Campinas, São Paulo, Southeast Region, Brazil

🇧🇷 Campinas is a Brazilian municipality in São Paulo State, part of the country's Southeast Region. It is the third most populous municipality in São Paulo state. The city's metropolitan area, Metropolitan Region of Campinas, contains twenty municipalities in total.

History The city was founded on July 14, 1774, by Barreto Leme. It was initially a simple outpost on the way to Minas Gerais and Goiás serving the "Bandeirantes" who were in search of precious minerals and Indian slaves. In the first half of the 19th century, Campinas became a growing population centre, with many coffee, cotton and sugarcane farms.

The construction of a railway linking the city of São Paulo to Santos' seaport, in 1867, was very important for its growth. In the second half of the 19th century, with the abolition of slavery, farming and industrialization attracted many foreign immigrants to replace the lost manpower, mainly from Italy.

Coffee became an important export and the city became wealthy. In consequence, a large service sector was established to serve the growing population, and in the first decades of the 20th century, Campinas could already boast of an opera house, theaters, banks, movie theaters, radio stations, a philharmonic orchestra, two newspapers (Correio Popular and Diário do Povo), a good public education system (with the Escola Normal de Campinas and the Colégio Culto à Ciência), and hospitals, such as the Santa Casa de Misericórdia (a charity for poor people).

And the Casa de Saúde de Campinas (for the Italian community, formerly known as Circolo Italiani Uniti), and the most important Brazilian research centre in agricultural sciences, the Instituto Agronômico de Campinas, which was founded by Emperor Pedro II. Finally, the construction of the first Brazilian highway in 1938, between Campinas and São Paulo, the Anhanguera Highway, was a turning point in the integration of Campinas into the rest of the state.

Campinas was the birthplace of opera composer Carlos Gomes (1836 — 1896) and of the President of the Republic Campos Salles (1841 — 1913). It was home for 49 years to Hércules Florence, reputed as one of the early inventors of photography, photocopying and the mimeograph.

Geography The area of the city, according to the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics, is 795.697 square km (307.220 square miles); 238.3230 square km (92.017 square miles) of this is the urban area and 557.334 square km (215.188 square miles) remaining constitute greater Campinas. It is located 96 km (60 miles) north-west of São Paulo. Its neighboring cities are Paulínia, Jaguariúna and Pedreira, north; Morungaba, Itatiba and Valinhos in the east; Itupeva, Indaiatuba and Monte Mor, south, and Hortolândia in the west.

Ecology Most of the original vegetation of the city was largely eliminated. Like 13 other municipalities in the metropolitan region of Campinas, the city is subject to some environmental stress, and Campinas is considered one of the areas liable to flooding and silting; it now has less than 5% of vegetation cover in total area.

Trying to reverse this situation, several projects have been and are being conducted and planned, such as building corridors, and the regulation of the Management Plan of Environmental Preservation Area (APA) in Campinas. There are also several environmental projects to combat the destruction of riparian forests located along the banks of the Atibaia river, which has a high level of pollution. Today, Campinas houses the area of relevant ecological interest (ARIE) Mata de Santa Genebra, 251 acres (1.02 km²), established in 1985 by the city of Campinas' Fundação José Pedro de Oliveira and regulated by the Brazilian Environment and Renewable Natural Resources Institute (IBAMA). This is the now second-largest urban forest of Brazil, behind only the Tijuca Forest, in Rio de Janeiro.

The city also has smaller urban forest groves and reserve parks, such as the Bosque dos Jequitibas (installed in 1881), the Bosque dos Italianos (transl. Italian's Grove), the Bosque dos Alemães (transl. German's Grove), Guarantã's Park, as well as the larger Parque Portugal (Taquaral Lagoon, transl. Park and Lagoon of Bamboos), "Dom Bosco" Ecological Park and Monsenhor "Emílio José Salim" Ecological Park.

