Geography
This tab will tell you about the geography of Sao Paulo.
Geography- São Paulo, Brazil
São Paulo, the state capital of Brazil, is the largest city in South America. Moreover, it is one of the largest urban centers in the world. Encyclopedia Britannica states that the area is 95,834 square miles, which is about 248,209 square kilometers long, and its coastline is about 370 miles, or 600 kilometers long. São Paulo Geograpahy says that this city is on the hilly plateau of the southeastern Brazilian Highlands with an average elevation about 800m. Britannica also states that the narrow coastal zone is broken by lagoons, tidal channels, and mountain spurs. It is bordered by the slopes of the Serra do Mar, on the edge of an extensive plateau with wide, grassy plains. This large plateau is about 1,500 to 3,000 feet above sea level. The geographical coordinates are 23°33′01″S 46°38′02″W. São Paulo has many neighbors. Bordered by the Atlantic Ocean on one small side, the rest of this city’s state, Brazil, is bordered by other states. To the northeast is Minas Gerais, to the east is Rio de Janeiro, to the southwest is Paraná, and to the west is Mato Grosso do Sul. Most of the excess water of São Paulo flows either west, down towards Paraná and into the “estuary of the Rio de la Plata”, or east to the Paraiba do Sul River where it is used to water the rice crops. The climate of São Paulo is mostly humid and subtropical. The annual precipitation is about 2,007 mm, which is about 79 inches, and in the mountain areas, the annual precipitation is about 59 inches. On the plateau, the average temperature is between about 64 and 68 degrees Fahrenheit, which is 18 and 20 degrees Celsius, but the daytime temperatures are lower because of the higher elevation. The coastal zone can be hot with heavy rainfalls, but the lower part of the state is crossed by the Tropic of Capricorn and the weather is warm and more pleasant. The summer season for São Paulo is short, December to February, but it is very hot and wet with many rainfalls. The average temperature is 86 degrees Fahrenheit, and the highest record for the temperature is 96.6 degrees Fahrenheit, recorded on November 15, 1985. Their winter season, June to August, is very cold and dry. The temperature in these months rarely goes under 50 degrees Fahrenheit, although the lowest temperature recorded is 28 degrees Fahrenheit. The weather of the city can change very quickly in both summer and winter. The rivers in São Paulo are small branches of the Paraná River, which separates São Paulo from Mato Grosso. According to V-Brazil, because São Paulo is an area of plateaus, there are many hydroelectricity plants and navigating through the rivers is difficult. The largest of the hydroelectricity plants are in the Paraná and Grande Rivers, and the difficulty of navigating through the rivers has been made much easier with the construction of several dams, mostly along the Tietê River, which runs through almost all of Brazil. There are two rivers in Brazil that flow to the ocean and serve very important purposes. First is the Ribeira do Iguape, a river in the south that, according to V-Brazil, brings fertility to an otherwise very poor areas. The second is the Paraíba do Sul River, which flows into Rio de Janeiro before flowing to the ocean. The cities along this second river were one of the first to have coffee, because of “proximity with Rio, fertile soils and navigability of the river.” Unfortunately, both the Tietê River and Paraíba do Sul are extremely polluted, with raw sewage and industrial waste, because of the large numbers of cities on the riverbanks. There are forests and rainforests. Like the Amazon Forests, it is losing its ability to regulate climates. The soil and vegetation of São Paulo is varied but small in number compared to before the arrival of the Portuguese. According to V-Brazil, before the Portuguese arrived, the natural forest covered about 82% of the state. Today, of the little forest that is left, the majority is in “the steepest parts of Serra do Mar and Serra da Mantiqueira.” The forest was destroyed through several stages of settlements: “first for exploration of timber, then for plantations and cattle raising, and then for the opening of cities and urban areas.” Despite the destruction of the forest, São Paulo still has the “largest extension of fertile land in Brazil” in its plateau areas. It is because of this fertile land that coffee has been grown. |