Last modified on 1 March 2015, at 16:25


"Brasilia" redirects here. For other uses, see Brasilia (disambiguation).
Federal capital
Região Administrativa de Brasília
Administrative Region of Brasília
From upper left: National Congress of the Federative Republic of Brazil, Juscelino Kubitschek bridge, Monumental Axis, Palácio da Alvorada and Cathedral of Brasília.
Flag of Brasília
Official seal of Brasília
Nickname(s): Capital Federal, BSB, Capital da Esperança (Capital of Hope)
Motto: "Venturis ventis"  (Latin)
"To the coming winds"
Location of Brasília in the Federal District
Location of Brasília in the Federal District
Brasília is located in Brazil
Location of Brasília in Brazil
Country  Brazil
Region Central-West
State Bandeira do Distrito Federal (Brasil).svg Federal District
Founded April 21, 1960
 • Total 5,802 km2 (2,240.164 sq mi)
Elevation 1,172 m (3,845 ft)
Population (2014)(est.)[1]
 • Total 2,852,372 (4th)
 • Density 480.827/km2 (1,245.338/sq mi)
Demonym Brasiliense or Candango
 • Year 2006 estimate
 • Total R$ 161,630,000,000 (8th)
 • Per capita R$ 61,915 (1st)
 • Year 2014
 • Category 0.911 (1st)
Time zone BRT (UTC−3)
 • Summer (DST) BRST (UTC−2)
Postal code 70000-000
Area code(s) +55 61
Website Brasília, DF
Official name: Brasilia
Type Cultural
Criteria i, iv
Designated 1987 (11th session)
Reference no. 445
Region Latin America and the Caribbean

Brasília (Portuguese pronunciation: [bɾaˈziljɐ]) is the federal capital of Brazil and the seat of government of the Federal District. The city is located along the Brazilian Highlands in the country's Central-West region. It was founded on April 21, 1960, to serve as the new national capital. Brasília, easily the fastest growing major city in the country, had an estimated population of 2,852,372 in 2014, just 50,000 residents shy of Salvador, placing it as the 4th most populous city in Brazil.[2]



The city has a unique status in Brazil, as it is an administrative division rather than a legal municipality like other cities in Brazil. Nationally, the term is almost always used synonymously with the Federal District, which constitutes an indivisible Federative Unit. Several satellite cities are also part of the Federal District.

The centers of all three branches of the federal government of Brazil are in Brasília, including the Congress, President, and Supreme Court. The city also hosts 124 foreign embassies.[6] Brasília International Airport connects the capital to all major Brazilian cities and many international destinations, and is the third busiest airport in Brazil.

The city was one of the main host cities of the 2014 FIFA World Cup. Additionally, Brasília hosted the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup.


The Pilot Plan

From 1763 to 1960, Rio de Janeiro was the capital of Brazil. At this time, resources tended to be centered in Brazil's southeast region near Rio de Janeiro. Brasília's geographically central location fostered a more regionally neutral federal capital. An article of the country's first republican constitution dating back to 1891 stated that the capital should be moved from Rio de Janeiro to a place close to the center of the country. The plan was originally conceived in 1827 by José Bonifácio, an advisor to Emperor Pedro I. He presented a plan to the General Assembly of Brazil for a new city called Brasília, with the idea of moving the capital westward from the heavily populated southeastern corridor. The bill was not enacted because Pedro I dissolved the Assembly.


Until the 1980s, the governor of the Federal District was appointed by the Federal Government, and the laws of Brasília were issued by the Brazilian Federal Senate. With the Constitution of 1988 Brasília gained the right to elect its Governor, and a District Assembly (Câmara Legislativa) was elected to exercise legislative power.[7] The Federal District does not have a Judicial Power of its own. The Judicial Power which serves the Federal District also serves federal territories. Currently, Brazil does not have any territories, therefore, for now the courts serve only cases from the Federal District.




Brasília has a tropical savanna climate (Aw) according to the Köppen system, with two distinct seasons: the rainy season, from October to April, and a dry season, from May to September.[10] The average temperature is 20.6 °C (69.1 °F). September, at the end of the dry season, has the highest average maximum temperature, 28.3 °C (82.9 °F), has major and minor lower maximum average temperature, of 25.1 °C (77.2 °F) and 12.9 °C (55.2 °F), respectively.[11][12] Average temperatures from September through March are a consistent 22 °C (72 °F).[13] With 247.4 mm (9.7 in), January is the month with the highest rainfall of the year, while June is the lowest, with only 8.7 mm (0.3 in).[14]

According to Brazilian National Institute of Meteorology (INMET), the record low temperature was 1.6 °C (34.9 °F) in July 18, 1975, and the record high was 35.8 °C (96.4 °F) in October 28, 2008. The highest accumulated rainfall in 24 hours was 132.8 mm (5.2 in) on November 15, 1963.[15]

