Guarujá (; ) is a municipality in the São Paulo state of

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 part of the Metropolitan Region of the Baixada Santista. The population is 311,116 (2022 preliminary census count) in an area of .Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística
/ref> This place name comes 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 ...

, and means "narrow path". The population is highly urbanized, forms a 2nd urban core and beachfront island across the river from São Vicente Island, the island (Ilha de Santo Amaro) is coterminous with the municipality, with exception of small offshore isles like Ilha dos Arvoredos.

Toponym

See also: Tupi-Guarani place names in Brazil As Eduardo Navarro explains in his Dicionário de Tupi Antigo (2013), "Guarujá" is derived from the Tupi term agûarausá, which designates a type of crab, the guaruçá. Although it is common to use the definite article before the name of the city, this usage is not correct. Therefore, one should say "Tenho casa em Guarujá" and not "Tenho casa no Guarujá".

Geography

Guarujá is located on the Santo Amaro Island, situated on the shore of São Paulo. Its main economic sources are seasonal

tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure, and the Commerce, commercial activity of providing and supporting such travel. World Tourism Organization, UN Tourism defines tourism more generally, in terms which go "beyond the common perception of tourism as ...

and

port A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Hamburg, Manch ...

related activities. Guarujá is a popular weekend destination for families from

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 ...

, who can get there driving in less than one hour (through the Imigrantes highway). Traffic gets heavy during the evening on the holidays. Guarujá has a

borough A borough is an administrative division in various English language, English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely. History ...

called ''Vicente de Carvalho'', in tribute to the Parnasianist

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...

. A nickname for the city is "The Pearl of the Atlantic". In total, Guarujá has 27 beaches, with the most famous including Guaiúba, Tombo, Astúrias, Pitangueiras, Enseada, Pernambuco, Perequê, São Pedro, Tijucopava, Iporanga, Praia Branca and Praia Preta.

Economy

Guarujá, its history, infrastructure and proximity to the country's most populous city, provides strong attractive real estate and tourism. Much of the region on the coast, the beaches near the center (mainly Asturias Pitangueiras, Enseada, and Tombo) are taken by buildings devoted to the seasonal population, who arrives mostly in summer. Tourism, therefore, is the most important component that moves the economy. The other part, relevant and non-seasonal, comes from the port (left bank of the Port of Santos) and related activities, such as transportation. Due to its proximity to Cubatão (largest industrial district in the country) and ports, there is also interest in industrial occupation in the region, started in 1976 by Dow Chemical, still the only major industry to occupy the region. According to the IBGE of 2006 the production of wealth in the service area in the city, added that year, US$1.820 billion, equivalent to 0.14% in participation in the Brazilian GDP.

Twin towns – sister cities

Guarujá is twinned with: *

Cascais Cascais () is a town and municipality in the Lisbon District of Portugal, located on the Portuguese Riviera, Estoril Coast. The municipality has a total of 214,158 inhabitants in an area of 97.40 km2. Cascais is an important tourism in Port ...

Lisbon District Lisbon District () is a district located along the western coast of Portugal. The district capital is the city of Lisbon, which is also the national capital. From its creation until 1926, it included the area of the current Setúbal District. ...

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 ...

(2000) * Brotas,

(2001) * Lobito,

Benguela Province Benguela () is a province of Angola, situated in the west of the country. It lies on the Atlantic Ocean, and borders the provinces of Cuanza Sul, Namibe, Huila, and Huambo. The province has an area of and its capital is Benguela. According ...

Angola Angola, officially the Republic of Angola, is a country on the west-Central Africa, central coast of Southern Africa. It is the second-largest Portuguese-speaking world, Portuguese-speaking (Lusophone) country in both total area and List of c ...

(2013)

Tourist attractions

* Andradas Fort * Acqua Mundo * Teatro Municipal Procópio Ferreira

Media

In telecommunications, the city was served by the

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 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).

Sports

The Estádio Municipal Antônio Fernandes is a

football (soccer) Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

stadium located in the city. Associação Desportiva Guarujá play their home games at this stadium. The

Bosnia and Herzegovina national football team The Bosnia and Herzegovina national football team (; ; ) represents Bosnia and Herzegovina in men's international Association football, football competitions, and is governed by the Football Association of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Until 1992 Bo ...

picked Guarujá as their base during the

2014 FIFA World Cup The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for list of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil fr ...

in Brazil. Charles Oliveira, the former UFC lightweight champion, was born and raised in Guarujá. He proudly represents Guarujá and is known for his charitable contributions to the community, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Airport and air force base

The Santos Air Force Base – BAST, a base of the

Brazilian Air Force The Brazilian Air Force (, FAB) is the air branch of the Brazilian Armed Forces and one of the three national uniformed services. The FAB was formed when the Brazilian Brazilian Army Aviation (1919–1941), Army and Brazilian Naval Aviation, Nav ...

, is located in Guarujá. The city will be served by the Guarujá Civil Metropolitan Aerodrome, located in the vicinity of the air force base.

Notable people

* Kelvin Hoefler, skater, Olympic medalist * Alexandre Tam, professional soccer player (

Santos FC Santos Futebol Clube () is a Brazilian sports club based in Vila Belmiro, a ''bairro'' in the city of Santos, São Paulo, Santos. It plays in the Campeonato Paulista, the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo's premier State football lea ...

) * Charles Oliveira,

mixed martial artist Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a full-contact fighting sport based on striking and grappling; incorporating techniques from various combat sports from around the world. In the early 20th century, various inter-stylistic contests took place t ...

and former UFC Lightweight Champion * Cláudia das Neves,

women's basketball Women's basketball is the team sport of basketball played by women. It was first played in 1892, one year after men's basketball, at Smith College in Massachusetts. It spread across the United States, in large parts via women's college compet ...

player * Diego Gonçalves, professional soccer player ( Figueirense FC/

Louletano D.C. Louletano Desportos Clube is a Portugal, Portuguese club from Loulé, founded on 6 June 1923. The association football team currently play in the Campeonato Nacional de Seniores (Portuguese fourth level), D series. The club plays at the Estádio ...

) * Jean Paulo Fernandes, retired professional soccer player * KondZilla,

screenwriter A screenwriter (also called scriptwriter, scribe, or scenarist) is a person who practices the craft of writing for visual mass media, known as screenwriting. These can include short films, feature-length films, television programs, television ...

, director, producer and

YouTuber A YouTuber is a content creator and social media influencer who uploads or creates videos on the online video-sharing website YouTube, typically posting to their personal YouTube channel. The term was first used in the English language in 2006 ...

* Maria José Dupré,

writer A writer is a person who uses written words in different writing styles, genres and techniques to communicate ideas, to inspire feelings and emotions, or to entertain. Writers may develop different forms of writing such as novels, short sto ...

and

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living wage, living writing novels and other fiction, while other ...

('' Eramos Seis'') * Mazinho Oliveira, retired professional soccer player

References

External links

City Hall page

Hotels in Guarujá – Find hotels, restaurants, bars and useful links about Guarujá / SP

Encontra Guarujá – Find everything about Guarujá city
{{DEFAULTSORT:Guaruja Populated places established in 1934 Atlantic islands of Brazil Populated coastal places in São Paulo (state) Municipalities in São Paulo (state) Baixada Santista 1934 establishments in Brazil