Brasília from space, November 1990

Niemeyer's Cathedral

Brasília is the capital city of Brazil. It is famous for its urban planning, daring architecture and rapid population growth. It is located in the Brazilian Federal District. In English, the diacritical mark on the í is often omitted and the name written Brasilia. Download high resolution version (640x636, 214 KB)Brasília, Brasil - November 1990 image description here File links The following pages link to this file: Brasília Categories: NASA images ... Download high resolution version (640x636, 214 KB)Brasília, Brasil - November 1990 image description here File links The following pages link to this file: Brasília Categories: NASA images ... Brasilia Cathedral Source: Victor Soares/ABr. ... Brasilia Cathedral Source: Victor Soares/ABr. ... In politics, a capital (also called capital city or political capital — although the latter phrase has an alternative meaning based on an alternative meaning of capital) is the principal city or town associated with its government. ... The Brazilian Federal District (in Portuguese, Distrito Federal) is set apart for Brasília, the capital of Brazil. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... A diacritical mark or diacritic, sometimes called an accent mark, is a mark added to a letter to alter a words pronunciation or to distinguish between similar words. ... The acute accent ( Â´ ) is a diacritic mark used in many modern written languages with alphabets based on the Latin and Greek scripts. ...

Location

Brasília is located in a Federal District, created from the state of Goiás in the Mid-West region of the country. The District is bordered by the Preto River in the east and by the Descoberto River to the west. Brasília is situated on a 1000 m high plateau called the Planalto Central. The city is located at 15°45′S 47°57′W. Brasília is 207 km from Goiânia; 1,531 km from Salvador; 716 km from Belo Horizonte; and 1,015 km from São Paulo. Flag of Goiás See other Brazilian States Capital Goiânia Largest City Goiânia Area 341 289 km² Population   - Total   - Density 4 848 725 14. ... Goiânia, the capital of the state of Goiás, a state in central Brazil, is a modern, bustling city of 1,201,006 (2005) located on a fertile plain criss-crossed by numerous rivers, the most important being the Meia Ponte River. ... Salvador and Baía de Todos os Santos from space, April 1997 Morning Street Scene, Bahia, Brazil, about 1900 This article is about a Brazilian city. ... Belo Horizonte (a Portuguese name meaning beautiful horizon) is the third or fourth largest city in Brazil (after São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, and, by population within the city limits, Salvador. ... The title of this article contains the character ã. Where it is unavailable or not desired, the name may be represented as Sao Paulo. ...

Population and communications

Since Brasília is less than 50 years old (official inauguration was in April 21, 1960), only about half of the city's population consists of people born there. Most other inhabitants have moved in from the surrounding states of Goiás, Minas Gerais, as well as from the North Eastern states and Rio de Janeiro, which was the previous capital. April 21 is the 111th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (112th in leap years). ... 1960 (MCMLX) was a leap year starting on Friday (the link is to a full 1960 calendar). ... Flag of Goiás See other Brazilian States Capital Goiânia Largest City Goiânia Area 341 289 km² Population   - Total   - Density 4 848 725 14. ... Flag of Minas Gerais See other Brazilian States Capital Belo Horizonte Largest City Belo Horizonte Area 586,528. ... Ipanema beach, in the South Zone, immortalised by Tom Jobim and Vinicius de Morais song The Girl from Ipanema Rio de Janeiro (meaning River of January in Portuguese), pron. ...

