Universidade de São Paulo (University of São Paulo, short USP) is a public university of the Brazilian state of São Paulo. It is the largest Brazilian university as well as one the country's most prestigious universities. According to reports by the Ministry of Science and Technology, more than 25% of the articles published by Brazilian researchers in high quality conferences and journals are produced at the University of São Paulo. USP is one of the largest institutions of higher education in Latin America, with approximately 90,000 enrolled students. It has eleven campi, four of them in São Paulo (the main campus is called Campus Armando de Salles Oliveira, with an area of 7,443,770 m²). There are campuses in the cities of Bauru, Lorena, Piracicaba, Pirassununga, Ribeirão Preto and two in São Carlos. USP is involved in teaching, research and university extension in all areas of knowledge. During the "search for alternatives" period in the 1930s, political centralization and the first attempt to provide Brazil with modern administrative, military and educational institutions took place. The main initiatives included the University of São Paulo, which was created in 1934.