Cruzeiro ( Portuguese meaning the

Southern Cross CRUX is a lightweight x86-64 Linux distribution targeted at experienced Linux users and delivered by a tar.gz-based package system with BSD-style initscripts. It is not based on any other Linux distribution. It also utilizes a ports system to ...

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

São Paulo São Paulo (; ; Portuguese for 'Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul') is the capital of the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo, as well as the List of cities in Brazil by population, most populous city in Brazil, the List of largest cities in the ...

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

. 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: Areas and governance (secular and ecclesiastical) * Metropolitan archdiocese, the jurisdiction of a metropolitan archbishop ** Metropolitan bishop or archbishop, leader of an ecclesiastical "mother see" * Metropolitan ar ...

. The population is 82,571 (2020 est.) in an area of 305,70 km². People of things who come from or inhabit in Cruzeiro are called "cruzeirense".

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 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 it m ...

. 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. The name shows the range ...

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

Minas Gerais Minas Gerais () is one of the 27 federative units of Brazil, being the fourth largest state by area and the second largest in number of inhabitants with a population of 20,539,989 according to the 2022 Brazilian census, 2022 census. Located in ...

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

and

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

. 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 () is an environmental protection area in the state of São Paulo, Brazil. Location The Mananciais do Rio Paraíba do Sul Environmental Protection Area has an area of about . I ...

, 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 SP5 may refer to : * 1982 SP5, an alternate name for 9915 Potanin, a C-type main belt asteroid * 1978 SP5, an alternate name for 15675 Goloseevo, a Main-belt Asteroid discovered on September 27, 1978 * SP5, a postcode in the SP postcode area * sp5, ...

(towards São Lourenço, Minas Gerais) 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.

Distances

- *

- * Caxambu - *

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 ...

- *

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 beverage brewed from roasted, ground coffee beans. Darkly colored, bitter, and slightly acidic, coffee has a stimulating effect on humans, primarily due to its caffeine content, but decaffeinated coffee is also commercially a ...

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.

Media

In telecommunications, the city was served by

Companhia Telefônica Brasileira Companhia Telefônica Brasileira (CTB) was a Brazilian fixed-line telephone company that provided services to the states of Rio de Janeiro (state), Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo (state), São Paulo, as well as Minas Gerais and Espírito Santo thr ...

until 1973, when it began to be served by Telecomunicações de São Paulo. In July 1998, this company was acquired by Telefónica, which adopted the Vivo brand in 2012. The company is currently an operator of cell phones, fixed lines, internet (fiber optics/4G) and television (satellite and cable).

Economy

Today, the city's economic focus is on

commerce Commerce is the organized Complex system, system of activities, functions, procedures and institutions that directly or indirectly contribute to the smooth, unhindered large-scale exchange (distribution through Financial transaction, transactiona ...

(it has important companies such as Casas Bahia, Pernambucanas, O Lojão Magazine, Lojas Cem, Magazine Luiza,

Lojas Americanas Lojas Americanas is a Brazilian retail chain founded in 1929 in the city of Niterói, Rio de Janeiro, by the Austrian-Brazilian Max Landesmann and Americans John Lee, Glen Matson, James Marshall and Batson Borger. Currently, the company has 1, ...

) and the metallurgical industry. The former FNV (National Wagon Factory) currently has its industrial park divided between two companies of the Iochpe-Maxion group: Amsted-Maxion Fundição e Equipamentos Ferroviários, which was the merger of the Iochpe-Maxion group with the North American Amsted Industries, and Maxion Sistemas Automotivos-Divisão de Rodas e Chassis. Amsted-Maxion is a reference in foundry, with units in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

and Hortolândia. Maxion Sistemas Automotivos has branches in

Curitiba Curitiba () is the capital and largest city in the state of Paraná (state), Paraná in Southern Brazil. The city's population was 1,773,718 , making it the List of cities in Brazil by population, eighth most populous city in Brazil and the larg ...

and the Metropolitan Region of Belo Horizonte, as well as a branch in

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

, and is a multinational industry of railway components and production of wheels and chassis, with more than 6 thousand employees. The company sells its products to more than 40 countries on five different continents, with the

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

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Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

and

Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

being the largest importers. In addition, the company currently produces chassis for vans, trucks and cars for major national automakers such as

Fiat Fiat Automobiles S.p.A., commonly known as simply Fiat ( , ; ), is an Italian automobile manufacturer. It became a part of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles in 2014 and, in 2021, became a subsidiary of Stellantis through its Italian division, Stellant ...

Volkswagen Volkswagen (VW; )English: , . is a German automotive industry, automobile manufacturer based in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony, Germany. Established in 1937 by German Labour Front, The German Labour Front, it was revitalized into the global brand it ...

Nissan is a Japanese multinational Automotive industry, automobile manufacturer headquartered in Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan. The company sells its vehicles under the ''Nissan'' and ''Infiniti'' brands, and formerly the ''Datsun'' brand, with in-house ...

Scania Scania ( ), also known by its native name of Skåne (), is the southernmost of the historical provinces of Sweden, provinces () of Sweden. Located in the south tip of the geographical region of Götaland, the province is roughly conterminous w ...

, among others. The two companies together account for more than half of the city's 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, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. With a population of 14,148 inhabitants at the 2022 census of Ireland, 2022 census, Cobh is on the south si ...

County Cork County Cork () is the largest and the southernmost Counties of Ireland, county of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, named after the city of Cork (city), Cork, the state's second-largest city. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster ...

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

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 Municipalities in Vale do Paraíba e Litoral Norte