Brasília

Sister cities

• Diamantina
• Brussels
• Rome
• Boston
• Berlin
• Washington, D.C.
• Guadalajara
• Xi'an
• Maputo
• Doha
• Abuja
• Tehran

History

Brazil's first capital was Salvador; in 1763 Rio de Janeiro became Brazil's capital and remained so until 1960. During this period, resources tended to be centered in Brazil's southeastern region, and most of the country's population was concentrated near its Atlantic coast. Brasilia's geographically central location fostered a more regionally neutral federal capital. The idea of relocating Brazil's capital city was 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 original plan was to build Brasília upstream at the São Francisco River, instead of the later plans in the region around Goiás. The bill was not enacted because Pedro I dissolved the Assembly. According to a legend, Italian saint Don Bosco in 1883 had a dream in which he described a futuristic city that roughly fitted Brasília's location. In Brasília today, many references to Bosco, who founded the Salesian order, are found throughout the city and one church parish in the city bears his name. After the Proclamation of the Republic, the Third Article of the new Constitution from 1891 stated that the capital should be moved from Rio de Janeiro to a place close to the country's center. Stating that "The Union shall own, in the central plateau of the Republic, an area of 14,400 square kilometers, which will be demarcated in due course to establish the future federal capital." The government commissioned Belgian geodesist and astronomer Luís Cruls for a mission into the Central Plateau for surveying the land for the future capital, having done two expeditions in 1892 and 1894. The land demarcated for the…

Geography

The city sits at an elevation of and more, high on the Brazilian Highlands in the country's center-western region. Paranoá Lake, a large artificial lake, was built to increase the amount of water available and to maintain the region's humidity. It has a marina, and hosts wakeboarders and windsurfers. Diving can also be practiced and one of the main attractions is Vila Amaury, an old village submerged in the lake. This is where the first construction workers of Brasília used to live. Brasília has a tropical savanna climate (Aw, according to the Köppen climate classification), milder due to the elevation and with two distinct seasons: the rainy season, from October to April, and the dry season, from May to September. The average temperature is . According to the Brazilian National Institute of Meteorology (INMET), the record low temperature was on 18 July 1975, and the record high was on 18 October 2015 and 8 October 2020. The highest accumulated rainfall in 24 hours was on 15 November 1963.

Most-observed species

• Rufous Hornero

  Furnarius rufus (Gmelin, 1788) · Aves
  6,466
• Great Kiskadee

  Pitangus sulphuratus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  6,378
• Yellow-chevroned Parakeet

  Brotogeris chiriri (Vieillot, 1818) · Aves
  6,003
• Saffron Finch

  Sicalis flaveola (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  5,619
• Rufous-bellied Thrush

  Turdus rufiventris Vieillot, 1818 · Aves
  5,140
• Picazuro Pigeon

  Patagioenas picazuro (Temminck, 1813) · Aves
  4,666
• Ruddy Ground-Dove

  Columbina talpacoti (Temminck, 1810) · Aves
  4,257
• Chalk-browed Mockingbird

  Mimus saturninus (Lichtenstein, 1823) · Aves
  3,970