Santa Bárbara d'Oeste, São Paulo, Southeast Region, Brazil

🇧🇷 Santa Bárbara d'Oeste is a municipality in the State of São Paulo in Brazil. It is part of the Metropolitan Region of Campinas. It lies about 138 km north-west of the State capital. It is the 43rd most populous city in São Paulo and the sixth largest in the metropolitan region of Campinas. The city has an urbanization rate of 98.73%. As of 2009, there were 44 medical institutions in the city, and its human development index (HDI) is rated as 0.819 in relation to the rest of the state. The city is also the birthplace of Brazil’s automobile industry, being where the first car was produced in Brazil. Today, Santa Bárbara d'Oeste is subdivided into slightly more than 130 districts. Santa Bárbara d'Oeste has an important cultural tradition, ranging from craft and theater, to music and sports. American immigration has brought various influences on both cultural and tourist events and attractions, including the Party of Immigration, and the Fair of Nations. In the midst of the city is a cemetery, best known as the Graveyard of the Americans. It is administered by the Fraternity of American Descendants, who regularly hold meetings and events aimed at preserving the traditions and customs of American immigrants.

Since the 2000s, due to both public and private investment, the city is reaching an economic and social balance, becoming increasingly competitive in the metropolitan region of Campinas. Legal incentives for businesses that invest in the city were created, and the expansion of the Rodovia dos Bandeirantes, whose route passes through the municipality, has brought new opportunities for development.

Today, Santa Bárbara is one of the major economic forces in the metropolitan region of Campinas, with a good quality of life. The city has a strong industrial character, and is home to companies such as Romi, Usina Furlan, Goodyear, Canatiba, Mazak, and Denso. The city boasts good leisure facilities such as the Tivoli, which opened in November 1998, and is one of the main shopping malls and meeting points in the city with almost 700,000 visitors every month. It serves the population of Santa Bárbara d'Oeste, Americana, Nova Odessa, Sumaré and Hortolândia, as well as the regions of Piracicaba and Limeira.