A small city at the beaches of Southern São Paulo, Brazil, it was the first Portuguese permanent settlement in America and the first capital of the Captaincy of São Vicente , now the state of São Paulo. Established as a proper village in 1532 by Martim Afonso de Souza, São Vicente is titled Cellula Mater (Mother Cell) of Brazil for being the first organized town in the country. The first City Council of all the Americas was democratically elected and established in São Vicente on August 22, 1532.