Introduction to Sao Paulo

Look out the window as your plane descends to São Paulo's Congonhas airport, and you'll see nothing but high-rise towers as far as the eye can see.

Now the largest metropolis in South America -- and, with 17 million people spread over 3,000 square miles, the third-largest city in the world -- São Paulo nevertheless sprang from humble beginnings. In 1554, Jesuit priests founded a mission on a small hill, strategically close to the River Tietê. The mission developed into a small trading post and then, in the 17th and early 18th century, into a jumping-off point for Bandeirante expeditions traveling into the interior. By 1711 trade had developed sufficiently on the plateau for the market town of São Paulo to be incorporated as a city. The seeds -- literally -- of its future prosperity showed up just 12 years later with the arrival of the first coffee plants in Brazil.

The climate and soil surrounding São Paulo turned out to be perfect for coffee. With the arrival of the railway in 1867, large-scale cultivation exploded. São Paulo became one the largest coffee exporters in the world.

When slavery was abolished in Brazil in 1888, coffee growers set about looking for an alternate source of labor. São Paulo became one of the first cities in Brazil to encourage immigration. Italians and Japanese, and later eastern Europeans, Spanish, Portuguese, and Germans made the trek to São Paulo. To this day São Paulo remains the most culturally diverse city in Brazil.

During the postwar era São Paulo transformed itself into the megalopolis we know today. Foreign investment by car companies such as Ford, GM, and Volkswagen transformed the city into South America's largest car manufacturer. In the mid-1950s São Paulo surpassed Rio in population and kept growing.

Unfortunately, little foresight and rudimentary planning was devoted to the growth of the city. So while wages are the highest in the country, São Paulo is also the most chaotic city in Brazil.

Not that Paulistas would see it that way. Paulistas are proud of their work ethic and their "un-Brazilian" efficiency. Rio's loyal Cariocas retort that Paulistas are hopeless when it comes to having fun (and even worse when it comes to sex).

If Paulistas do seem to lack that Carioca flamboyance, it may just be from want of a place to show it off. Lacking beaches and mountains, Paulistas devote themselves entirely to urban pursuits. Their theater is the best in the country. Dining out is an almost religious observance. The music and nightlife never end. Shopping they pursue with the same zealousness as their Banderiante forbears sought gold.