East. Many settlers also used the trail to
move to New Mexico, Colorado, and
other parts of theWest. In 1880 a railroad
reached Santa Fe, and people
stopped using the trail.
..More to explore
Oregon Trail • Santa Fe
Santiago
Population
(2007
estimate), urban
area,
5,700,000
Santiago is the capital of Chile, a country
in South America. It is Chile’s largest
metropolitan area. It is also the country’s
center of culture, business, and industry.
Santiago lies on the Mapocho River at
the foot of the Andes Mountains. The
river was made into a canal through the
city. The city has had many earthquakes.
Santiago, Chile, sits west of the Andes Mountains.
BRITANNICA STUDENT ENCYCLOPEDIA Santiago 33
Many of Chile’s factories are in Santiago
and its suburbs. The factories make
metal products, processed foods, cloth,
clothing, leather goods, and chemicals.
Santiago is Chile’s banking center.
Other service industries such as tourism
and insurance also bring money to the
city.
Picunche Indians lived in the Santiago
area before the Spanish arrived. Spanish
settlers took over the area in the 1500s.
The Spanish conqueror Pedro de
Valdivia founded Santiago in 1541. The
city grew slowly. Spain ruled Santiago
until the early 1800s.
In 1818 Chile became an independent
country with Santiago as its capital.
After that the city’s population and
economy grew greatly.
..More to explore
Chile
Santo Domingo
Population
(2007
estimate), urban
area,
2,200,000
Santo Domingo is the capital of the
Dominican Republic, an island country
in the Caribbean Sea. The city lies where
the Ozama River flows into the sea. It is
the Dominican Republic’s largest city
and main port. It is also the oldest permanent
city that Europeans established
in the Americas.
Many people in Santo Domingo work
for the government or in tourism and
other service industries. The city is the
Dominican Republic’s center of banking,
trade, and industry. Factories in the
city make chemicals, metal products,
food products, clothing, and plastics.
The explorer Bartholomew Columbus—
the brother of Christopher Columbus—
founded Santo Domingo in 1496. He
made the city the capital of the first
Spanish colony in the Americas.
France controlled Santo Domingo from
1795 to 1809. Then Spain and later
Haiti took control of the city. In 1844
the Dominican Republic became an
independent country. Santo Domingo
was its capital.
..More to explore
Dominican Republic
The Roman Catholic cathedral in Santo
Domingo, Dominican Republic, was the first
cathedral built in the Americas.
34 Santo Domingo BRITANNICA STUDENT ENCYCLOPEDIA
Sao Paulo
Population
(2007
estimate), city,
10,238,500;
urban area,
19,226,426
Sao Paulo is the largest city in Brazil, a
country in South America. The city and
its suburbs together make up one of the
largest metropolitan areas in the world.
The city’s name means “Saint Paul” in
Portuguese.
Many banks and large businesses have
their headquarters in the Sao Paulo area.
Trade, communications, and other service
industries also bring money to the
city. Sao Paulo has long been a major
manufacturing center. Factories in the
metropolitan area make clothing, cars,
computers, chemicals, electrical products,
and processed foods.
Roman Catholic priests from Portugal
established Sao Paulo in 1554. They
lived there with Indians whom they converted
to Christianity. In the 1600s the
Portuguese used the town as a base for
their travels in search of treasure and of
Indians to capture and enslave.
It was in Sao Paulo that Brazil declared
itself free from Portuguese rule in 1822.
The city grew throughout the 1800s. In
the 1900s many new cloth mills and
other factories were built. The new
industries drew many more people to
the city. By 2000 Sao Paulo was the largest
metropolitan area in the southern
half of the world.
..More to explore
Brazil
Sao Tome
Population
(2001 census),
city, 3,666;
urban area,
49,957
Sao Tome is the capital of Sao Tome and
Principe, a small island country off the
west coast of Africa. The city is located
on the coast of Sao Tome island. It is the
country’s largest city by far. It is also the
main port. Shipping cocoa and other
goods through the port brings money to
Sao Tome city.
Portuguese traders founded Sao Tome
city in about 1493. The Portuguese
kept slaves from West Africa in the city
until they could be shipped to the
Americas. French pirates and later
rebelling slaves burned the city in the
late 1500s.
In 1975 Sao Tome and Principe became
an independent country. The city of Sao
Tome was its capital.
..More to explore
Sao Tome and Principe
One of Sao
Tome’s most
impressive old
buildings is the
fort of Sao
Sebastiao. It
houses a
national
museum.
BRITANNICA STUDENT ENCYCLOPEDIA Sao Tome 35
Sao Tome and Principe
Sao Tome and Principe is a small island
country off the west coast of Africa. Sao
Tome is the capital and largest city.
Sao Tome and Principe lies on the equator
in the Gulf of Guinea, a part of the
Atlantic Ocean. The country’s closest
neighbors are Gabon and Equatorial
Guinea, on the coast of Africa.
The country includes two main islands:
Sao Tome and Principe. Both islands
have lowlands in the northeast and high
