Map - São José do Rio Preto (São José do Rio Preto)

São José do Rio Preto is a municipality in the state of São Paulo, Brazil. The city is located at the northwest portion of the state, 440 km (273 mi) from the city of São Paulo and 700 km (435 mi) from Brasília. As of the 2021 census, the population of the city was 469,173 inhabitants making it the 11th largest city in the state of São Paulo and the 36th largest city in Brazil.

Also known as Rio Preto, it was founded in 1852 and its history is strongly linked to the commercial activity, provision of services, and agriculture.

Demographically, São José do Rio Preto is the principal city of the Mesoregion of São José do Rio Preto (population 1,569,220). In 2020, the Microregion of São José do Rio Preto had a population of 763,534 inhabitants.

The anniversary of the city is celebrated on the same day of Saint Joseph's Day.

Before the 19th century the region of São José do Rio Preto was inhabited by the Kaingang that were gradually reduced due to migration, bandeiras, and miscegenation.

The city was founded on March 19, 1852 by João Bernardino de Seixas Ribeiro (a migrant from Minas Gerais), when the local farmer Luiz Antônio da Silveira gave part of his lands to establish the new city as a devotion to the patron Saint Joseph.

São José do Rio Preto was officially established in 1894 and the territory ceased to be part of Jaboticabal.

The railway reached the city in 1912 after the expansions of the Araraquarense Railway (pt: Estrada de Ferro Araraquarense), once completed, the railway was an important factor for the development of São José do Rio Preto as the city served as a commercial center for people of the region, as well as a point for stocking and movement of goods between the region and the city of São Paulo.