Metropolitan region As of 2010, Campinas became an official metropolitan region (RMC — Região Metropolitana de Campinas), with 19 municipalities, with a total of 2.8 million inhabitants and a total land area of 3,348 square km (1,293 square miles) (data as of 2010), adjacent to the São Paulo metropolitan region (RMSP) and São José dos Campos (RMVale). The Campinas Metropolitan area also comprehends a gross domestic product (GDP) of R$70.7 billion (around U$42 billion). • Americana • Artur Nogueira • Cosmópolis • Engenheiro Coelho • Holambra • Hortolândia • Indaiatuba • Itatiba • Jaguariúna • Monte Mor • Nova Odessa • Paulínia • Pedreira • Santa Bárbara d'Oeste • Santo Antônio de Posse • Sumaré • Valinhos • Vinhedo.

The Campinas municipality is also the administrative centre of the micro- and meso-regions of the same name. The micro-region includes the RMC (Metropolitan Region of Campinas) and the municipality of Elias Fausto; the meso-region also includes the following municipalities: Aguaí, Amparo, Águas da Prata, Águas de Lindóia, Caconde, Casa Branca, Divinolândia, Espírito Santo do Pinhal, Estiva Gerbi, Itapira, Itobi, Lindóia, Mococa, Mogi Guaçu, Moji-Mirim, Monte Alegre do Sul, Pedra Bela, Pinhalzinho, Pirassununga, Porto Ferreira, Santa Cruz das Palmeiras, Santo Antônio do Jardim, São João da Boa Vista, São José do Rio Pardo, São Sebastião da Grama, Serra Negra, Socorro, Tambaú, Tapiratiba, Vargem Grande do Sul and Vinhedo.

Other cities which are geographically, historically or economically tied to the meso-region of Campinas could be mentioned: Araras, Atibaia, Bragança Paulista, Capivari, Conchal, Iracemápolis, Itu, Itupeva, Jarinu, Jundiai, Limeira, Louveira, Mombuca, Morungaba, Piracicaba, Rafard, Rio das Pedras, Salto and Tuiuti.

Economy Campinas is the richest city in the metropolitan region of Campinas and the 10th richest city in Brazil, showing a gross domestic product (GDP) of 36.68 billion reais (2010), which represents almost 1% (0.998%) of all Brazilian GDP. Currently, the city concentrates 10% of industrial production of Brazil. The paper highlights the high-tech industries and metallurgical park, considered the capital of Silicon Valley Sterling.

The region hosts 17,677 industries, the second largest number in the State of São Paulo.

The petrochemical complex is centered in the Southeastern section, a few miles from Campinas, near the refinery of Petrobras Planalto Paulista (Replan), the largest in Brazil one of the largest in Latin America, and has companies like Dupont, Chevron, Shell, Exxon, Group Ipiranga, Eucatex, Rhodia, and others. It is the hub of companies and Blue Trip. The largest companies have a global turnover of more than $80 billion, larger than many Latin American countries.

The city has several shopping malls, two of the largest being Iguatemi Campinas and Shopping Parque Dom Pedro. Campinas has, within its metropolitan area, the largest cargo airport for import/export, Viracopos International Airport, a significant entity in the international transport of cargo.

Campinas' main economic activities are agriculture (mainly coffee, sugarcane, and cotton), industry (textiles, motorcycles, cars, machinery, agricultural equipment, food and beverages, chemical and petrochemical, pharmaceuticals, paper and cellulose, telecommunications, computers and electronics, etc.), commerce and services.

The Campinas Metropolitan Region is home to many national and international high-tech industries and IT companies, including IBM, Dell, Motorola, NXP, Lucent, Nortel, Compaq, Celestica, Samsung, Alcatel, Bosch, 3M, Texas Instruments, CI&T and Daitan.

The airline TRIP Linhas Aéreas is headquartered in Campinas. The Viracopos airport is also the operational hub of Azul Airlines.

