Campinas is a city located in the state of Sao Paulo, Brazil. Campinas has a relevant ecological interest area (Portuguese: Area de Relevante Interesse Ecologico) - Santa Genebra forest, with 2.51 km², created in 1985 and regulated by IBAMA, Campinas City Hall and José Pedro de Oliveira Foundation.

Among the public parks, there are the "Bosque Municipal", the "Lagoa do Taquaral Park", the "Ecological Park of Campinas" and the "Lagoa da UNICAMP" Park. These parks feature jogging and bicycle paths.

Campinas is located on the Sao Paulo plateau, in the transition area to the Serra da Mantiqueira mountain range. It has an excellent climate throughout the year, characterized by mostly sunny and hot days (more than 200 days in the year), a mild temperature range (average yearly temperature of 22.4 degrees Celsius, ranging from an average minimum of 7.2 degrees to a maximum of 35.9 degrees) and a constant regime of cool winds. Due to this, Campinas has little air pollution and smog and the local airports almost never close due to bad weather. Thanks to a regular rain regimen, the region's vegetation is evergreen, and some crops, such as sugarcane have three harvests per year.

The wet season is from mid-October to mid-June, with heavier rains particularly in January and February, and the dry season is from mid-May to mid-September. Average rainfall is 24.3 mm in August and 267.8 mm in January. Average humidity ranges from 37% (August) to 56% (January).

In the region around Campinas near the state of Minas Gerais there are a number of cities enjoying an even milder mountain climate, such as Atibaia, Aguas de Lindoia, Itapira, Itatiba, Joanopolis, Serra Negra, Socorro, where several water spas are located.

The city was founded on July 14, 1774, by Barreto Leme. It was initially a simple outpost on the way to Minas Gerais and Goias serving the "Bandeirantes" who were in search of precious minerals and Indian slaves. In the first half of the 19th century, Campinas became a growing population center, with many coffee and sugarcane farms.

The construction of a railway linking the city of Sao Paulo to Santos' seaport, in 1867, was very important for its growth. In the second half of the 19th century, with the abolition of slavery, farming and industrialization attracted many foreign immigrants to replace the lost manpower, mainly from Italy.

Coffee became an important export and the city became wealthy. In consequence, a large service sector was established to serve the growing population, and in the first decades of the 20th century, Campinas could already boast of having an opera house, theaters, banks, movie theaters, radio stations, a philharmonic band, two newspapers (Correio Popular and Diario do Povo), a good public education system (with the Escola Normal de Campinas and the Colegio Culto a Ciencia), and hospitals, such as the Santa Casa de Misericórdia (a charity for poor people) and the Casa de Saude de Campinas (for the Italian community), and the most important Brazilian research center in agricultural sciences, the Instituto Agronomico de Campinas, which was founded by Emperor Pedro II. Finally, the construction of the first Brazilian highway in 1938, between Campinas and São Paulo, the Anhanguera Highway, was a turning point in the integration of Campinas into the rest of the state. Campinas was the birthplace of opera composer Carlos Gomes (1836-1896) and of the President of the Republic Campos Salles (1841-1913). It was home for 49 years for Hercules Florence, reputed as one of the early inventors of photography, photocopying and the mimeograph.

Campinas means grass fields in Portuguese and refers to its characteristic landscape, which originally comprised large stretches of dense subtropical forests (mato grosso or thick woods in Portuguese), mainly along the many rivers, interspersed with gently rolling hills covered by low-lying vegetation.

Campinas is also known as "Cidade das Andorinhas" (City of Swallows), because it was a favorite spot for these migratory birds, which flocked annually in enormous numbers to downtown Campinas. However, they almost disappeared around the 1950s, probably because the church and plaza where they used to roost were torn down. Campinas' official crest and flag has a picture of the mythical bird, the phoenix, because it was practically reborn after a devastating epidemic of yellow fever in the 1800s, which killed more than 25% of the city's inhabitants. An inhabitant of Campinas is called a campineiro.

The city has always been a cultural center in the State of Sao Paulo. This has increased greatly with the proliferation of universities.

Campinas has three theater houses, a symphony orchestra,(considered one of the three best of the country),now under Principal Conductor Parcival Modolo and Karl Martin, classical music ensembles, choral groups, 43 movie theaters, dozens of libraries (including a municipal library), art galleries, museums, etc.