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Brasília

Brasília is the capital city of Brazil. Brasília is a planned city. It was built in 41 months and was inaugurated on April 21, 1960. The construction of the city was ordered by President Juscelino Kubitschek. The main urban planner was Lúcio Costa and the chief architect of most the public buildings was Oscar Niemeyer. The city plan was based on Le Corbusier ideas.

The former capital of Brazil was Rio de Janeiro, and the resources tended to gravitate around the southeast region of Brazil. While in part the city was built because there was the need for a neutral federal capital, the main reason was to promote the development of Brazil's hinterland and better integrate the entire territory of Brazil. Brasilia is approximately at the geographical center of the Brazilian territory, and the idea of promoting the inland areas was present since the 1891 Constitution.

Brasília is situated in the Brazilian Federal District, Distrito Federal. The city is designed in the shape of an airplane, despite the fact Lucio Costa insists he shaped it like a butterfly. Housing and offices are situated on giant superblocks, giving it a non-pedestrian scale. Since the city was designed around the advent of motor transport, pedestrians have to take long journeys to move from one point to another, but in the other hand the beautiful lanscape make the trip pleasant.

Population: 1,969,868.

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