The city was originally planned for 500,000 people, but the total population of Brasília has already reached 2.2 million (2004 est.), when the surrounding towns, known as satellite cities, are considered. Central Brasília, known as the Plano Piloto, has a population of around 200,000 and still has some areas in the North Wing for expansion. Most people, however, live in these satellite cities created to house the exceeding population. The most important of these towns are: Ceilândia 350,000; Taguatinga 243,000; Sobradinho 130,000; Planaltina 150,000; and Gama 131,000. Another large part of the population lives in the so-called dormitory cities in the surrounding State of Goiás: Luziânia, Águas Lindas de Goiás, Planaltina de Goiás, Cidade Ocidental and Valparaíso are some of the largest of these. The population of this new metropolitan area exceeds 3.4 million people (2005). Satellite cities are smaller municipalities that are adjacent to a major city which is the core of a metropolitan area. ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... Sobradinho is an Adminstrative Region (RA-V) of the Federal District of Brazil. ... For the city in Goiás state with a similar name see Planaltina de Goiás Planaltina is one of the administrative districts of the Federal District of Brazil, with an area of 1,534 kmª and an approximate population of 150 thousand inhabitants. ... Flag of Goiás See other Brazilian States Capital Goiânia Largest City Goiânia Area 341 289 km² Population   - Total   - Density 4 848 725 14. ... Luziânia is a city in the state of Goiás, Brazil. ... Águas Lindas de Goiás is a city and municipality located in central Goiás, Brazil. ... Planaltina de Goiás is a city located in the center of the state of Goiás, Brazil. ... Cidade Ocidental is a small city and municipality located in central Goiás state, Brazil. ... A metropolitan area is a large population center consisting of a large city and its adjacent zone of influence, or of several neighboring cities or towns and adjoining areas, with one or more large cities serving as its hub or hubs. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Brasília is just one of the 29 administrative regions within a federal district that is 5,822 square km in area [1]. Officially, only 'Asa Sul' (South Wing), 'Asa Norte' (North Wing), and the central area of 'Plano Piloto' (Pilot Plan) are parts of Brasília. Unofficially, however, Brasília can mean both the 'Plano Piloto' area and all of its administrative regions and satellite cities; hence, the term is often used to refer to the federal district as a whole.

Whilst most of the transportation within the federal district occurs via motorways and buses, a basic underground railway system, the Brasília Metro, also provides transportation between Brasília and the satellite cities of Guara, Ceilandia, Taguatinga and Samambaia, through Asa Sul. It also links Park Shopping, one of the city's largest shopping centres, with a few other terminals in the south and central areas of the city; nevertheless, it does not extend into the city's northern half. Aside from the underground railway and the more comprehensive bus-based public transportation system, there is also a railway connection with São Paulo, but no passenger trains operate any longer. The Brasília Metro is a metro system in Brasília. ... The title of this article contains the character ã. Where it is unavailable or not desired, the name may be represented as Sao Paulo. ...

Brasília is served by roads that link the city to all other regions of the country. It is also a national hub for air transport. It is served by Presidente Juscelino Kubitschek International Airport, which currently (2005) has the third largest air traffic in the country (10 million passengers). Most international flights, however, require connections through São Paulo or Rio de Janeiro. Presidente Juscelino Kubitschek International Airport Diagram of Juscelino Kubitschek International Airport Presidente Juscelino Kubitschek International Airport (IATA: BSB, ICAO: SBBR) is Brasílias international airport. ...

Climate

Brasília has dry winters and wet summers. During the dry season, the relative humidity of the air reaches critical levels during the hottest times of the day. Relative humidity is the ratio of the current vapor pressure of water in any gas (especially air) to the equilibrium vapor pressure, at which the gas is called saturated at the current temperature, expressed as a percentage. ...

Maximum temperatures average 28°C (82°F). During the dry season the temperature decreases and can reach daily lows of 13°C (55°F) in July. Maximum averages of 25°C (77°F) are the norm.

The average temperature is 20.5°C (69°F). The hottest month is September, with an average high of 28°C and an average low of 16°C (61°F). The coolest month is July, with an average high of 25°C and an average low of 13°C. The monthly difference between the average high is around 3°C (37°F) and the average low 5°C (41°F).

The absolute minimum registered was 1.6°C (35°F) and the maximum absolute 34.1°C (93°F).

Education

Brasília is the best-educated city in Brazil according to common indicators. The literacy rate is 93.7%, according to the Human Development Index. The city has several universities. The most important public university is the University of Brasília (UnB). Centro Universitário de Brasília (UniCEUB) and Universidade Católica (UCB) are the largest private universities. As in the other Brazilian states, basic education (8 grades) is public and run by the government. However, many of the best schools are privately owned and run. The American School of Brasilia is situated just in the lower part of the south wing and stands as a mark of the american system in Brazil. A university is an institution of higher education and of research, which grants academic degrees at all levels (bachelor, master, and doctor) in a variety of subjects. ... UNB - Universidade de Brasilia (University of Brasília) This public university is the best in Brasilia, having high standards among the country. ...

