Campinas is a Brazilian city of São Paulo State, in the country's Southeast Region. According to the 2010 Census, the city population is 1,080,999, making it the fourteenth most populous Brazilian city and the third in the São Paulo state. The city's metropolitan area, the Greater Campinas, as of 2013, contains nineteen cities, including Campinas, and has a total population of 2,232,297 people.The city is home to the University of Campinas, one of the most prestigious in Latin America.EtymologyCampinas means grass fields in Portuguese and refers to its characteristic landscape, which originally comprised large stretches of dense subtropical forests , mainly along the many rivers, interspersed with gently rolling hills covered by low-lying vegetation.Campinas was also known as "Cidade das Andorinhas" , because it was a favorite spot for these migratory birds, which flocked annually in enormous numbers to downtown Campinas. However, they almost disappeared around the 1950s, probably because the church and plaza where they used to roost were torn down. Campinas' official crest and flag has a picture of the mythical bird, the phoenix, because it was practically reborn after a devastating epidemic of yellow fever in the 1800s, which killed more than 25% of the city's inhabitants.