Climate data for Brasília (1961–1990)
Record high °C (°F) 32.6
Average high °C (°F) 26.9
Daily mean °C (°F) 21.2
Average low °C (°F) 17.4
Record low °C (°F) 12.2
Rainfall mm (inches) 247.4
Avg. rainy days (≥ ≥ 1 mm) 17 14 13 9 3 1 1 1 5 13 16 18 111
 % humidity 76 77 76 75 68 61 56 49 53 66 75 79 67.6
Source: Brazilian National Institute of Meteorology (INMET).[13][12][11][14][16][17][18][19][20]


Brasília at night from ISS.

According to the 2010 IBGE Census, there were 2,469,489 people residing in the city of Brasília.[21] The census revealed the following numbers: 1,239,882 Pardo (Multiracial) people (48.2%), 1,084,418 White people (42.2%), 198,072 Black people (7.7%), 41,522 Asian people (1.6%), 6,128 Amerindian people (0.2%).[22]

In 2010, Brasília was ranked as the fourth most populous city in Brazil after São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, and Salvador.[23]

In 2010, the city had 474,871 opposite-sex couples and 1,241 same-sex couples (see more at LGBT rights in Brazil). The population of Brasília was 52.2% female and 47.8% male.[22]

In the 1960 census there were almost 140,000 residents in the new Federal District. By 1970 this figure had grown to more than 537,000. In 2000 the population of the Federal District was over 2,000,000. Planned for only 500,000 inhabitants, Brasília has seen its population grow much more than expected. Several satellite cities have been created over the years to house the extra inhabitants.[24]


At the close of the 20th century, Brasília held the distinction of being the largest city in the world which had not existed at the beginning of the century.[26] Brasília has one of the highest population growth rates in Brazil, with annual growth of 2.82%, mostly because of internal migration.

Brasília's inhabitants include a foreign population of mostly embassy workers as well as large numbers of Brazilian migrants. Today, the city has important communities of immigrants and refugees. The Human Development Index in the city is at 0.936 in the year 2000 (developed nation level), and the illiteracy rate is around 4.35%.


Religion Percentage Number
Catholic 56.62% 1,455,134
Protestant 26.88% 690,982
No religion 9.20% 236,528
Spiritist 3.50% 89,836
Jewish 0.04% 1103
Muslim 0.04% 972

Source: IBGE 2010.[27]


Brazilian Flag and National Congress in spring




Both low-cost and luxury housing were built by the government in the Brasília. The residential zones of the inner city are arranged into superquadras ("superblocks"): groups of apartment buildings along with a prescribed number and type of schools, retail stores, and open spaces. At the northern end of Lake Paranoá, separated from the inner city, is a peninsula with many fashionable homes, and a similar city exists on the southern lakeshore. Originally the city planners envisioned extensive public areas along the shores of the artificial lake, but during early development private clubs, hotels, and upscale residences and restaurants gained footholds around the water. Set well apart from the city are satellite cities, including Gama, Ceilândia, Taguatinga, Núcleo Bandeirante, Sobradinho, and Planaltina. These cities, with the exception of Gama and Sobradinho were not planned.[31]

Monumental civic scale

Aerial view of the South Wing (Asa Sul) district.



Even these positive features have sparked controversy, expressed in the nickname "ilha da fantasia" ("fantasy island"), indicating the sharp contrast between the city and surrounding regions, marked by poverty and disorganization in the cities of the state of Goiás, around Brasília.[32]

Critics of Brasília's grand scale have characterized it as a modernist platonic fantasy about the future:


Robert Hughes, The Shock of the New, Episode 4: Trouble in Utopia, (1980)



Shopping center in the city.







South Hotel Sector.
South Banking Sector.

In the city include:



The Federal District has the largest GDP per capita income of Brazil US$25,062, slightly higher than Portugal.[34]





Institute of Biological Sciences (IB) of the University of Brasília.



Main tertiary educational institutions


The "Pietà" statue at the National Cathedral of Brasília.



Historic sites and museums

Eixo Monumental


National Congress

Brazil's bicameral National Congress consists of the Senate (the upper house) and the Chamber of Deputies of Brazil (the lower house). Since the 1960s, the National Congress has been located in Brasília. As with most official buildings throughout the city, it was designed by Oscar Niemeyer in the style of modern Brazilian architecture. The hemisphere to the left is the seat of the Senate and the hemisphere to the right is the seat of the Chamber of Deputies. The Congress also occupies various other surrounding buildings, some connected by tunnels.


