Everything about Campinas totally explained
Campinas is a city and county (
município) located in the state of
São Paulo,
Brazil.
The county area is 797,6 km². Population is approximately 1,059,420 (2004 est.), with over 98% in the urban region. Its
metropolitan area, defined in 2000, has some 19 cities and a population of 3,2 million people. Campinas is also the administrative center of the meso-region of the same name, with 3,641,766 inhabitants (2005 est.) and 49 cities. It is the third largest city in the state, after
São Paulo (10,927,985 inhab. - 2006 est.) and
Guarulhos (1,283,253 inhab. - 2006 est.).
Geography
Ecology
Campinas has a relevant ecological interest area (
Portuguese: Área de Relevante Interesse Ecológico) — Santa Genebra forest, with 2.51 km², created in 1985 and regulated by IBAMA, Campinas City Hall and José Pedro de Oliveira Foundation.
Among the public parks, there are the "Bosque Municipal", the "Lagoa do Taquaral Park", the "Ecological Park of Campinas" and the "Lagoa da UNICAMP" Park. These parks feature
jogging and
bicycle paths.
Climate
Campinas is located on the São Paulo
plateau, in the transition area to the
Serra da Mantiqueira mountain range. It has an excellent
climate throughout the year, characterized by mostly sunny and hot days (more than 200 days in the year), a mild
temperature range (average yearly temperature of 22.4 degrees Celsius, ranging from an average minimum of 7.2 degrees to a maximum of 35.9 degrees) and a constant regime of cool
winds. Due to this, Campinas has little air
pollution and
smog and the local
airports almost never close due to bad weather. Thanks to a regular
rain regimen, the region's vegetation is
evergreen, and some crops, such as
sugarcane have three harvests per year.
The wet season is from mid-October to mid-June, with heavier rains particularly in January and February, and the dry season is from mid-May to mid-September. Average
rainfall is 24.3 mm in August and 267.8 mm in January. Average
humidity ranges from 37% (August) to 56% (January).
In the region around Campinas near the state of
Minas Gerais there are a number of cities enjoying an even milder mountain climate, such as
Atibaia,
Águas de Lindóia,
Itapira,
Itatiba,
Joanópolis,
Serra Negra,
Socorro, where several water
spas are located.
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 center, with many
coffee 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 having an
opera house,
theaters,
banks, movie theaters,
radio stations, a
philharmonic band, 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), and the most important Brazilian research center 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 for
Hércules Florence, reputed as one of the early inventors of
photography,
photocopying and the
mimeograph.
Title and symbols
Campinas means
grass fields in
Portuguese and refers to its characteristic landscape, which originally comprised large stretches of dense subtropical
forests (
mato grosso or thick woods in Portuguese), mainly along the many rivers, interspersed with gently rolling hills covered by low-lying vegetation.
Campinas is also known as "Cidade das Andorinhas" (City of
Swallows), because it was a favorite spot for these
migratory birds, which flocked annually in enormous numbers to downtown Campinas. However, they almost disappeared around the 1950s, probably because the church and plaza where they used to roost were torn down. Campinas' official crest and flag has a picture of the mythical bird, the
phoenix, because it was practically reborn after a devastating
epidemic of
yellow fever in the 1800s, which killed more than 25% of the city's inhabitants.
An inhabitant of Campinas is called a
campineiro.
Metropolitan Region of Campinas
As of 2000, Campinas became an official metropolitan region (RMC — Região Metropolitana de Campinas), with 19 municipalities, with a total of 2.3 million inhabitants and a total land area of 3,348 km² (data of 2000), adjacent to the
São Paulo metropolitan region (RMSP).
The Campinas municipality is also the administrative center 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' 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 region is responsible for 9% of Brazil's
Gross Domestic Product (GDP), with just over 3% of the country's population. Per capita income is one of the highest in
Latin America (over US$ 9,000/year Purchase Parity Power). Absolute GDP has experienced a growth of more than 50%¨between 2000 and 2003. Five cities in Campinas' region are among the 100 largest in GDPs in Brazil (Campinas,
Paulínia,
Americana,
Sumaré and
Indaiatuba), with Campinas occupying the 14
th position (total GDP of US$ 60 billion). About 70 companies listed in the directory of the 500 largest private and public companies are headquartered in the Campinas region, with a total gross sales volume of more than 25 billion dollars in 2005 and more than 100,000 workers.
The Campinas Metropolitan Region is home to many national and international high-tech industries, including
IBM,
Motorola,
Freescale,
Lucent,
Nortel,
Compaq,
Celestica,
Samsung,
Alcatel,
Bosch,
3M,
Texas Instruments..
