sao paulo

Founded in 1554 by the Jesuit priests, São Paulo, is the main economic centre and the largest urban concentration in Brazil.

In São Paulo, the mixing of races and ethnic groups has increased with the passing of time and has had a profound effect on the city's cultural and economic life. Nowadays it is estimated to be the third largest Italian city in the world, the largest Japanese city outside Japan, the third largest Lebanese city outside Lebanon, the largest Portuguese city outside Portugal.

With an economic infrastructure that was established during the last century and a half, the city has an integrated industry, a network of services linked to the main world centres and extensive resources for information, leisure and culture. The city also offers considerable opportunities for leisure and one of its main assets is perhaps its range of restaurants, as varied as the origins of the Paulistas themselves, a gourmets paradise.