PIRACICABA

city, in the highlands of east central So Paulo state, Brazil, at 1,772 ft (540 m) above sea level on the Rio Tiet. Formerly called Santo Antnio de Piracicaba and Vila Nova da Constituio, the settlement was given town status in 1821 and made the seat of a municipality in 1856. The city is in the centre of the state's main sugarcane-producing area; cotton, rice, coffee, and other crops are also cultivated. In addition to sugar refineries, the city has distilleries, food-processing factories, and machinery plants. One of the state's chief agricultural colleges is nearby. Piracicaba is linked by road, rail, and air to So Paulo, the state capital, 85 mi (137 km) southeast. Pop. (1980 prelim.) 179,395.