Cotia, Municipality in São Paulo Metropolitan Region, Brazil.
Cotia is a city in the São Paulo metropolitan region of São Paulo state in Brazil, spreading across hilly terrain between valleys and wooded slopes. The built-up area extends through several neighborhoods connected by winding roads.
Portuguese settlers established early farmsteads in the 16th century on land previously inhabited by Tupi peoples. On April 2, 1856, the area was officially elevated to an independent municipality.
The name comes from the Tupi word for opossum, recalling the wildlife that early settlers encountered in these forests. Today people from many regions of Brazil live here, reflected in the restaurants and markets around town.
The Raposo Tavares expressway links the city to central São Paulo and is served by regular bus routes. Visitors driving should expect many local roads to be winding and narrow in places.
In the 1950s, this was the site of the only naturally occurring outbreak of Brazilian hemorrhagic fever documented in the country. Medical professionals studied the case intensively at the time to understand how the disease spreads.
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