Botucatu is a municipality in the state of São Paulo in Brazil, located 224.8 km from São Paulo, the state capital and 898 km from Brasília its coordinates are 22°53′09″S, 48°26′42″W. Total area is 1486.4 km² and elevation is 804 m. Its population in 2003 was 117,308. Flag of São Paulo See other Brazilian States Capital São Paulo Largest City São Paulo Area 248,176. ... The title of this article contains the character ã. Where it is unavailable or not desired, the name may be represented as Sao Paulo. ... Brasília from space, November 1990 Niemeyers Cathedral Brasília is the capital city of Brazil. ... This article is about longitude and latitude; see also UTM coordinate system Map of Earth showing lines of latitude (vertically) and longitude (horizontally); large version (pdf) The geographic (earth-mapping) coordinate system expresses every horizontal position on Earth by two of the three coordinates of a spherical coordinate system which... 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

The region has humid-subtropical weather, with dry winters and hot summers. During winter the temperature rarely falls below 2 °C. During most of the year, mainly at night, a breeze blowing over Sao Paulo plateau, from which Botucatu elevates about 200 m, cools the city and surroundings.

Botucatu's biggest employer is UNESP, one of the two Sao Paulo state universities. In particular, the city has two campuses, one centered on medical sciences, including a school of medicine and veterinarian sciences, and one of agricultural sciences. The leading industrial company is EMBRAER, that has a multipurpose plant there. The city has also two bus bodyworks builders, the Brazilian Induscar and the Basque Irizar. Besides UNESP, there are two other colleges, one public and one private, plus a local teaching center of Sao Paulo's Pontificial university, PUC-SP. Embraer, the Empresa Brasileira de Aeronáutica S.A. is a Brazilian leading aircraft manufacturer. ...

The city boasts a higher than usual elementary and mid-level educational network, including public and private institutions. It is also an important center for "organic" agriculture being the site of a recognized certification body.

Old Botucatu

The city of Botucatu, herein referred as such for being the siege of an archdiocese, has experienced many changes during a century and a half of existence, the most substantial being the arrival of the state university in 1960.

Old Botucatu was a place full of romantic characters such as coffee barons, musicians and poets and hinterland explorers. One of these is Conde (count) de Serra Negra, who is locally considered the father of Lawrence of Arabia and Rhett Butler, who is said to be buried there - the grave exists! Of note, Botucatu's municipal council has declared war on Great-Britain on two distinct occasions, of course with no actual consequences. Thomas Edward Lawrence (August 16, 1888 – May 19, 1935), also known as Lawrence of Arabia, and (apparently, among his Arab allies) Aurens or El Aurens, became famous for his role as a British liaison officer during the Arab Revolt of 1916–1918. ... Rhett Butler is the handsome, dashing fictional hero of Gone with The Wind written by American author, Margaret Mitchell. ... Great Britain lies between Ireland and continental Europe Great Britain is an island lying off the north-western coast of Europe and to the east of Ireland, comprising the main territory of the United Kingdom. ...

However, these examples of the peculiar botucatuense life should not be dismissed as non-sensical, but rather understood as part of the very curious circumstances that seem to surround the city, like, for example, being well-known to Hollywood studios as the headquarters of two of the largest Brazilian movie theater chains in the 1950s.

The arrival of the university and the resulting immigration of highly educated and paid faculty members, and the later arrival of large industries changed the local character from a closed, highly ecclesiastical society into a much more open atmosphere, creating a community that is able to combine the simplicity and stressless life of a country town with the dynamics and insights of an academic atmosphere.