Government

The federal district has an autonomous government and legislative powers, but the judiciary is upheld by the Union. The District Governor is elected directly for a 4-year term. Local laws are issued by a legislative assembly also elected by the local population. The district also has the status of a federal state in many aspects. It has representatives both in the Lower House of Congress (Câmara Federal) as in the national Senate. Moreover, Brasília is home to the country's federal government. The national executive, legislative and judicial powers are all located there.

A planned city

History

President Juscelino Kubitschek ordered the construction of Brasília, after a long-forgotten article in all republican constitutions to relocate the capital from Rio de Janeiro. Its main urban planner was Lúcio Costa. Oscar Niemeyer was the chief architect to most of the public buildings and Roberto Burle Marx was the landscape designer. The city plan was based on the ideas of Le Corbusier. Brasília was built in 41 months, from 1956 to April 21, 1960 when it was officially inaugurated. Juscelino Kubitschek and his wife Juscelino Kubitschek de Oliveira (JK) (September 12, 1902-August 22, 1976) was a prominent Brazilian politician who was President of Brazil from 1956 to 1961. ... Ipanema beach, in the South Zone, immortalised by Tom Jobim and Vinicius de Morais song The Girl from Ipanema Rio de Janeiro (meaning River of January in Portuguese), pron. ... Urban planners work with local governments to formulate plans for the short- and long-term growth and renewal of urban and suburban communities. ... Lucio Costa was a Brazilian architect and urban planner born in 1902 in Toulon, France. ... Oscar Niemeyer Oscar Niemeyer Soares Filho (born December 15, 1907) is a Brazilian architect who is considered one of the most important names in international modern architecture. ... Architect at his drawing board, 1893 An architect is a person involved in the planning, designing and oversight of a buildings construction. ... Roberto Burle Marx (August 4th, 1909, São Paulo - June 4th, 1994, Rio de Janeiro) was a Brazillian landscape designer (besides being a painter, ecologist and naturalist) whose designs of parks and gardens made him world famous. ... A landscape architect is primarily a designer of spaces, mostly landscapes, and sometimes gardens, in the field of landscape architecture. ... Le Corbusier (October 6, 1887–August 27, 1965) was a Swiss architect famous for what is now called modernism or the International Style, along with Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, Walter Gropius, and Theo van Doesburg. ... 1956 (MCMLVI) was a leap year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... April 21 is the 111th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (112th in leap years). ... 1960 (MCMLX) was a leap year starting on Friday (the link is to a full 1960 calendar). ...

From 1763 to 1960 Rio de Janeiro was the capital of Brazil, and resources tended to be centred on the south east region of Brazil. Brasília’s geographically central location in the middle of the country made for a more neutral federal capital. The idea of placing Brazil’s capital in the interior dates back to the first republican constitution of 1891, which roughly defined where the federal district should be placed, but the site itself was not defined until 1922. Brasília’s location would promote the development of Brazil's central region and better integrate the entire territory of Brazil. Conspiracy theorists say the real reason was to move the government to a place far from the masses. Ipanema beach, in the South Zone, immortalised by Tom Jobim and Vinicius de Morais song The Girl from Ipanema Rio de Janeiro (meaning River of January in Portuguese), pron. ... Federal districts are subdivisions of a federal system of government. ...

According to legend, in 1883 the Italian priest Don Bosco had a prophetic dream in which he described a futuristic city that roughly fitted Brasília's location. Today, in Brasília, there are many references to this educator who founded the Salesian order. One of the main cathedrals carries his name. Giovanni Merchior Bosco Giovanni Melchior Bosco, or John Bosco, (August 16, 1815 - January 31, 1888) was a priest and educator. ... The Salesians of Don Bosco (or the Salesian Society, originally known as the Society of St. ...

Design

Lúcio Costa’s plan for the city was detailed and thorough. It stipulates which zones are to be residential and which are to be commercial. It limits where industries can settle, where certain buildings can be built and how tall those buildings can be etc.

Costa had insisted that Brasília be shaped like a butterfly ^{[citation needed]}. However, most people think that the city is shaped like an aeroplane, instead. Families Superfamily Hesperioidea: Hesperiidae Superfamily Papilionoidea: Papilionidae Pieridae Nymphalidae Lycaenidae Riodinidae A butterfly is a flying insect of the order Lepidoptera, and belongs to one of the superfamilies Hesperioidea (the skippers) or Papilionoidea (all other butterflies). ... This article refers to the tool of travel. ...

