Brasília Totally Explained

Everything about Bras Lia totally explained

World Heritage Site

The Brazilian capital is the only city in the world built in the 20th century to be awarded (in 1987) the status of Historical and Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO, a specialized agency of the United Nations.

Economy

Brasília's economy is dominated by (a) services (91% of local GDP, according to the IBGE):

government (the public sector is by far the largest employer, accounting for around 40% of the city jobs. Government jobs include all levels, from the federal police to diplomacy, from the transportation bureau to the armed forces);
communications (Brasil Telecom's HQ, public and private T.V. stations including regional offices of Globo, SBT, Rede Bandeirantes, Rede Record, RedeTV! and the main offices of TV câmara, TV Senado and TV Justiça),
banking and finance (headquarters of the Banco do Brasil, the Caixa Econômica Federal, the Brazilian Central Bank, the Banco Rural and the Banco de Brasília, among others),
entertainment,
information technology (Politec, Poliedro, CTIS, among others), and
legal services.

(b) industries in the city include:

Construction (Paulo Octavio, Via Construções, and Irmãos Gravia among others),

Food processing(Perdigão, Sadia),

Furniture Making,

recycling (Novo Rio, Rexam, Latasa and others),

pharmaceuticals (União Química), and

printing and publishing. The main agricultural products produced in the city are coffee, guavas, strawberries, oranges, lemons, papayas, soy beans and mangoes. It has over 110,000 cows and it exports wood products worldwide.
   Federal District, where Brasilia is located, GDP is about US$69,844 billion, according to the IBGE. Its share of Brazilian GDP is 3.8%
   Federal District has the largest per capita income of Brazil (about US$ 27,610 per person, according to the IBGE). Brasília per capita income is believed to be much higher.
   Brasília hosts a wide range of services such as hospitals, schools, fitness clubs, clubs, colleges, restaurants, cafes, etc. These services are, however, unevenly distributed.

Infrastructure

Energy consumption in Brasilia was 924 (gwh), the industrial 337(gwh), residential 1,241(gwh). The total energy consumption was 3,319 (gwh).
The railways system isn't well developed, with only 36 km of track. A fast-track train connecting Brasília to Goiânia was considered a few years ago but so far nothing has happened. Brasília has a small subway system (41 km long). At the Federal District as of 2006, there were approximately 1 million vehicles running, for a population of about 2.455 million (according to IBGE).
There is a TV tower (224 meters high) located in the heart of the city.

Accommodation

The city’s planned design included specific areas for almost everything, including accommodation – Hotels Sectors North and South. New hotel facilities area being developed elsewhere, such as the hotels and tourism Sector North, located on the shores of Lake Paranoá. Brasilia offers modern and comfortable hotels, including hotels managed by international chains; but it also offers cozy and modest inns, pensions and hostels. Brasilia receives visitors from the whole of Brazil and the world, it offers a good range of restaurants with great diversity of food; from simple small restaurants, serving the authentic food of Central-Western areas of Brazil, to selected bistros.

Government palaces

Monumental Axis

At the end of the Monumental Axis lies the Ministries Esplanade, an open area in downtown Brasília. The rectangular lawn area is surrounded by two eight-lane wide avenues where many important government buildings, monuments and memorials are located. This is the main body of the "airplane" shape of the city, as planned by Lúcio Costa. It resembles the National Mall, in Washington, D.C..

National Congress

Brazil's bicameral National Congress consists of the Senate of Brazil (the upper house) and the Chamber of Deputies of Brazil (the lower house). Since the 1960s, the National Congress has its seat in Brasília. As with most of the official buildings in the city, it was designed by Oscar Niemeyer following the style of modern Brazilian architecture. The semisphere to the left is the seat of the Senate, and the semisphere to the right is the seat of the Chamber of the Deputies. Between them there are two towers of offices. The Congress also occupies other surrounding buildings, some of them interconnected by a tunnel.
The building is located in the middle of the Monumental axis, the main avenue of the capital. In front of it there's a large lawn and a reflecting pool. The building faces the Praça dos Três Poderes, where the Palácio do Planalto and the Supreme Federal Court are located.
It is interesting to note that this building also served as a model for the Empire State Plaza in Albany NY, USA.

Palácio da Alvorada

The Palácio da Alvorada is the official residence of the President of Brazil. The palace was designed, along with the rest of the city of Brasília, by Oscar Niemeyer and inaugurated in 1958.
   One of the first structures built in the republic's new capital city, the "Alvorada" lies on a peninsula at the margins of Lake Paranoá. The principles of simplicity and modernity, that in the past characterized the great works of architecture, motivated Niemeyer. The viewer has an impression of looking at a glass box, softly landed on the ground with the support of thin external columns.
   The building has an area of 7,000 m2 and three floors: basement, landing and second floor. The auditorium, kitchen, laundry, medical center, and the administration are at basement level. The rooms used by the presidency for official receptions are on the landing. There are four suites, two apartments and other private rooms on the second floor which is the residential part of the palace.
   The building also has a library, a heated Olympic-sized swimming pool, a music room, two dining rooms and various meeting rooms. There is a chapel and heliport in adjacent buildings .

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 the government.
   The main working office of the President of the Republic is in the Palácio do Planalto. The President and his family, however, don't live in it; the official residence of the President is the Palácio da Alvorada. Besides the President, senior advisors also have offices in the "Planalto", including the Vice-President of Brazil and the Chief of Staff; the other Ministries are laid along the Esplanada dos Ministérios.
   The architect of the Palácio do Planalto was Oscar Niemeyer, the "creator" of most of the important buildings in the new capital of Brasília. The idea was to project an image of simplicity and modernity using fine lines and waves to compose the columns and exterior structures.
   The Palace is four stories high, and has an area of 36,000 m². Four other adjacent buildings are also part of the complex.

