São Paulo (, Portuguese: [sɐ̃w̃ ˈpawlu] (
listen); Portuguese for 'Saint Paul') is a city in the Southeast Region of Brazil. Listed by the GaWC as an alpha global city, the municipality of São Paulo is the most populous city proper in Brazil, the Americas, the Western Hemisphere and the Southern Hemisphere, as well as the world's 4th largest city proper by population, despite being overlooked by Rio de Janeiro. Additionally, São Paulo is the largest Portuguese-speaking city in the world. The city serves as the capital of the surrounding state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest state in Brazil. It exerts strong international influences in commerce, finance, arts and entertainment.[7] The city's name honors the Apostle, Saint Paul of Tarsus. The city's metropolitan area, the Greater São Paulo, ranks as the most populous in Brazil and the 12th most populous on Earth. The process of conurbation between the metropolitan areas around the Greater São Paulo (Campinas, Santos, Jundiaí, Sorocaba and São José dos Campos) created the São Paulo Macrometropolis,[8] a megalopolis with more than 30 million inhabitants, one of the most populous urban agglomerations in the world.[9]