Cruzeiro (

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

meaning the

Southern Cross Crux () is a constellation of the southern sky that is centred on four bright stars in a cross-shaped asterism commonly known as the Southern Cross. It lies on the southern end of the Milky Way's visible band. The name ''Crux'' is Latin for ...

, the Brazilian national symbol) is a municipality in the state of

São Paulo São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for 'Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the GaWC a ...

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

. It is located about from the state capital. It is part of the

Metropolitan Region of Vale do Paraíba e Litoral Norte Metropolitan may refer to: * Metropolitan area, a region consisting of a densely populated urban core and its less-populated surrounding territories * Metropolitan borough, a form of local government district in England * Metropolitan county, a typ ...

. The population is 82,571 (2020 est.) in an area of 305,70 km².

Population history

Coat of arms

Its coat of arms features a shield with blue on the top and white at the bottom with its part of a flag in the top left and the

which has its golden stars on the right.

Flag

Its flag colors are red on the top left with four golden stars with a white circle and its state (São Paulo) where the city is located in the middle and with 13 stripes, seven of them are blue and six of them are white. It has a red tag reading in Portuguese ''Cultura Civismo'' meaning Civic Culture on the left, ''Paz'' meaning Peace in the middle and ''Liberdade e Trabalho'' meaning Freedom and Work on the bottom and a golden crown on the top.

Geography

The municipality is situated at an elevation of in the valley of the river

Paraíba do Sul The Paraíba do Sul (), or simply termed Paraíba, is a river in southeast Brazil. It flows west to northeast from its farthest source at the source of the river Paraitinga to the sea near Campos dos Goytacazes. The river receives its name when ...

. To the north is the mountain range

Serra da Mantiqueira The Mantiqueira Mountains (Portuguese: ''Serra da Mantiqueira iterally: Mantiqueira Mountains Chain') are a mountain range in Southeastern Brazil, with parts in the states of São Paulo, Minas Gerais and Rio de Janeiro. It rises abruptly from the ...

, which reaches elevations up to and forms the border with the state of

Minas Gerais Minas Gerais () is a state in Southeastern Brazil. It ranks as the second most populous, the third by gross domestic product (GDP), and the fourth largest by area in the country. The state's capital and largest city, Belo Horizonte (literally ...

. Cruzeiro lies about halfway between the two largest agglomerations of Brazil:

and

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

. Within a radius of around Cruzeiro, the population is around 40 million people. The municipality contains part of the

Mananciais do Rio Paraíba do Sul Environmental Protection Area The Mananciais do Rio Paraíba do Sul Environmental Protection Area ( pt, Área de Proteção Ambiental Mananciais da Bacia Hidrográfica do rio Paraíba do Sul) is an environmental protection area in the state of São Paulo, Brazil. Location Th ...

, created in 1982 to protect the sources of the

river.

Transportation

The main highways around Cruzeiro are the President Dutra Highway (BR-116, São Paulo - Rio de Janeiro) and the state highways of SP-52 (towards

São Lourenço, Minas Gerais São Lourenço (''Saint Lawrence'') is a Brazilian municipality and spa town in the southern part of the state of Minas Gerais, in the Southeast of the country. It is one of the smallest Brazilian municipalities, with only 57.2 km² (22.1 sq. ...

) and SP-58. Cruzeiro has a station on the main railway line from São Paulo to Rio de Janeiro, but this was closed for passenger traffic in 1998.Estações Ferroviárias do Brasil
/ref>

Distances

- *

Caxambu Caxambu is a Brazilian municipality in Minas Gerais. Its population in 2021 was estimated at 21,566. Caxambu is renowned for its spa which has twelve sources of mineral sparkling water flowing 24 hours a day and a cold-water geyser Cold-water ...

- *

Campos do Jordão Campos do Jordão () is a municipality in the state of São Paulo in southeastern Brazil. It is part of the Metropolitan Region of Vale do Paraíba e Litoral Norte. The population is 52,405 (2020 est.) in an area of . The city is situated above s ...

- *

São José dos Campos São José dos Campos (, meaning Saint Joseph of the Fields) is a major city and the seat of the Municipalities of Brazil, municipality of the same name in the state of São Paulo (state), São Paulo, Brazil. One of the leading industrial and res ...

History

Cruzeiro was founded at the junction of the railway lines of three states (São Paulo,

and

). The railway, as well as

coffee Coffee is a drink prepared from roasted coffee beans. Darkly colored, bitter, and slightly acidic, coffee has a stimulant, stimulating effect on humans, primarily due to its caffeine content. It is the most popular hot drink in the world. S ...

production were important in the 19th century, when Brazil was still an agrarian monarchy. The first owner of what would be Cruzeiro's lands was Major Novaes, a resident of Fazenda Dona Tita, now a museum. At the Mantiqueira railway tunnel, north of the city, an important battle between the Federalists and the Constitutionalists took place in 1932. Nowadays, the municipality contains an economic focus on commerce, tourism, as well as metallurgical industry: e.g., former FNV (Fábrica Nacional de Vagões), now run by Maxion Rodas e Chassis, a division of an international company that produces rail components, makes up for a large part of the fragile economy.

Twin towns

Cruzeiro is twinned with *

Cobh Cobh ( ,), known from 1849 until 1920 as Queenstown, is a seaport town on the south coast of County Cork, Ireland. With a population of around 13,000 inhabitants, Cobh is on the south side of Great Island in Cork Harbour and home to Ireland's ...

County Cork County Cork ( ga, Contae Chorcaí) is the largest and the southernmost county of Ireland, named after the city of Cork, the state's second-largest city. It is in the province of Munster and the Southern Region. Its largest market towns are ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

References

External links

Official website

Cruzeiro on citybrazil.com.br
* Municipal anthem of Cruzeiro {{DEFAULTSORT:Cruzeiro, Sao Paulo Populated places established in 1901 1901 establishments in Brazil