São Paulo

São Paulo is one of the 27 federative units of Brazil. It is located in the Southeast Region and is bordered by the states of Minas Gerais to the north and northeast, Paraná to the south, Rio de Janeiro to the east, and Mato Grosso do Sul to the west, as well as the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast. It is divided into 645 municipalities and has a total area of 248,219.481 square kilometers, which is equivalent to 2.9% of Brazil’s surface area, slightly larger than the United Kingdom. Its capital is the municipality of São Paulo, and its current governor is Tarcísio de Freitas.

With 44 million inhabitants, or about 22% of the Brazilian population, it is the most populous state in Brazil, the third most populous political unit in South America (surpassed only by Colombia and the rest of the Brazilian federation), and the most populous national subdivision in the Americas. The population of São Paulo is one of the most diverse in the country and is mainly descended from Italians, who began emigrating to the country in the late 19th century, Portuguese, who colonized Brazil and established the first European settlements in the region, native Amerindian peoples, African peoples, and migrants from other regions of Brazil. Other major immigrant waves, such as Arabs, Germans, Chinese, Spanish, and Japanese, also had a significant presence in the ethnic composition of the local population.