The fuselage of the aeroplane contains the ministries, government buildings, the senate and chamber of deputies and a futuristic cathedral, designed by Oscar Niemeyer. There is also a tall television tower, with spectacular views of the city and the lake. Brasilia TV Tower is a 218 metre high TV tower at Brasília. ...

The wings of the aeroplane are named the North Wing and South Wing: each is roughly 7 km. in length. The avenue between the lake and the wings, called L2 Sul or L2 Norte, depending on which wing it’s on, has churches, schools and hospitals.

National Congress

A wide, high-speed avenue, called the Eixo, connects the two wings by passing under a central bus station, where the banking sector (Sector Bancário) and hotel sector (Sector Hoteleiro) are located. The 100s and 300s addresses are on one side of the Eixo, and 200s and 400s are on the other. There are residential areas on these streets made up of blocks of flats, named Super Quadra Sul or Super Quadra Norte. The blocks are filled with three or six-storey buildings. Each has eleven buildings, identified by letter, with schools and churches in areas placed in between them. Commercial streets typically separate Superquadra blocks from each other. Green space and trees make these areas very pleasant to inhabit, and residents of the city affirm that it is one of the best cities in which to raise children. ^{[citation needed]} Image File history File links Download high resolution version (2048x1536, 517 KB) Brasilia: The National Congress , a creation of the architect Oscar Niemayer, in a empty morning Sunday. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (2048x1536, 517 KB) Brasilia: The National Congress , a creation of the architect Oscar Niemayer, in a empty morning Sunday. ...

There is also a zoo close to the airport with animals native to the Cerrado area. Embassies, recreational clubs and luxury homes surround the lake, and an enormous park, called the 'Parque da Cidade' (City Park), gives much-needed space for cycling, jogging and contact with nature.

One major criticism of Brasília is that it was not designed on a pedestrian scale. Pedestrians were not taken much into consideration during the advent of the motor age, when the city was developed. In the original plan there were no traffic lights - all cars travelled over overpasses and through tunnels to avoid intersecting traffic. Today, with half a million people living in the Plano Piloto (the Pilot Plan), the plan soon became out-dated. Pedestrians had to walk long distances between points of interest and the high speed avenues were dangerous to navigate. A metro has been built recently to alleviate these problems. A line was completed for the South Wing, which continues to the major satellite city of Taguatinga. Whilst public transportation is plentiful, the car remains popular as a means of transportation in Brasília. A popular saying is that the inhabitants are born with wheels instead of feet. Metro redirects here. ...

Another criticism of Brasília is the displacement of poor residents to far away satellite towns like Taguatinga, Gama, Ceilândia and Sobradinho. Buses and a surface rapid transit system connect these cities to the centre. Inhabitants of these satellite towns live in conditions inferior to those of the Pilot Plan. When one talks of Brasília, these satellite cities are rarely taken into consideration, even though the population of these cities far surpasses that of the Pilot Plan. Some, like Taguatinga, are now larger than Brasília itself.

According to the original plan -- which Brasília must follow -- the city is constantly under construction.

UNESCO has declared Brasília a World Heritage Site. UNESCO logo The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, commonly known as UNESCO, is a specialized agency of the United Nations established in 1945. ... Site #86: Memphis and its Necropolis, including the Pyramids of Giza (Egypt). ...

Mystical Brasília

One aspect that is usually unknown by visitors to Brasília is that it has attracted many members of offbeat religious sects and esoteric cults that have come here in what they see as the anticipation of the dawn of a new age — sects that embrace reincarnation and universal oneness, academics and sci-fi enthusiasts who associate Brasília with ancient Egypt or the lost city of Atlantis. Land was given to almost any religous group that was legally constituted so many non-mainstream groups were able to built their temples or churches at low cost and exempt of taxes.

Their dreams are fed by an alien-looking cityscape, a showcase for Modernist architect Oscar Niemeyer. Among his creations are the twin towers of the Brazilian National Congress, between which the sun rises, Stonehenge-like, on April 21, the date the capital was officially moved from Rio de Janeiro. Stonehenge Stonehenge is a Neolithic and Bronze Age megalithic monument located near Amesbury in the English county of Wiltshire, about 8 miles (13 km) northwest of Salisbury. ...