The automotive industry is also heavily represented: General Motors, Mercedes-Benz, Honda, Magneti Marelli, Eaton Corporation, Tenneco, Toyota and many others are present. It also has a sizable pharmaceutical industry sector, with companies like Medley Farma, EMS Farma, Altana, Merck Sharp and Dohme, Cristália, Valeo, etc.

In addition the region is home to many research centres and universities, such as the Brazilian Synchrotron Light Laboratory, Brazilian Nanotechnology National Laboratory, National Laboratory of Science and Technology of Bioethanol, Brazilian Biosciences National Laboratory, Centro de Pesquisa e Desenvolvimento em Telecomunicações (CPqD), CenPRA, Embrapa, Unicamp, Facamp and Puccamp. According to the Times Higher Education 2007 World University Rankings, the University of Campinas (Unicamp) is the 177th best university in the world, and the 2nd best in Latin America (after the University of São Paulo in 176th place).

Campinas also boasts the largest number of high-tech business incubators and industrial parks (a total of eight), such as the CIATEC I and II, Softex, TechnoPark, InCamp, Polis, TechTown, Industrial Park of Campinas, and others.

The presence of one of the largest oil refineries in Latin America (350,824 barrels (55,776.6 m3) of crude per day), operated by Petrobras in the neighboring county of Paulínia, has attracted many petrochemical companies to the Campinas area, including DuPont, Rhone-Poulenc, and Royal Dutch Shell.

The Brazilian Pró-Álcool Program was developed in Campinas: a whole industry based on the use of ethanol as a combustible for motor vehicles, going from a new sucrose-rich sugarcane, to alcohol refineries, a huge distribution system, and, most recently, an internal combustion engine capable of using either gasoline or ethanol.

Other examples of Campinas-bred technologies are fiber optics, lasers for telecommunications and medical applications, integrated circuits design and fabrication, satellite environmental monitoring of natural resources, software for agriculture, digital telephone switches, deep-water oil exploration platforms and technologies, biomedical equipment, medical software, genetic engineering and recombinant DNA technologies for food production and pharmaceutics, and food engineering. Because of this, Campinas has been called the Brazilian Silicon Valley.

Socio-economic conditions Despite Campinas' position of wealth and social and economic opportunity vis-a-vis the rest of the country, the average per capita income of little more than US$17,700 per year clearly indicates that there are problems. If re-evaluated in terms of PPP (Purchasing Power Parity), Campinas' average income looks better (roughly US$12,300 per year).

Culture The responsible for the cultural sector of Campinas is the City Department of Culture, which aims to plan and implement the cultural policy of the municipality through the development of programs, projects, and activities aimed at cultural development. The city has always been a cultural centre in the State of São Paulo. This has increased greatly with the proliferation of universities. Campinas has three theater houses, a symphony orchestra, (considered one of the three best of the country), now under Principal Conductor Parcival Módolo and Karl Martin, classical music ensembles, choral groups, 43 movie screens and over a dozen cinemas, dozens of libraries (including a municipal library), art galleries, museums, etc.

Tourism and recreation Tourist attractions include: • the Bosque dos Jequitibás, an urban preserved wooded area reminiscent of the original rain forest that covered the region in the past: it has a small zoo with local fauna and a natural history museum • the cathedral, which was built in the 19th century; its interior is entirely made of jacaranda wood sculptures and works. It was made using a technique called "taipa de pilão" using clay and rocks – it is one of the largest buildings in the world using this construction technique; • the Central Market, with typical stall stands full of the fresh products of the region • the old Central Railway Station, now converted to a cultural center; • Centro de Convivência, a cultural complex of theater, an open arena for concerts and spectacles, and a plaza where Campinas Symphony Orchestra often plays to the public, during on Sundays this place receive many art exhibitors known by most people as Hippie Fair. • the Castelo (Castle) Water Tower, which provides views over the downtown; • the Historical Railway Society of Campinas, which maintains the Anhumas station, a set of steam locomotives and full carriages and which promotes regular trips along a picturesque region dotted with old coffee farms; • the Lagoa do Taquaral Park, a much-beloved urban lagoon and adjacent wooded park, includes: a planetarium, a science museum, an indoor sports stadium and swimming pool, kart racing (now deactivated) and model airplane areas, an open concert auditorium, a floating caravel replica, an electric tramway (streetcar line), pedalos, plus facilities for several types of sports, including a long track for running and walking; Campinas' readers of the Correio Popular newspaper and the Cosmo Website voted in July 2007 for the "Seven Wonders of Campinas".

