Campinas
[key], city, São Paulo state, S Brazil. It is a growing industrial
and financial city, the processing and distribution center for a diversified
agricultural region, and a major transportation hub. Consumer products,
agricultural tools, and railroad equipment are among its manufactures. The
city was founded in the 18th cent. Coffee cultivation in the region and the
city's location as the main railroad junction in the state accounted for its
prosperity by the late 19th cent. As coffee production moved westward, the
economy diversified. Campinas is the site of a famed agronomical-research
institute, the Pontificia Universidade Católica de Campinas, and the
Universidade Estadual de Campinas.
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