Guarulhos was officially founded on December 8, 1560, by the Jesuit Father Manoel de Paiva. In the beginning, the place was named after the village of “Nossa Senhora da Conceição”. The emancipation of São Paulo took place in 1880, and the name “Guarulhos” was adopted in November 1906.
The municipality is in a strategic location, just 19 km from São Paulo and 100 km from the Port of Santos, and close to the Presidente Dutra, Fernão Dias, Ayrton Senna, Hélio Smidt and Rodoanel Trecho Norte highways (forecast of delivery July/2026). Furthermore, the largest airport in South America is also located in the city.
Its notable logistical potential and a strong industry with varied sectors are one of the main characteristics of the municipality. The industry highlight are the sectors of machinery and equipment (38%), Textiles (12.4%) and Plastics and Rubber (9%).
In February 2024, Guarulhos was recognized as one of the cities that generated the most formal jobs in 2023 in Brazil, with a positive balance of 12,706 vacancies filled, with a total of 186,214 admissions, better than the results in 15 capitals in the federation.
Actions to modernize the city are constant and, in 2024, a municipal law was enacted to formalize the Guarulhos Industrial and Technological Park.
An area of 125,000 m² will house companies that have products with embedded technology. The companies there located will benefit from municipal tax incentives, such as urban property tax.
The presence of the international airport makes Guarulhos Brazil's gateway to the world. Therefore, the city aims to offer as much support as possible to citizens of different nationalities and traditions.
In 2023, at the 36th Congress of Municipal Health Secretaries of the State of São Paulo (Cosems), the city received the David Capistrano award for the “Todas Hermanas” action, which offers treatment and care to Bolivian women victims of sexual violence, providing comfort, social and psychological care, reception trailers and the interruption of the cycle of violence in the area covered by the Life Support Center.
