OVERVIEW:
São Paulo is the largest city in Brazil, with a city population of about 10.4 million and almost 23 million in its metropolitan region. It is the capital of the Southeastern state of São Paulo, and also a beehive of activity that offers a jovial nightlife and an intense cultural experience. São Paulo is one of the richest cities in the southern hemisphere, though the typical inequality between the classes typically observed in Brazil is blatant. Being home to millions of immigrants, it's one of the most diverse cities in the world.
São Paulo, or Sampa as it is also often called, is also probably one of the most underrated cities tourism-wise, often shaded by other places in the Brazilian sun & beach circuit such as Rio de Janeiro and Salvador. It is in fact a great city to explore, with its own idiosyncrasies, the exquisite way of living of its inhabitants, not to mention the world-class restaurants and diverse regional and international cuisine available to all tastes. If there is a major attraction to this city, it is the excellent quality of its restaurants and the variety of cultural activities on display.
São Paulo is located on a plateau that is part of the Serra do Mar (Portuguese for "Sea Range"), itself a component the vast region known as the Brazilian Highlands, with an average elevation of around 800 metres (2,625 ft) above sea level - though at a distance of only about 70 kilometers (43 mi) from the Atlantic Ocean. This distance is covered by two highways, the Anchieta and the Imigrantes, that roll down the range, leading to the portuary city of Santos and the beach resort of Guarujá. Rolling terrain prevails within the urbanized areas of São Paulo but in the North of the city - where the Serra da Cantareira Range boasts higher elevations and a sizable remnant of the Atlantic Rain Forest. The entire region is very stable tectonically, and no significant seismic activity has ever been recorded.
The river Tietê was once a source of freshwater and leisure for São Paulo. However, in the latter half of the 20th century, it became grossly polluted by raw sewage and industrial effluents, much like its tributary river Pinheiros. However, a substantial clean-up program for both rivers are in the pipeline, financed by international development banks such as the Japan Bank for International Cooperation. Neither river is navigable in the stretch that flows through the city, however water transport becomes increasingly important on the river Tietê further downstream (towards South, near river Paraná), as the river is part of the River Plate basin. There are no large natural lakes in the region, but the Guarapiranga and Billings reservoirs in the outskirts of São Paulo are used for power generation, water storage, and leisure activities such as sailing. The original flora consisted mainly of a great variety of broadleaf evergreens. Today, non-native species are common, as the mild climate and abundant rainfall permit a multitude of tropical, subtropical and temperate plants to be cultivated, with eucalyptus being especially ubiquitous.
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