About the town » São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil

São Paulo is the largest city in Brazil, the largest city proper in the southern hemisphere and Americas and the world's eighth largest city by population. The metropolis is anchor to the São Paulo metropolitan area, ranked as the second most populous metropolitan area in the Americas and among the ten largest metropolitan areas on the planet. São Paulo is the capital of the state of São Paulo, Brazil's most populous state. It exerts strong regional influence in commerce, finance, arts and entertainment and a strong international influence. The name of the city honors Saint Paul of Tarsus. São Paulo has the largest economy, by GDP, among Latin American and Brazilian cities. Its GDP per capita is the fifth highest among the larger Latin American cities and Brazil's second highest, behind Brasília. The metropolis has significant cultural, economic and political influence both nationally and internationally. It is home to several important monuments, parks and museums such as the Latin American Memorial, the Museum of the Portuguese Language, São Paulo Museum of Art, Museum of Ipiranga and the Ibirapuera Park. Paulista Avenue is the most important financial center of São Paulo. The city holds many high profile events, like the São Paulo Art Biennial, the Brazil Grand Prix Formula 1 Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo Fashion Week, ATP Brasil Open and the São Paulo Indy 300. Sao Paulo hosts the world's largest gay pride parade according to the Guinness Book of World Records. It is home to the São Paulo Stock Exchange, the Future Markets and the Cereal Market Stock Exchanges (the second largest stock exchange in the World, in market value). São Paulo is home to several of the tallest buildings in Brazil, including the building Mirante do Vale, Italia, Altino Arantes, North Tower of the UNSCOM (United Nations Centre Enterprise) and many others. People from the city of São Paulo are known as paulistanos, while paulistas designates anyone from the surrounding state, including the paulistanos. The city's Latin motto, which it has shared with the battleship and the aircraft carrier named after it, is Non ducor, duco, which translates as "I am not led, I lead. " The city, which is also colloquially known as "Sampa" or "Cidade da Garoa" (city of drizzle), is also known for its unreliable weather, the size of its helicopter fleet, its architecture, gastronomy, severe traffic congestion and multitude of skyscrapers. The city is considered an alpha world city according to the Global City economic system. According to one source, São Paulo is expected to have the second highest economic growth in the world between 2011 and 2025, although New York City and Tokyo were expected to remain the largest in 2025.