The historic center of the city (dating from the 17th century) has its original street plan preserved and was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1997.

São Luís was the home town of famous Brazilian samba singer Alcione, Brazilian writers Aluísio Azevedo, Ferreira Gullar and Josué Montello, Belgian-naturalised soccer player Luís Oliveira, and the musician João do Vale, a Música popular brasileira (MPB) singer.

Only when those invasions ceased permanently did the colonial government decide to create the state of Grão-Pará e Maranhão, independent from the rest of the country.

The wealth generated by this activity was used to modernize the city; to bring religious men to come and teach in its schools; and supplement the water supply.

], São Luís has the largest and best preserved heritage of colonial Portuguese architecture of all Latin America[citation needed].

The ancestral composition of São Luís, according to an autosomal DNA study, is 42% European, 39% Native American and 19% African.

Only after the end of the 1960s did the state begin to receive incentives and emerge from seclusion, by way of road and rail connections with other regions.

The rich cotton producers and local businessmen sent their children to study in Recife, Salvador, Rio de Janeiro and as far as Europe.

The port's proximity to strategic markets in Europe and North America has led it to become an attractive option for exporting goods, but suffers from increased coastal shipping.

The São Luís economy is based on aluminum processing (ALUMAR), pelleting industry (VALE), food production and tourism.

São Luís has the largest GDP in the state, hosting two public universities (and UFMA UEMA) and various educational institutions and private colleges.

According to the latest data from the IBGE survey, São Luís has a GDP of R$9,340,944,000.00, occupying 14th position amongst state capitals.

Several agents have modeled relief such as those of climatic, hydrological and oceanographic origin, as well as intense wind, marine and fluvial activity, with vegetation characterized by remnants of the Amazonian Forest, Mangroves and Campo de Perizes, an extensive fluvial plain with predominantly herbaceous, located on the mainland.

[9] The climate is characterized as hot, semi-humid, tropical of equatorial zone, with two distinct seasons that go from damp (January to June) the drought (July to December), with average rainfall of 2,200 mm per year.

[11] The municipality also contains a small part of the Baixada Maranhense Environmental Protection Area, a 1,775,035.6 hectares (4,386,208 acres) sustainable use conservation unit created in 1991 that has been a Ramsar Site since 2000.

Practice is a public affair and begins directly after Easter reaching its climax in June when literally hundreds of groups perform on a nightly basis for popular acclaim.

The crowd joins in with singing, dancing and dependent on the groups sotaque (or style) the playing of matracas (two wooden blocks, held in each hand and struck together repeatedly).

Starting in 1989 there has been an extensive program to restore and renovate the colonial era buildings of the city's historical center.

Notable examples of historic properties are the Metropolitan Cathedral of Our Lady of Victory, the Church of Pantaleão, the Fort of Santo Antônio da Barra de São Luís, and the Ribeirão and Pedras fountains.

São Luis is home to a port that receives boats that carry passengers across to the city of Alcantara, which is located in the metropolitan area.

It also has another port that receives ferries carrying people and cars that are destined for cities in the region of the state known as the low lands.

Local area phone code (named DDD in Brazil) to call São Luis city is 98 (DDD98).