The mountain region around Campinas has better travel and stay opportunities, such as in the spa cities of Serra Negra and Águas de Lindóia; and in Holambra, a rural region which was populated by immigrants from the Netherlands, with an annual flower festival and typical buildings and restaurants.

Seven Wonders of Campinas The Seven Wonders of Campinas is a list of the most popular tourism spots in the city of Campinas, as voted for by the readers of Correio Popular newspaper and the Cosmo On-Line web portal. They are:

Culture Station The old train station of Companhia Paulista Railways, a symbol of the city of Campinas and of the development of the State of São Paulo, changed its name, was restored and converted into an important centre for recreation and culture for the entire population. Workshops, concerts and other cultural activities are held throughout the year.

Metropolitan Cathedral The construction of the Cathedral began in October 1807 and extended for more than seventy years until its inauguration in December 1883. The entire structure was made of compressed clay, a construction technique of old tradition in São Paulo. The internal decoration is made of dark jacaranda wood, The four bells in the main tower are a century old.

Parque Portugal Aimed at leisure and sports, the "Bamboo Grove Lagoon" brings together a wide variety of recreational and cultural resources, such as paddleboats, an exact replica of the caravel ship that brought Pedro Álvares Cabral to discover Brazil, picnic groves, bird nurseries; an area with fitness equipment, playgrounds, snack bar, restrooms and a scenic 4-kilometre (2.5 mi) electric tramway that is operated by restored historic tramcars once used for regular transportation in Campinas.

Jockey Club Building Inaugurated in 1925, this building held the headquarters of the Jockey Club of Campinas. The building has a classic facade and interior inspired by French palaces of the late 18th century.

Old Market Located in the central region of Campinas, the Municipal Market, better known as "Mercadão", was inaugurated on April 12, 1908, by Mayor Orosimbo Maia. The work of architect Ramos de Azevedo, is still working today, with its colorful stalls full of fresh produce from the fields.

Army Cadets School The project, in Spanish colonial style, was designed and conducted by the architect Ernani Do Val Penteado and inaugurated on January 23, 1959. Since 1961 the Escola Preparatória de Cadetes do Exército (Preparatory School of the Brazilian Army) of Campinas has become the legitimate custodian of the traditions of the preparatory education of the Brazilian Army. Its one-year course has university level and prepares the future cadets of the Academia Militar das Agulhas Negras.

Castle Tower This water tower was built between 1936 and 1940 in the highest altitude point inside the urban area, 735 meters above sea level. From its gazebo on the top, one can enjoy a wide panorama view of the city.

Universities and colleges • Unicamp (Universidade Estadual de Campinas); • IFSP (Instituto Federal de São Paulo); • INPG Business School (Instituto Nacional de Pós-Graduação) - INPG • PUC-Campinas (Pontifícia Universidade Católica de Campinas); • UNIP (Universidade Paulista); • FACAMP (Faculdades de Campinas); • METROCAMP (Faculdade Integrada Metropolitana de Campinas); • IPEP (Faculdades Integradas IPEP); • UNISAL (Centro Universitário Salesiano de São Paulo); • USF (Universidade São Francisco); • ESAMC (Escola Superior de Administração, Marketing e Comunicação); • Universidade Mackenzie; • FAC (Faculdades Comunitárias de Campinas); • Faculdades Fleming; • Faculdade de Odontologia São Leopoldo Mandic. • Fatec Campinas.