ABC Region

The term ABC Region is an industrial region in Greater São Paulo, Brazil.

The name refers to three smaller cities bordering on São Paulo, capital of the Brazilian state of the same name. Originally, these three cities were Santo André, São Bernardo do Campo, and São Caetano do Sul. Later, the region became known as the ABCD, with the addition of the city of Diadema. Today the region is formally, and less memorably, known as the ABCDMRR, with the addition of Mauá, Ribeirão Pires and Rio Grande da Serra.

The ABC region is widely known in Brazil and abroad because of the great number of international companies, particularly car manufacturers, that have been installed in its area. National media and organizations consider ABC a powerful industrial pole and birthplace of the labor union movement that fought against dictatorship in the 70s and 80s. In this region was formed the Workers' Party (PT) whose activities and popularity launched a great figure to the best known names in Brazil: Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, or simply Lula, president of Brazil in 2002. In 2006, the Universidade Federal do ABC was established.