São Paulo (; Portuguese pronunciation: [sɐ̃w ˈpawlu] ( listen)) is a municipality in the southeast region of Brazil. The metropolis is an alpha global city (as listed by the GaWC) and the most populous city in Brazil, the Western Hemisphere and the Southern Hemisphere, besides being the largest Portuguese-speaking city in the world. The municipality is also the Earth 's 9th largest city proper by population. The city is the capital of the surrounding state of São Paulo, one of the most populous and wealthiest state in Brazil. It exerts strong international influences in commerce, finance, arts and entertainment. The name of the city honors the Apostle, Saint Paul of Tarsus. The city 's metropolitan area, the Greater São Paulo, ranks as the most populous in Brazil, the 12th most populous on Earth. The process of conurbation between the metropolitan areas located around the Greater São Paulo ( Campinas, Santos, Sorocaba and the Paraíba Valley ) created the São Paulo Macrometropolis, a megalopolis with more than 30 million inhabitants, one of the most populous urban agglomerations in the world.
Having the largest economy by GDP in Latin America and the Southern Hemisphere, the city is home to the São Paulo Stock Exchange. Paulista Avenue is the economic core of São Paulo.
