Guia ING

Indians to work at the sugar cane fields. With the gradual replacement of Indians for African
slaves, the expedition of Bandeirantes started searching for gold and gemstones towards the
State of Minas Gerais. With the discovery of the red land in São Paulo, the 19 th century was
marked by the Coffee Cycle, which contributed towards leveraging the economic development
of the State, mainly in the region of Vale do Paraíba. The growth set by the expansion of coffee
provided the creation of the first railroad in São Paulo, the São Paulo Railway, which allowed
the transportation of the production to the Port of Santos.
Arquivo APRECESP
Amparo
Miguel Schincariol
Sorocaba
The slavery abolition, in 1888, sets the arrival of large groups of immigrants, mainly
Italians, and later Japanese, to work in the fields. The coming of immigrants, especially
Europeans, contributed to the current diversity composition of the identity of São Paulo’s
people.
In the 20 th century, there is the start of a period of great development in the State,
marked by the growth in the industrial sector, which ended up transforming São Paulo into
a large industrial metropolis of great importance to the national economy. From then on, São
Paulo radically turns itself into something new, with the urban development and growth of
financial and service sectors, which triggered the nickname “Brazil’s locomotive” to the State
of São Paulo.
Economy
The State of São Paulo holds the major part of the country’s GDP, representing about 33%
of all domestically produced wealth, besides housing 13% of all commercial establishments in
Brazil. The economic importance of the State in the domestic scenario has historical roots in the
development process of the country, and today it presents a great diversity of entrepreneurships,
which range from industry, passing through agriculture in the countryside of São Paulo, to the
services and financial sector, concentrated in the capital, in addition to the strategic hubs in the
countryside of the State.
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