Palácio da Alvorada





Palácio do Planalto

The Palácio do Planalto is the official workplace of the President of Brazil. It is located at the Praça dos Três Poderes in Brasília. As the seat of government, the term "O Planalto" is often used as a metonym for the executive branch of government.




Complexo Cultural da República

The Complexo Cultural da República (Portuguese for Cultural Complex of the Republic) is formed by the National Library of Brasília and the National Museum of the Republic. It is situated in the Eixo Monumental, next to the Cathedral of Brasília.

The National Library of Brasília (Biblioteca Nacional de Brasília in Portuguese) occupies an area of 14,000 m2, consisting of reading and study rooms, auditorium and a collection of over 300,000 items.

The National Museum of the Republic (Museu Nacional da República in Portuguese) consists of a 14,500 m2 exhibit area, two 780-seat auditoriums, and a laboratory. The space is mainly used to display temporary art exhibits.

Paranoá Lake

Paranoá Lake is a large artificial lake built to increase the amount of water available to the region. It has the second largest marina in Brazil, and hosts wakeboarders and windsurfers.

Juscelino Kubitschek bridge



Praça dos Três Poderes



Cathedral of Brasília


Popular culture

Dom Bosco Sanctuary in Brasília.


According to Don Bosco's prophecy:[40]




The 2015 Rede Globo series Felizes para Sempre? was set in Brasília.[41]


International airport

Brasília–Presidente Juscelino Kubitschek International Airport serves the metropolitan area with major domestic and international flights. It is the third busiest Brazilian airport based on passengers and aircraft movements.[42] Because of its strategic location it is a civil aviation hub for the rest of the country.

This makes for a large number of takeoffs and landings and it is not unusual for flights to be delayed in the holding pattern before landing. Following the airport's master plan, Infraero built a second runway, which was finished in 2006. In 2007, the airport handled 11,119,872 passengers.[42] The main building's third floor, with 12 thousand square meters, has a panoramic deck, a food court, shops, four movie theatres with total capacity of 500 people, and space for exhibitions. Brasília Airport has 136 vendor spaces. The airport is located about 11 km (6.8 mi) from the central area of Brasília, outside the metro system. The area outside the airport's main gate is lined with taxis as well as several bus line services which connect the airport to Brasília's central district. The parking lot accommodates 1,200 cars.[43] The airport is serviced by domestic and regional airlines (TAM, GOL, Azul, WebJET, Trip and Avianca), in addition to a number of international carriers. In 2012, Brasília's International Airport was won by the InfrAmerica consortium, formed by the Brazilian engineering company ENGEVIX and the Argentine Corporacion America holding company, with a 50% stake each.[44] During the 25-year concession, the airport may be expanded to up to 40 million passengers a year.[45]



Like most Brazilian cities, Brasilia has a good network of taxi companies. Taxis from the airport are available immediately outside the terminal, but at times there can be quite a queue of people. Although the airport is not far from the downtown area, taxi prices do seem to be higher than in other Brazilian cities. Booking in advance can be advantageous, particularly if time is limited, and companies such as Brazil Airport Transfers should be able to assist airport transfer or transport requirements.


Main article: Brasília Metro
Brasília's new tram to be built on W3 Avenue.

Metrô de Brasília is Brasília's underground metro system. The subway system has 24 stations on two lines, the Orange and Green lines, distributed along a total network of 42 km (26 mi), covering some of the metropolitan area. Both lines begin at the Central Station and run parallel until the Águas Claras Station. The Brasília metro is not comprehensive, so buses may provide better access to the city centre.


High-speed rail

A high-speed railway was planned between Brasília and Goiânia, the capital of the state of Goias, although it will probably be turned into a regional service linking these capital cities and cities in between, like Anápolis and Alexânia.[49]





Tourist sites nearby

Nearby attractions include:


Estadio Nacional de Brasilia in its inaugural game.
Brazilian delegation to the 2007 Pan American Games, in Brasília.


The three most well known teams of Brasília are:

Both teams won the Série B of the Brazilian Football Championship once (Gama in 1998 and Brasiliense in 2004), but they failed to be successful in the Série A. As of 2014, Brasiliense will play the Série D, while Gama only plays the Metropolitan league and doesn't even participate in the Série D.


Brasília is one of the host cities of the 2014 FIFA World Cup and 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup, for which Brazil is the host nation. Brasília hosted the opening of the Confederations Cup and will host 7 World Cup games.[50]

Brasília will also host football tournaments during the 2016 Summer Olympics to be held in Rio de Janeiro.

Hang gliding



Motor sports




Notable people of Brasília

International relations

Twin towns and sister cities

Brasília is twinned with:[51]

Of these, Abuja, Canberra, and Washington D.C. were likewise cities planned specifically to be their respective countries' seats of government.

Partner cities

Brasília has the following partner cities:

See also


External links
