The Greater São Paulo (Grande São Paulo, in Portuguese) is a nonspecific term for the large metropolitan area located in the São Paulo state in Brazil.
1. A legally defined specific term, Região Metropolitana São Paulo (RMSP), one definition for Metropolitan São Paulo, consists of 39 municipalities, including the capital, São Paulo.
The RMSP of São Paulo is known as a financial and economic centre of Brazil, with a total population of 19.8 million inhabitants. The largest municipalities are Guarulhos with a population of more than 1.2 million people, plus several municipalities with more than 100,000 inhabitants, such as São Bernardo do Campo (703,000 inh.) and Santo André (649,000 inh.) in the ABC Region. The ABC Region in the south of Grande São Paulo is an important location for industrial corporations, such as Volkswagen and Ford.
2. The extended metropolitan area of São Paulo (Complexo Metropolitano Estendido de São Paulo) consists of the contiguous entities:
| Legally Defined District | Population (2006 IBGE estimate) | Area (km²) | Density (per km²) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Microrregião de Sorocaba | 1,313,295 | 4,202 | 312.54 |
| Microrregião de Jundiaí | 597,997 | 802.5 | 745.2 |
| Região Metropolitana da Baixada Santista | 1,666,453 | 2,422 | 687.8 |
| Região Metropolitana de Campinas | 2,620,909 | 3,645.6 | 837.1 |
| Microrregião de São José dos Campos | 1,386,456 | 4,046 | 342.6 |
| Região Metropolitana de São Paulo | 19,677,506 | 7,943.8 | 2,477 |
| CME São Paulo (Extended Metropolitan Complex of São Paulo) | 27,259,000 | 23,061.9 | 1,180 |
The 39 municipalities of the area are:
For more details about São Caetano do Sul, Santo André and São Bernardo do Campo see ABC Region.
Being the most industrialized region of the country as well as the most populated, the transportation plays an important role. The main higways of the area are: