São Vicente, São Paulo

São Vicente
Municipality
Flag Coat of arms
Nickname(s): Brazil's first village Cellula-Mater of Nationality Birthplace of Democracy in the Americas
Location of São Vicente
Coordinates: 23°57′48″S 46°23′32″W / 23.96333°S 46.39222°WCoordinates: 23°57′48″S 46°23′32″W / 23.96333°S 46.39222°W
Country	Brazil
Region	Southeast
State	São Paulo
Government
• Mayor	Luís Cláudio Bili
Area
• Total	147.89 km^2 (57.10 sq mi)
Elevation	6 m (20 ft)
Population (2015)[1]
• Total	355,542
• Density	2,400/km^2 (6,200/sq mi)
Time zone	BRT (UTC-3)
• Summer (DST)	BRST (UTC-2)
HDI (2000)	0,798 – medium
Website	São Vicente City

São Vicente (after Saint Vincent of Saragossa, the patron Saint of Lisbon, Portugal) is a coastal municipality at southern São Paulo, Brazil. It is part of the Metropolitan Region of Baixada Santista.^[2] The population is 355,542 (2015 est.) in an area of 147.89 square kilometres (57.10 square miles).^[1]

It was the first Portuguese permanent settlement in the Americas^[3] and the first capital of the Captaincy of São Vicente, roughly the present state of São Paulo. Established as a proper village in 1532 by Martim Afonso de Sousa on what was then the Porto dos Escravos ("Port of the Slaves"), operated by three Portuguese colonists who trafficked on slaves captured by allied tribes, São Vicente is titled Cellula Mater (Mother Cell) of Brazil for being the first organized town in the country. The first City Council of all the Americas was democratically elected and established in São Vicente on August 22, 1532.

Today's city is located on the western half of coastal São Vicente Island, being mostly a bedroom community for the larger and wealthier neighbouring port and commercial city of Santos on the island's eastern half. A small north-south hill range separates for the most part the two cities' urban areas, but they are contiguous in the north and on a narrow beach strip in the south. São Vicente also has a small fishing industry in its portion on the mainland, where there are a few small settlements.

A suspension bridge linking the island to Praia Grande on the mainland was first constructed in 1914; a second link, the Mar Pequeno Bridge, was opened in 1981. São Vicente is linked to the capital city of São Paulo by the Imigrantes Highway and to the southern coast by the Manuel da Nóbrega Highway.

It is the birthplace of soccer player Robinho.

Population history

Year	Population
2003	314,312
2004	321,474
2015	355,542

International relations

São Vicente is twinned with:

• Naha, Okinawa, Japan^[4]

References

Bibliography

• "Do Litoral ao Planalto". História do Brasil: Área Vicentina.
• Lawrence, Rachel (January 2010). Alyse Dar, ed. Brazil (Seventh ed.). Apa Publications GmbH & Co. / Discovery Channel. pp. 183–204.

Notes

1. Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística
2. Assembleia Legislativa do Estado de São Paulo, Lei Complementar Nº 815
3. Rachel Lawrence: 2010, Page 183
4. Naha Sister Cities

External links

• (Portuguese) São Vicente's official home page
• (Portuguese) Portal Nosso São Paulo
• (Portuguese) São Vicente São Paulo Brazil