Population of Sao Paulo

São Paulo’s population has grown rapidly.

By 1960 it had surpassed that of Rio de Janeiro, making it Brazil’s most populous city.

By this time, the urbanized area of São Paulo had extended beyond the boundaries of the municipality proper into neighboring municipalities, making it a metropolitan area with a population of 4.6 million.

Population growth has continued since 1960, although the rate of growth has slowed.

In 2004 the city’s population stood at 10,838,581and it was estimated that 17.9 million people lived in the urban agglomeration.

The population of São Paulo is a diverse mix of ethnic groups.

Significant numbers of its people are of southern European origin.

During the coffee boom in southern Brazil in the late 19th and early 20th centuries,

Italians and Spaniards immigrated in large numbers.

The city’s mix also includes the descendants of other immigrants, including Germans, Russians, Armenians, Lebanese, Arab, Japanese, Chinese, and Koreans.

São Paulo also has a Jewish community, one of the largest in South America.

Only about 10 percent of the city’s population is of African or mixed-African descent, unlike the situation in many Brazilian cities where percentages are much higher.