguese trader José Brás?along with the Mooca and Lapa districts became the new homes of Italian immigrants, who flocked to the city at the end of the 19th century. The immigrants changed the culture of São Paulo, and heavily influenced the paulista spoken accent, which is markedly different from any other in Brazil. At the end of the 19th century and beginning of the 20th, many farms were subdivided, and new districts such as Santa Efigênia, Bom Retiro, Consolação and Campos Elísios, (where the well-to-do lived at that time) came into being.

Thanks to the construction of the first power station in 1890, electrically-driven trams were introduced to the city. In the 20th century, industrial development created new urban areas towards the east, west and south, following the railway lines and the Tietê, Tamanduateí and Pinheiros river valleys. Japanese immigrants, who arrived at the beginning of the 20th century to work in agriculture, settled in what is today one of the most traditional areas of São Paulo: the Liberdade district. Today, this area exhibits many aspects of Japanese culture, including some of the best Japanese restaurants in the world.

Smaller, older settlements around the city were incorporated into the metropolitan region over the course of time. From 1915 onwards, very elegant districts started to spring up, such as those of Jardim Europa, Jardim América and Jardim Paulista, which have today become sophisticated commercial zones known collectively as the ?Jardins." The Avenida Paulista is the Wall Street of São Paulo, boasting some of the most expensive office space available, as well as epitomising the contrast of the different eras that so characterise São Paulo. Down one side of the street are historic neighbourhoods and buildings, such as the Teatro Municipal, Viaduto do Chá and the Vale do Anhangabaú; and down the other side, one will find residential and modern office constructions with well-planned architecture and engineering, notably the Jardins district itself. Also on this side are the Jóquei Clube and the Morumbi district, where, besides the big mansions and luxurious residential buildings, you can find the Morumbi Stadium, one of the venues chosen by FIFA for the first World Club football tournament.

Another district notable for both its culture and its gastronomy is Vila Madalena, which possesses a high number of bars and restaurants, and an intense nightlife that attracts professionals, university students and artists. Most of São Paulo's districts have acquired a unique personality as, for example, the Bela Vista (also known as Bexiga), where you can find most of the city's theatres, and where you can frequent numerous bars featuring forró music (traditional music from north-eastern Brazil).

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