Cultural Complex of the Republic

The Cultural Complex of the Republic ("Complexo Cultural da República" in Portuguese) is a cultural center located along the Monumental Axis, in the city of Brasília. It is formed by the National Library of Brasília and the National Museum of the Republic'.
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 giant artificial lake built in order to increase the amount of water available to the region. It holds the second largest marina in Brazil, and is home to the capital's wakeboard and windsurf practitioners.

Juscelino Kubitschek bridge

The Juscelino Kubitschek bridge, also known as the 'President JK Bridge' or the 'JK Bridge', crosses Lake Paranoá in Brasília. It is named after Juscelino Kubitschek de Oliveira, former president of Brazil. It was designed by architect Alexandre Chan and structural engineer Mário Vila Verde. Chan won the Gustav Lindenthal Medal for this project at the 2003 International Bridge Conference in Pittsburgh due to "...outstanding achievement demonstrating harmony with the environment, aesthetic merit and successful community participation".
It consists of three 60 m (200 ft) tall asymmetrical steel arches that crisscross diagonally. With a length of 1,200 m (0.75 miles), it was completed in 2002 at a cost of US$56.8 million. The bridge has a pedestrian walkway and is accessible to bicyclists and skaters.

Praça dos Três Poderes

Praça dos Três Poderes (Portuguese for Square of the Three Powers) is a plaza in Brasília. The name is derived from the encounter of the three federal branches around the plaza: the Executive, represented by the Palácio do Planalto (presidential office); the Legislative, represented by the Congresso Nacional (National Congress); and the Judicial branch, represented by the Supremo Tribunal Federal (Supreme Federal Court).
It is a tourist attraction in Brasília. It was designed by Lúcio Costa and Oscar Niemeyer as a place where the three branches of the Republic would meet harmonically.

Cathedral of Brasília

The Cathedral of Brasília in the capital of the Federative Republic of Brazil, is an expression of the architect Oscar Niemeyer. This concrete-framed hyperboloid structure, seems with its glass roof to be reaching up, open, to heaven. On 31 May 1970, the Cathedral’s structure was finished, and only the 70 m diameter of the circular area were visible. Niemeyer's project of Cathedral of Brasília is based in the hyperboloid of revolution which sections are asymmetric. The hyperboloid structure itself is a result of 16 identical assembled concrete columns. These columns, having hyperbolic section and weighing 90 t, represent two hands moving upwards to heaven. The Cathedral was dedicated on 31 May 1970.

Culture

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 Brazilian Federal District was more than two million. Brasília's inhabitants include a foreign population of mostly embassies workers as well as large numbers of Brazilian migrants.
Traditional parties also take place throughout the year. In June, there are large festivals celebrating Catholic saints, such as Saint Anthony and Saint Peter, that are called "festas juninas", or June festival. Throughout the year there are local, national and international events spread through the city. Christmas is widely celebrated, and New Years Eve usually hosts major events.

Sports

Football

Brasília is home to two major football teams:

Brasiliense Futebol Clube from Taguatinga

Sociedade Esportiva do Gama The main football stadiums are the Estádio Mané Garrincha and the Serejão. Brasília is one of the 18 remaining candidates to host games of the 2014 FIFA World Cup, for which Brazil is the host.

Social data

Brasília has one of the highest growth rates in Brazil. Its population increases by 2.82% each year. The vegetation surrounding the city is called "cerrado", the South American savanna. The main rivers surrounding the city are called Preto, Santo Antônio do Descoberto and São Bartolomeu.
The Human Development Index in the city is at 0.936 (developed nation level), and the illiteracy rate is around 4.35%.

Education

Portuguese is the official national language, and thus the primary language taught in schools. But English and Spanish are part of the official high school curriculum.

Educational institutions

Universidade de Brasília - University of Brasília - (UnB)

Universidade Católica de Brasília - Catholic University of Brasília - (UCB)

Centro Universitário de Brasília (UniCEUB)

Centro Universitário do Distrito Federal (UniDF)

Centro Universitário Euroamericano (UNIEURO)

Instituto de Educação Superior de Brasília (IESB)

União Pioneira da Integração Social (UPIS)

Universidade Paulista (UniP)

Transportation

Airport

Brasília International Airport - President Juscelino Kubitschek (BSB/SBBR) serves the metropolitan area with major domestic and international flights.
It is the third busiest Brazilian airport based on passengers and aircraft movements. The main building's third floor, with 12 thousand square meters, has a panoramic deck, a food court, shops, four movie theaters with total capacity of 500 people, and space for exhibitions. There are 136 shop spaces at Brasília Airport.

Metro

Brasília Metro is Brasília's underground metro system. At the moment, you can go from Brasilia city centre to Guara, Taguatinga, Aguas Claras, Samambaia and Ceilandia (nearby cities).

Famous places nearby

Nearby attractions include:

Chapada dos Veadeiros - A National Park with plenty of cerrado wildlife and surrounded by several spectacular waterfalls.

Itiquira Falls - this beautiful 168 m-high waterfall is little more than 100 km from Brasília and is in the municipality of Formosa, Goiás

Caldas Novas - The biggest natural hot springs resort of the world. Located about 360 km (225mi) southeast of the city in the state of Goiás.

Notable people in Brasília

� See List of notable people in Brasília

Sister cities

List of sister cities, designated by Sister Cities International:

Rome, Italy

Washington, D.C., United StatesFurther Information

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