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Brasília

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Central & South American
Geography

                          Brasília
   Image:Brasiliaaa.jpg
   Brasília skyline

   Official flag of Brasília

                             Official seal of Brasília
   Flag                      Seal
   Location of Brasília
   Location of Brasília
                Coordinates: 15°46′S 47°55′W
       Country     Brazil
        State      Distrito Federal
      Governor     Maria de Lourdes Abadia
        Area
        - City     5,801,937 km²
      Elevation    1000 m
     Population
    - City ( 2005) 2,333,108
      - Density    353,53/km²
      Time zone    UTC ( UTC-3)
               Website: www.brasilia.df.gov.br

   Brasília is the capital of Brazil with a population of 2,333,108 .
   Located in the Brazilian Federal District, the city is famous for its
   urban planning, daring architecture and rapid population growth. In
   English, the diacritical mark on the í is often omitted and the name
   written Brasilia.

Location

   Government buildings in downtown Brasília
   Enlarge
   Government buildings in downtown Brasília

   Brasília is in a Federal District, created by Juscelino Kubitschek
   within the state of Goiás. The District is bordered by the Preto River
   to the east and by the Descoberto River to the west. Brasília is
   situated on Planalto Central, a 1000 m high plateau. Brasília is 207 km
   from Goiânia, 1,531 km from Salvador, 930 km from Rio de Janeiro, 716
   km from Belo Horizonte and 1,015 km from São Paulo.

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. 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 (82°F) and an average low of
   16°C (61°F). The coolest month is July, with an average high of 25°C
   (75°F) and an average low of 13°C (55°F). The monthly difference
   between the average high is around 3°C (35°F) and the average low 5°C
   (39°F).

   The absolute minimum registered was 0.5°C (33°F) and the maximum
   absolute 34.1°C (93°F).

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)
   and in the national Senate.

   Moreover, Brasília is home to the country's federal government. The
   executive branch is represented by the Palácio do Planalto
   (presidential workplace) and the various Ministries that are located
   along the Monumental Axis. The legislative and judicial powers are also
   located there.

A Planned City

History

   The National Congress in Brasília.
   Enlarge
   The National Congress in Brasília.

   President Juscelino Kubitschek ordered the construction of Brasília,
   enacting a long-forgotten article of the country's republican
   constitutions stating that the capital should be relocated from Rio de
   Janeiro. Its main urban planner was Lúcio Costa. Oscar Niemeyer was the
   chief architect of 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.

   From 1763 to 1960, Rio de Janeiro was the capital of Brazil, and
   resources tended to be centred in Brazil's southeast region. Brasília’s
   geographically central location made for a more regionally 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.

   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.

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.

   The basis of the plan for the city was a simple cross. In the word of
   Costa: the project "was born from the primary gesture of someone who
   signs a place of take its ownership: two axes crossing themselves in
   right angle, the sign of the cross, itself". However, the cross had to
   be adapted to the local topography, as there were already plans for the
   artificial lake, and the city gained the shape of an airplane.

   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.

   The wings of the airplane are named the North Wing and South Wing: each
   is roughly seven kilometers in length. The avenue between the lake and
   the wings is called L4 Sul or L4 Norte, depending on which wing.
   National Senate
   Enlarge
   National Senate

   A wide, high-speed avenue, called the Eixo Rodoviário, connects the two
   wings by passing under a central bus station, where the banking sector
   (Setor Bancário) and hotel sector (Setor Hoteleiro) are located. The
   100s and 300s addresses are on the west side of the Eixo, and 200s and
   400s are on east side. 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.

   There is also a zoo close to Brasilia's 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 200,000 people living in the Plano Piloto (the Pilot Plan), the
   plan soon became out-dated, but the city found a solution in education:
   thousands of pedestrian stripes were painted in every street,
   shortening the way of the pedestrians. A metro has been built recently
   to alleviate these problems, but there are several unfinished stations
   yet. A line was completed for the South Wing, which continues to the
   major satellite city of Taguatinga. Whilst public transportation is
   almost plentiful, the car remains popular as a means of transportation
   in Brasília.

   Another criticism of Brasília is the displacement of poor residents too
   far away in satellite towns like Santa Maria, São Sebastião, 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 due to the
   habitation policy adopted by Governor Joaquim Roriz, in which people
   from other poor regions of the country were attracted to the capital in
   exchange for a little estate, overfilling the Federal District
   boundaries. When one talks of Brasília, these satellite cities are
   rarely taken into consideration, even though their population far
   surpasses that of the Pilot Plan. Still, Brasilia is the city that has
   the highest HDI in Brazil.

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

   UNESCO has declared Brasília a World Heritage Site.

Nightlife

   Although Brasilia lacks the nightlife infra-structure and standards of
   other major Brazilian cities such as Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo,
   creativity has helped to combat boredom. The city hosts musical talents
   such as Legião Urbana, Capital Inicial and Cássia Eller. There are
   places in the city such as the "Setor de Diversões Sul", also known as
   Conic, next to the Pátio Brasil mall.

Famous people born in Brasília

     * Leila Barros, volleyball player
     * Rebeca Gusmão, swimmer
     * Kaká, footballer (current club A.C Milan)
     * Lúcio, footballer (current club Bayern Munich)
     * Tatiana Lemos, swimmer
     * Ana Paula Padrão, journalist
     * Hudson de Souza, middle distance runner.,(max.5000m)
     * Marílson Gomes dos Santos, professional athlete, winner of the New
       York City Marathon ( 2006)

   Retrieved from " http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bras%C3%ADlia"
   This reference article is mainly selected from the English Wikipedia
   with only minor checks and changes (see www.wikipedia.org for details
   of authors and sources) and is available under the GNU Free
   Documentation License. See also our Disclaimer.
