Araçatuba

About Araçatuba

Araçatuba is a city located in the northwest of São Paulo state, Brazil. The city has 208,415 inhabitants (IBGE/2025) and spans 1,167 square kilometres (451 sq mi). The city name comes from the Tupi language and means "abundance of araçá" (a fruit, Psidium cattleianum). Araçatuba is located 532 kilometres (331 mi) from São Paulo.

Its origins date back to the coffee boom and, at the turn of the century, its economy was characterized by the growth of sugarcane plantations. This scenario also includes livestock farming, an activity that made it known in the country as the Capital of Fat Cattle due to the negotiations of the arroba of cattle held in Praça Rui Barbosa, in addition to the inclusion of other animal breeding activities such as sheep farming. With a diversified economy, the service sector is the predominant one in the city. Araçatuba is also characterized by being a university hub in the northwest region of the state of São Paulo. It is served by the Brazil-Bolivia Gas Pipeline and the Tietê-Paraná waterway.

Araçatuba was founded on December 2, 1908, and officially established as a municipality on December 8, 1921.

Overview adapted from Wikipedia, travel guide fromWikivoyage (CC BY-SA)。Photography via Wikimedia Commons.