With around 11 million inhabitants within the city core and another 10 million inhabitants in the agglomeration, Sao Paulo is the largest Brazilian city. At the same time, it is the country’s economic and cultural center. In the 19th century, the region particularly benefitted from the coffee boom in Europe and North America. Now, the city has become the most important industrial base of South America, which has unfortunately led to significant environmental problems. Famous sights of the city are the neo-Gothic cathedral, which was only completed in 1967. By the way, Brazil is also the country with the greatest Japanese diaspora. A great number of immigrants have settled in the exotic district of Liberdade, where a huge market takes place on Sundays that is popular with locals as well as tourists. The heart of the city is the Avenida Paulista, a three kilometers long avenue that connects the districts of Bela Vista and Jardim Paulista. The street will convince you of the fact that Sao Paula is also a great shopping city. There are direct flights to Sao Paulo from Frankfurt/Main. Travelers from the southwest of Germany are recommended to depart from Zurich. The flight without stopover takes approximately 12 hours.