Sorocaba

Sorocaba (Portuguese pronunciation: [so̞ɾo̞ˈkabɐ]) is a municipality in the state of São Paulo, Brazil. Sorocaba is the eighth largest city in the state of São Paulo. Outside the Greater São Paulo region, it ranks behind only Campinas, São José dos Campos and Ribeirão Preto. It is part of the Metropolitan Region of Sorocaba. The population is 644,919 (2015 est.) in an area of 450.38 km².

Over the past twelve years the city has been undergoing extensive urbanization projects, improving streets and avenues, as well as infrastructure for the traffic which the city receive every day.

It is the eighth and fourth municipality in the consumer market in the state outside the Greater São Paulo metropolitan area, with a potential annual per capita consumption estimated at $2,400 for the urban population and $917 for rural areas (7200 people) and twenty-ninth largest city in Brazil with potential for consumption. Still, it is the 4th largest city of the state to receive new investments and one of the largest in the country, figuring in the list of 30 cities that create more jobs in Brazil.

Microregion of Sorocaba

The Microregion of Sorocaba (Portuguese: Microrregião de Sorocaba) is a microregion in the central part of São Paulo State, Brazil.

Municipalities

The microregion consists of the following municipalities:

Economy

Many people travel to São Paulo to work during the week, particularly from the larger of the municipalities. Those who work in São Paulo can usually afford larger houses due to the lower cost of living outside of São Paulo. In the smaller towns such as Votorantim there is a lot of agricultural employment.

References

Coordinates: 23°30′07″S 47°27′28″W / 23.50194°S 47.45778°W / -23.50194; -47.45778

Sorocaba (moth)

Sorocaba is a genus of moths of the Phiditiidae family.

Taxonomy

The genus was established in the Sphingidae and later placed in the Lymantriidae by Schaus in 1927. It was transferred from to the Apatelodidae by Minet in 1986 and finally to the subfamily Phiditiinae by Lemaire and Minet. The subfamily was raised to family level in 2011.

Selected species

References

Brazil

Coordinates: 10°S 52°W / 10°S 52°W / -10; -52

Brazil (ⁱ/brəˈzɪl/; Portuguese: Brasil [bɾaˈziw] ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: República Federativa do Brasil,  listen  ), is the largest sovereign state in both South America and the Latin American region. It is the world's fifth-largest country, both by geographical area and by population. It is the largest Portuguese-speaking country in the world, and the only one in the Americas.

Bounded by the Atlantic Ocean on the east, Brazil has a coastline of 7,491 km (4,655 mi). It borders all other South American countries except Ecuador and Chile and occupies 47.3 percent of the continent of South America. Its Amazon River basin includes a vast tropical forest, home to diverse wildlife, a variety of ecological systems, and extensive natural resources spanning numerous protected habitats. This unique environmental heritage makes Brazil one of 17 megadiverse countries, and is the subject of significant global interest and debate regarding deforestation and environmental protection.

Aquarela do Brasil

"Aquarela do Brasil" (Portuguese: [akwaˈɾɛlɐ du bɾaˈziw], Watercolor of Brazil), known in the English-speaking world simply as "Brazil", is one of the most famous Brazilian songs, written by Ary Barroso in 1939.

Background and composition

Ary Barroso wrote "Aquarela do Brasil" in early 1939, when he was prevented from leaving his home one rainy night due to a heavy storm. Its title, a reference to watercolor painting, is a clear reference to the rain. He also wrote "Três Lágrimas" (Three teardrops) on that same night, before the rain ended.

Describing the song in an interview to Marisa Lira, of the newspaper Diário de Notícias, Barroso said that he wanted to "free the samba away from the tragedies of life, of the sensual scenario already so explored". According to the composer, he "felt all the greatness, the value and the wealth of our land", reliving "the tradition of the national panels".

Initially, he wrote the first chords, which he defined as "vibrant", and a "plangent of emotions". The original beat "sang on [his] imagination, highlighting the sound of the rain, on syncope beats of fantastic tambourins". According to him, "the rest came naturally, music and lyrics at once". He declared to have felt like another person after writing the song.

Brasil (mythical island)

Brasil, also known as Hy-Brasil or several other variants, is a phantom island said to lie in the Atlantic Ocean west of Ireland. Irish myths described it as cloaked in mist except for one day every seven years, when it became visible but still could not be reached.

Etymology of the name

The etymology of the names Brasil and Hy-Brasil is unknown, but in Irish tradition it is thought to come from the Irish Uí Breasail (meaning "descendants (i.e., clan) of Breasal"), one of the ancient clans of northeastern Ireland. cf. Old Irish: Í: island; bres: beauty, worth, great, mighty.

Despite the similarity, the name of the country Brazil has no connection to the mythical islands. The South American country was at first named Ilha de Vera Cruz (Island of the True Cross) and later Terra de Santa Cruz (Land of the Holy Cross) by the Portuguese navigators who discovered the land. After some decades, it started to be called "Brazil" (Brasil, in Portuguese) due to the exploitation of native Brazilwood, at that time the only export of the land. In Portuguese, brazilwood is called pau-brasil, with the word brasil commonly given the etymology "red like an ember", formed from Latin brasa ("ember") and the suffix -il (from -iculum or -ilium).