There is also the famous prophecy about the future building of Brasília. In 1883, an Italian priest named Dom Bosco had a strange dream of a land abundant in precious metals and oil that would be discovered between the 15th and 20th parallels. "There a grand civilization will appear, a Promised Land flowing with milk and honey," the priest recorded in his journal. "These things will happen in the third generation."

Many believe that Brasília, situated between the 15th and 16th parallels, is that place. The man who made the city a reality, former Brazilian President Juscelino Kubitschek, thought so as well ^{[citation needed]}.

There are many buildings with pyramidal designs and a university, the UPIS, founded by Brazil's most famous UFO investigator, General Moacyr Uchoa who supposedly had close encounters with alien beings near Alexânia, west of Brasília. One of the history teachers at that school was Yara Kern, a U.S.-trained Egyptologist who concluded, after six years of study, that Kubitschek was the reincarnation of the pharaoh Akhnaton and Brasília was the modern version of Akhnaton's made-to-order capital along the banks of the Nile, El-Amarna. Alexânia is a small town and municipality in central Goiás state, Brazil. ... Amarna (commonly known as el-Amarna) is the name given to an extensive archaeological site that represents the remains of the capital city built by the Pharaoh Akhenaten of the late Eighteenth Dynasty (c. ...

The most impressive building in the city from a religious point of view is the utopian Legion of Goodwill Temple, a seven-sided, seven-story pyramid topped by what sources call the world's largest crystal ^{[citation needed]}.

Other tourist points are the University of Peace and isolated religious communities such as the Eclectic City, founded by the pilot for one of Brazil's presidents, and Valley of the Dawn, where women wear medieval-style purple and black dresses, silver tiaras, glittering veils, and cone hats. There is an enormous temple with a statue of the great spirit White Arrow and an artificial lake hemmed by pyramids and wooden cutouts of Afro-Brazilian goddesses. Cidade Eclética (Eclectic City) is a religious commune founded by the spiritualist Mestre Yokaanam (died 1985), and is located 62 km west of Brasília, in the state of Goiás. ... Vale do Amanhecer (Valley of Dawn) is a religious community located in the Federal District of Brazil six kilometers from the satellite city of Planaltina and 50 kilometers from Brasília. ...

Farther out there is the famous João de Deus, a spiritual surgeon who operates on patients in Abadiânia in Goiás, and the Chapada dos Veadeiros national park north of the city where the small community of Alto Paraíso de Goiás has attracted New Agers, Rajneesh, and assorted mystical groups. João Teixeira de Faria (1942—), better known by his alias João de Deus (John of God) is perhaps the most famous medium and psychic surgeon in Brazil today. ... Abadiânia is a small town and municipality in the state of Goiás, Brazil. ... Alto Paraíso de Goiás (usually referred to as Alto Paraíso) is a small town and a municipality in northeastern Goiás state, Brazil. ...

External links

• Travel guide to Brasília from Wikitravel
• Official Brasília site (in Portuguese)
• Informative Brasília page, with aeroplane view (in Portuguese)
• Informative Brasília page
• Brasília on Google Maps (Satellite Image)
• National Congress Palace and Three Powers Square on Google Maps (Satellite Image Detail)
• Information about Brasília
• Facts about Brasília
• Photos of Brasília
• Feature article on CityMayors.com
• Brasília on Placeopedia

Wikitravel is a project to create an open content, complete, up-to-date, and reliable world-wide travel guide. ... Placepedia Geoencyclopedia Placeopedia is an online application which integrates Google Maps images (including satellite photos) and Wikipedia encyclopedia articles. ...

Capitals of Brazilian States
Aracaju | Belo Horizonte | Belém | Boa Vista | Brasília | Campo Grande | Cuiabá | Curitiba | Florianópolis | Fortaleza | Goiânia | João Pessoa | Macapá | Maceió | Manaus | Natal | Palmas | Porto Alegre | Porto Velho | Recife | Rio Branco | Rio de Janeiro | Salvador | São Paulo | São Luís | Teresina | Vitória