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 centers and universities, such as
LNLS,
CPqD,
CenPRA,
Embrapa,
Unicamp, 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.
According to
Wired Magazine, Campinas is one of the highest-growth high-tech areas in
Latin America, second only to the city of São Paulo itself. Since 1995, the city has received over US$ 7 billion in investments in telecommunications, information technology and electronics. Of the 500 largest companies listed by
Fortune magazine, 50 are already established in the Campinas region.
The presence of one of the largest
oil refineries in Latin America (350,824
barrels 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.
Socio-economic conditions
Purchasing Power Parity), Campinas' average income looks better (roughly 9,000 USD per year). In fact, Campinas is emblematic of the wealth distribution inequality that's so common in the country (Brazil is the 14th largest economy in the world, but ranks only 32nd in wealth generation per capita, and 117th in average
Gini coefficient). Campinas has a Gini coefficient of 58%, which is almost the same as that of Brazil (59.3), a level similar to countries such as
Zimbabwe and
Paraguay. Such a level means that the top 10% richest make almost 70 times more than the 10% poorest.
This level of
poverty contrasts with the high
Human Development Index of Campinas, which is about the same level as
Chile,
Hungary,
Poland,
Lithuania and
Slovakia. The explanation for this apparent contradiction is that side by side, even in the same city section, one can find walled
condominiums with a yearly average per capita income of US$ 60,000 to US$ 100,000 and spreading "
favelas" (slum cities) with incomes of less than US$ 800 p.a. The classes A and B help move the local economy, and provide a strong tax base for the municipality.
Until the late 1970s, Campinas was proud to have no favelas, but the increasing industrialization and wealth attracted hordes of destitute agrarian workers and urban dwellers with few job qualifications from all parts of the country. Land invasions were frequent and the municipal powers were unable or unwilling to suppress them, allowing illegal occupation of land in key sectors of the city (in Brazil, state and counties are forbidden by the Federal Constitution to restrict or even measure the free movement of citizens).
Due to this, Campinas has relatively high
crime rates for its size. Most of the violent crimes (armed
robbery and
homicides) are related to
drug trafficking and occur in the poorer sections of the city.
Transportation
Campinas is a major transportation and telecommunications hub for the State of
São Paulo, as it's located on the major
highways that connect the
capital to the Northwest and Northern parts of the State. The city is served by the a Campinas Beltway (
Anel Viário) and the following main highways:
Rodovia Anhangüera
Rodovia dos Bandeirantes
Rodovia Santos Dumont
Rodovia Dom Pedro I
Rodovia Adhemar de Barros
Rodovia General Milton Tavares de Souza
Rodovia Jornalista Francisco Aguirre Proença
All these highways are built according to the highest international standards (see highway system of São Paulo). The Anel Viário José Magalhães Teixeira (SP-038) around the city currently interconnects the Anhangüera and Dom Pedro I highways.
Campinas has long been a major railway hub, too, although passenger train lines no longer operate there.
Its international airport, Viracopos Airport, has long been the State's main air cargo terminal, and its passenger traffic is rapidly expanding.
The city built a light rail line in the early-1990s, but due to low ridership the entire project was abandoned.
Communications
Campinas is a major telecommunications hub in the state and in the country. It has the largest per capita number of fixed and mobile telephone lines in the São Paulo state and one of the largest in the country. The city is also a major hub for cable, fiber optic, microwave and satellite communication networks. COMSAT operates near Campinas one of the largest satellite ground stations in Latin America, and the National Research and Education Network (Rede Nacional de Pesquisa e Educação) has a high-capacity point of presence (POP) in the city.
Media
Three daily newspapers are published in Campinas, all owned by media company Rede Anhangüera de Comunicação: Correio Popular, Diário do Povo and Notícia Já (a tabloid). Several other local newspapers with weekly or monthly circulation are also published. Several magazines are also published in Campinas, the largest one being Metrópole, which circulates on Sundays as a supplement to Correio Popular.
The city has also a large number of radio stations as well as several local TV stations, including TV Universidades and Fenix TV (both not-for-profit, distributed by Net Campinas, the local cable distributor)
Education
Portuguese is the official national language, and thus the primary language taught in schools. But English and Spanish are part of the official high school curriculum.
Universities and Colleges
Unicamp (Universidade Estadual de Campinas);
Puccamp (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);
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.
Technical schools
ETE Bento Quirino (Escola Técnica Estadual Bento Quirino)
ETECAP (Escola Técnica Estadual Conselheiro Antonio Prado)
COTUCA (Colégio Técnico da Universidade de Campinas)
Culture
The city has always been a cultural center 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 theaters, dozens of libraries (including a municipal library), art galleries, museums, etc.
