Cubatão is a city 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 ...

, 12 kilometers away from Santos seaport, the largest in Latin America. It is part of the Metropolitan Region of the Baixada Santista. The population is 131,626 (2020 est.) in an area of 142.88 km². It hosts industries, refining oil, steel mills and fertilizers.

History

The municipality was created by state law in 1948. In the early 1980s, Cubatão was one of the most polluted cities in the world, nicknamed "Valley of Death", due to births of brainless children and respiratory, hepatic and blood illnesses. High air pollution was killing forest over hills around the city. It was ranked the top ten dirtiest cities in the world by ''

Popular Science Popular science (also called pop-science or popsci) is an interpretation of science intended for a general audience. While science journalism focuses on recent scientific developments, popular science is more broad ranging. It may be written ...

''. Around 0:00 BRT (3:00 GMT) on Saturday, 25 February 1984, an

oil spill An oil spill is the release of a liquid petroleum hydrocarbon into the environment, especially the marine ecosystem, due to human activity, and is a form of pollution. The term is usually given to marine oil spills, where oil is released into th ...

set the shantytown Vila Socó on fire, killing 93 people according to official figures of the government, though the actual death toll may be more than 200. The contamination of workers with

persistent organic pollutant Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) are organic compounds that are resistant to degradation through chemical, biological, and photolytic processes. They are toxic and adversely affect human health and the environment around the world. Because ...

s put the now defunct Rhodia into

Greenpeace Greenpeace is an independent global campaigning network, founded in Canada in 1971 by a group of Environmental movement, environmental activists. Greenpeace states its goal is to "ensure the ability of the Earth to nurture life in all its biod ...

's top 10 world's worst corporate crimes ever in its report to Rio Summit in 1992. Strong efforts were made to diminish pollution in the city, costing

US$ The United States dollar (Currency symbol, symbol: Dollar sign, $; ISO 4217, currency code: USD) is the official currency of the United States and International use of the U.S. dollar, several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introdu ...

1.2 billion so far. Although things have improved a lot, it is impossible to completely clean the soil and groundwater and while many large industries continue to work in such a small area, there will always be some pollution.

Popular culture

Cubatão was mentioned as the "world's most polluted town" in the

Jello Biafra Eric Reed Boucher (born June 17, 1958), known professionally as Jello Biafra, is an American singer, spoken word artist and political activist. He is the former lead singer and songwriter for the San Francisco punk rock band Dead Kennedys. Init ...

Sepultura Sepultura (, "grave")Barcinski & Gomes 1999, page 17. is a Brazilian heavy metal band formed in Belo Horizonte in 1984 by brothers Max and Igor Cavalera.Barcinski & Gomes 1999, page 16. They were a major force in the groove metal, thrash met ...

collaboration "Biotech is Godzilla" on the group's 1993 album '' Chaos A.D.'' Cubatão is the name of an A La Carte song from 1981.

Sister cities

Taquaritinga Taquaritinga is a city in the Central North area of the State of São Paulo, Brazil. The population is 57,364 (2020 est.) in an area of 594 km². The population is formed mostly by European descendants (Italians, Spaniards, and Portuguese). Afro-B ...

(1972) * Conchal, Brazil (1986) * Peruíbe, Brazil (1991) * Serra Negra, Brazil (1991) * Águas de São Pedro, Brazil (1991) * Aveiro,

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

(1992) *

Melipilla Melipilla (Mapudungun for "four Pillans") is a Chilean Communes of Chile, commune and Capital (political), capital List of cities in Chile, city of the Melipilla Province, province of the same name. It is part of the Santiago Metropolitan Region ...

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

(2005)

Divisions

Piaçaguera

Piaçaguera is a location within the city of Cubatão in the state of

, Brazil. The Rodovia Cônego Domênico Rangoni highway, formerly known as the Piaçaguera-Guarujá highway, starts there. It connects the Via Anchieta to Guarujá, crossing the Bertioga canal. It is there that the climb through the

Serra do Mar The Serra do Mar (; ) is a system of mountain ranges and escarpments in Southeast Region, Brazil, Southeastern Brazil. Geography The Serra do Mar runs parallel to the Atlantic Ocean coast from the state of Espírito Santo to southern Santa Ca ...

escarpment begins by way of the Santos-Jundiaí railway line. "Piaçaguera" is a term from the

Tupi language Old Tupi, Ancient Tupi or Classical Tupi () is a classical Tupian language which was spoken by the indigenous Tupi people of Brazil, mostly those who inhabited coastal regions in South and Southeast Brazil. In the words of Brazilian tupinol ...

that means "old port" by way of the conjunction of the two words ''"peasaba"'' ("port") and ''"ûera"'' ("velho").

Media

In telecommunications, the city was served by the Companhia Telefônica da Borda do Campo until 1975, when it began to be served by the 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).

References

External links

Cubatão web site

EncontraCubatão – Find everything about Cubatão city
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cubatao Populated places established in 1833 Environmental disasters in South America 1833 establishments in Brazil