Campinas (Portuguese pronunciation: [kɐ̃ˈpinɐs], Plains or Meadows[4]) is a Brazilian municipality in São Paulo State, part of the country's Southeast Region.

[6] Campinas' official crest and flag has a picture of the mythical bird, the phoenix, because it was practically reborn after a devastating epidemic of yellow fever in the 1800s, which killed more than 25% of the city's inhabitants.

[7] It was initially a simple outpost on the way to Minas Gerais and Goiás serving the "Bandeirantes" who were in search of precious minerals and Indian slaves.

In the second half of the 19th century, with the abolition of slavery, farming and industrialization attracted many foreign immigrants to replace the lost manpower, mainly from Italy.

In consequence, a large service sector was established to serve the growing population, and in the first decades of the 20th century, Campinas could already boast of an opera house, theaters, banks, movie theaters, radio stations, a philharmonic orchestra, two newspapers (Correio Popular and Diário do Povo), a good public education system (with the Escola Normal de Campinas and the Colégio Culto à Ciência), and hospitals, such as the Santa Casa de Misericórdia (a charity for poor people).

Its neighboring cities are Paulínia, Jaguariúna and Pedreira, north; Morungaba, Itatiba and Valinhos in the east; Itupeva, Indaiatuba and Monte Mor, south, and Hortolândia in the west.

There are also several environmental projects to combat the destruction of riparian forests located along the banks of the Atibaia river, which has a high level of pollution.

There are also occasional episodes of strong winds, with gusts exceeding 100 km / h, and training records were made in the city day May 4, 2001 and March 9, 2008.

In the region around Campinas near the state of Minas Gerais there are a number of cities which enjoy an even milder mountain climate, such as Serra Negra, Socorro, Lindóia and Águas de Lindoia, where several water spas are located.

The micro-region includes the RMC (Metropolitan Region of Campinas) and the municipality of Elias Fausto; the meso-region also includes the following municipalities: Aguaí, Amparo, Águas da Prata, Águas de Lindóia, Caconde, Casa Branca, Divinolândia, Espírito Santo do Pinhal, Estiva Gerbi, Itapira, Itobi, Lindóia, Mococa, Mogi Guaçu, Moji-Mirim, Monte Alegre do Sul, Pedra Bela, Pinhalzinho, Pirassununga, Porto Ferreira, Santa Cruz das Palmeiras, Santo Antônio do Jardim, São João da Boa Vista, São José do Rio Pardo, São Sebastião da Grama, Serra Negra, Socorro, Tambaú, Tapiratiba, Vargem Grande do Sul and Vinhedo.

Other cities which are geographically, historically or economically tied to the meso-region of Campinas could be mentioned: Araras, Atibaia, Bragança Paulista, Capivari, Conchal, Iracemápolis, Itu, Itupeva, Jarinu, Jundiai, Limeira, Louveira, Mombuca, Morungaba, Piracicaba, Rafard, Rio das Pedras, Salto and Tuiuti.

[25] The Campinas Metropolitan Region is home to many national and international high-tech industries and IT companies, including IBM, Dell, Motorola, NXP, Lucent, Nortel, Compaq, Celestica, Samsung, Alcatel, Bosch, 3M, Texas Instruments, CI&T and Daitan.

The automotive industry is also heavily represented: General Motors, Mercedes-Benz, Honda, Magneti Marelli, Eaton Corporation, Tenneco, Toyota and many others are present.

[31] The presence of one of the largest oil refineries in Latin America (350,824 barrels (55,776.6 m3) of crude per day), operated by Petrobras in the neighboring county of Paulínia, has attracted many petrochemical companies to the Campinas area, including DuPont, Rhone-Poulenc, and Royal Dutch Shell.

Despite Campinas' position of wealth and social and economic opportunity vis-a-vis the rest of the country, the average per capita income of little more than US$17,700 per year clearly indicates that there are problems.

Campinas is home to two football clubs nationally recognized: Associação Atlética Ponte Preta and Guarani Futebol Clube, who perform "Campineiro derby" match that is considered one of the most traditional of the state occurring since 1912.

It is popularly known as "Majestoso" (The Majestic One), for being the third-largest stadium in Brazil as the year of its foundation (1948), smaller only than Pacaembu, in São Paulo and São Januário, in Rio de Janeiro.The city is still home to several sporting events in other modalities, such as Corrida Integração (Integration Race), which is held since 1983 by Pioneer Broadcasters Television (EPTV), being divided into two modes (a 5 km-dedicated to disabled people and wheelchair users, and another 10 km, for non-disabled people).

The municipality is subdivided into one main district and four subdistricts, Joaquim Egídio, Sousas, Barão Geraldo and Nova Aparecida.

[39] Its main goals are: The Secretariat also acts as a supporter to other secretariats in the City Hall, often through: the identification of national and foreign potentials investors; keeping systematic contacts with executives in Brazil and abroad, Embassies, Chambers of Commerces and relevant International Organizations; presenting Campinas to the cities and interested investors.

[40] The Anel Viário José Magalhães Teixeira (SP-038) around the city currently interconnects the Anhangüera and Dom Pedro I motorways.

[42] A second facility, Campo dos Amarais Airport located 8 kilometres (5.0 mi) from downtown Campinas, is dedicated to general aviation.

The average amount of time people spend commuting with public transit in Campinas, for example to and from work, on a weekday is 77 min.

Three daily newspapers are published in Campinas, all owned by media company Rede Anhangüera de Comunicação: Correio Popular, Diário do Povo and Notícia Já (a tabloid).

Campinas[permanent dead link‍] was the first city in Brazil, outside the capitals of Brazilian states, which received the transmission in digital signal for TV, by EPTV, an affiliate of Rede Globo, on October 3, 2008.

[44] It currently has the second TV station that also broadcasts the signal by TVB, now an affiliate of Rede Record, since February 2011 (before SBT, when it began on May 8, 2010).