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São José dos Campos is one of a string of modern, industrial towns in the Valley of the Paraíba. This region was once the most ecologically diverse on the planet. Then came coffee farming, and it became one of the most agriculturally rich in the world. But the soil was drained of nutrients and large areas are now virtually desert, with the great-grandsons of the coffee tycoons in some cases reduced to poverty. It is a salutary thought that biologists gave warning of the dangers of over-intensive farming on tropical soils in the early years of the 19th century: nearly 200 years later we still seem not have listened.

What have sprung up in the valley, in the place of rain-forest and coffee, are industrial cities. São José dos Campos is now home to well over 500 000 people and is an industrial force to be reckoned with, in particular in the field of high technology. It is the home to many companies, including Embraer, the Brazilian aerospace company that now sells planes all over the world. See http://www.embraer.com for more information.