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Topography
Rio Claro is a city located in the central-eastern area of the state of Sao Paulo with a total area of 498,422 km². The city sits at -22.41 degrees latitude and -47.56 degrees longitude at an elevation of 617 meters. With a population of 180,147, it is the 39th biggest city in Sao Paulo. Rio Claro is located 157 km from the capital, Sao Paulo.

Vegetation
Of the entire city, 3.7% is occupied by natural vegetation. The Forest Garden of Rio Claro was created in 1909 to try and preserve some of the city's natural beauty and vegetation. Edmundo Navarro of Andrade would study the various plants in the garden and his works resulted in the creation of the Eucalyptus Museum in 1916. In 2002, the Forest Garden of Rio Claro became FEENA, which translates to the State Forest of Edmundo Navarro of Andrade. This is now considered one of the major tourist attractions of the city.

Founding
The city was originally founded with the name “São João Batista de Rio Claro” on the 9th of December in 1830. The name went through various changes, but ultimately, on December 20th of 1905, the name was changed to Rio Claro.

The Portuguese made expeditions to Sao Paulo, Brazil in the XVI, XVII, and XVIII centuries. However, their arrival brought about many problems for the indigenous population currently living there. Many were killed, enslaved, or forced to convert to Christianity. Some saved themselves and migrated to areas that had not yet been colonized; Rio Claro was among these areas. In 1718, gold was discovered which resulted in an influx of population in central Sao Paulo, particularly in Rio Claro. There was also an ancient legend during this time that there was a city made entirely of gold called El dorado. Dorado actually means golden. No one knew where this magical city was, but it was speculated to be in Central America, Mexico, or Brazil. In Rio Claro, the city was believed to be located in Cuiaba. In an attempt to find the city of gold, the inhabitants developed a route to Cuiaba. In 1723, the official path to Cuiaba was made. This path is known as Picadao de Cuiaba. In 1817 many Africans and African-Brazilians accompanied farmers who travelled to Rio Claro as slaves. Now, about 50.7% of the population of Brazil is made up of African-Brazilians. Immigrants from all over the world came to Rio Claro, such as Germans, Swiss, Italians, Spanish, Portuguese, and Japanese.

Religion
The first ever mass was celebrated in 1823. It took place at a chapel on the Costa Alves farm. Later, a church would come to exist in present-day Santa Cruz. In 1827, the church was called Cured Church, but it is now Matriz de Sao Joao Baptista.

Demographics

 * Estimated Population (2018): 204, 797
 * Last known population (2010)
 * Population density (2013): 382/91km²
 * Urban (2000): 163, 477
 * Rural (2000): 4, 741
 * Men (2000): 82, 232
 * Women (2000): 85, 986