Sports
Campinas is the home town for two of the oldest and most significant soccer teams of Brazil, the Associação Atlética Ponte Preta (the oldest football team in Brazil, having been founded in 1900) and Guarani Futebol Clube (the only Brazilian countryside team to have won the national championship, in 1978). They own two stadiums, the Estádio Brinco de Ouro and the Estádio Moisés Lucarelli, other team is the Campinas Futebol Clube.
Tourism and recreation
The city doesn't have many tourist spots, since it isn't located at the beach or the mountains, and has no remarkable old monument or construction. However it has some nice places to visit such as:
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
the Central Market, with typical stall stands full of fresh product 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
the Castelo (Castle) Water Tower, which provides a beautiful view 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 and model airplane areas, an open concert auditorium, a floating caravel replica, a small railway train ride, pedal boats, 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 have voted in July 2007 for the "Seven Wonders of Campinas" (External Link).
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.
Administration
Campinas has an annual municipal budget of over US$ 500 million dollars, one of the highest in Brazil. The current mayor is Hélio de Oliveira Santos, a physician, former professor of pediatric surgery at the UNICAMP Medical School and federal congressman, who was elected by a coalition of several political parties, led by the Partido Democrático Trabalhista. His term runs from Jan. 1, 2005 to Dec. 31, 2008.
The municipality is subdivided into one main district and four subdistricts, Joaquim Egídio, Sousas, Barão Geraldo and Nova Aparecida. There are also 14 regional administrations.
Notable mayors
Orozimbo Maia - 1904, 1908-1910, 1926-1930
Ruy Hellmeister Novais - 1956-1959, 1964-1969
Orestes Quércia - 1969-1972
José Roberto Magalhães Teixeira - 1983-1988, 1993-1996 (died of cancer while in office)
Francisco Amaral - 1977-1982, 1997-2001
Antonio da Costa Santos (Toninho) - 2001 (murdered while in office)
Izalene Tiene - 2001-2005
Hélio de Oliveira Santos (Dr.Hélio) - 2005-present
Notable people from Campinas
Arnaldo Vieira de Carvalho - physician
Campos Sales - politician, fourth president of Brazil
Carlos Gomes - opera composer
Carlos Zara - actor and director
Celly Campello - singer
Cláudia Raia - actress
Durval de Lima Junior - musician and actor
Francisco Glicério - senator
Fausto Silva - journalist and TV show host
Guilherme de Almeida - poet and writer
Heitor Penteado - polítician, mayor of Campinas and state governor
José Carlos de Figueiredo Ferraz - polítician, mayor of São Paulo
José Pancetti - painter
Júlio de Mesquita - journalist, publisher and owner of newspaper O Estado de S. Paulo
Lidia Brondi - actress
Luciano do Valle - sports radio speaker and TV presenter
Maitê Proença - actress
Marília Gabriela - journalist, actress and TV show hostess
Nelsinho Baptista - soccer player
Olavo de Carvalho - philosopher and writer
Gabriela Duarte - actress
Sandy Leah Lima - singer and actress
Lovefoxxx - singer of the New Wave band Cansei de Ser Sexy
(External Link)
The Secretariat of International Cooperation (SMCI) was created in April 28th 1994. It is one of the 18 Secretariats of the City Hall of Campinas and it's currently located in that building.
Its mains goals are:
the attraction and facilititaion for the arrival of new investments to the city
the expansion of the companies activities that are already established in the city
the perpetuation of the relations between the city, its international community and partners, such as the Sister-Cities
The Secretariat also acts as supporter to other secretariats in the City Hall, often through: the identification of national and foreign potentials investors; keeping systematic contacts with executives in Brazil and abroad, Embassies, Chambers of Commerces and relevant International Organizations; presenting Campinas to the cities and interested investors.
City twinning
Campinas is officially twinned (sister city) with the following cities:
| Blumenau, Santa Catarina, Brazil since 1983;
Ubatuba, São Paulo, Brazil since 2007;
Belém, Pará, Brazil since 2003;
Gifu, Japan, since 1982;
|
Malito, Italy, since 2006;
Fuzhou, China, since 1996;
San Diego, USA, since 1995;
Córdoba, Argentina, since 1993;
|
Novi Sad, Serbia, since 1989;
Concepción, Chile, since 1979;
Daloa, Côte D'Ivoire, since 1982;
Asunción, Paraguay, since 1973;
Jericho, Palestine, since 2003;
Auroville, India, since 2004;
|
|
Campinas and the following cities have agreed upon sisterhood Protocol of Intentions:
Turim, Italy;
Fushun, China;
Jingan, China;
Bissau, Guinea-Bissau;
Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolívia;
Footnotes
Further Information
Get more info on 'Campinas'.
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