Brasília, the Brazilian federal capital, was built in the country’s heartland to bring progress to the interior of Brazil. Located in the Federal District (Distrito Federal) carved out of Goiás state on the central plateau of Brazil, it promises to promote equality and connection between the north and south, the coast and the interior. The construction of Brasília relied on an extreme urban bias, with a disproportionate amount of federal revenues going towards the building and provision of services. Hailed as a modernist miracle, Brasília was an enormous source of national pride from 1956 to 1960.
The idea of transferring the capital from Rio de Janeiro to the interior of Brazil first arose in the 18th century. The decision to relocate the capital from Rio de Janeiro to Brasilia in the isolated interior of the country was set against a backdrop of domestic instability and individual ambition. Together with town planner Lucio Costa and landscape architect Roberto Burle Marx, Niemeyer designed and built the core of Brasília, a capital city promised in Brazil’s 1891 republican plan.
Brasília’s roots date back to 1789 when revolutionary Joaquim José da Silva Xavier proposed the idea of a capital city located in the interior. The area chosen for Brasília had an excellent water source and was considered a testament to human ambition and architectural beauty. Nestled within the Brazilian Highlands in the country’s central-west region, Brasília is a testament to human ambition and architectural achievement.
📹 Brasilia: The Capital City Built from Nothing in Three Short Years
When it came time for Brazil to build a new capital city, the leaders of the young country looked inland, hoping to build a brand …
Why was São Paulo built where it is?
São Paulo, Brazil, was founded by Portuguese sailor João Ramalho in 1554 as a mission to convert Guainás natives to Catholicism. The town was strategically located between the ocean and fertile lands, and on the Tietê River. It became an official city in 1711.
In the early years of São Paulo, it became the home base for the Bandeirantes, explorers, enslavers, and prospectors who explored the interior of Brazil. They exploited the region’s uncharted swamps, mountains, and rivers, taking native people, precious metals, and stones. Some Bandeirantes, like Antonio Rapôso Tavares, even sack and burn Jesuit missions and enslave natives.
Gold and sugar were discovered in Minas Gerais at the end of the seventeenth century, and the gold boom was felt in São Paulo, which served as a gateway to Minas Gerais. Some of the profits were invested in sugarcane plantations, which were profitable for a time.
Why is Brasilia a forward capital?
Forward capitals, such as Brasília in Brazil, are strategic economic centers that promote economic activity in less developed areas. These capitals often require significant investment in infrastructure, such as transportation, housing, and services, to support their growth. However, they may face challenges such as political resistance and difficulty in attracting residents and businesses. The success of a forward capital is measured by its immediate impact, long-term sustainability, and ability to draw populations and resources away from established urban centers.
By shifting focus and resources to underdeveloped areas, governments aim to create jobs, improve infrastructure, and attract businesses, leading to more balanced national growth and alleviating regional disparities over time. Post-establishment, forward capitals may face political resistance from entrenched interests, and attracting residents and businesses can be challenging due to existing urban amenities and cultural ties to the original capital. Infrastructure development must also keep pace with population growth to ensure sustainability.
Why is Brasilia the capital of Brazil on Reddit?
The Brazilian capital, Brasilia, was constructed on the coast due to concerns about potential sea attacks and the possibility of national collapse in the event of the capital’s capture. At the time, there was a perception that the rest of the country would soon follow suit.
Is Brasilia nice to live?
Brasilia, a renowned city in Brazil, is known for its safety and security compared to other cities like Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. However, expats should be cautious of the’satellite cities’ on the outskirts of the city, which are shanty towns built to accommodate laborers and workers but also attract criminals. The most common crime is petty theft, with con artists targeting foreigners in crowded areas. Quicknapping, a unique phenomenon in Brazil, is less common but still common.
Foreigners are particularly at risk, so expats should stay in safe areas. In case of an emergency, the police are quick to respond and can be reached at 194. A new, modern atmosphere and DJ can be enjoyed at a cozy wine tasting place in Brasilia.
Why did Brazil make Brasilia?
The construction of Brasília was a key initiative of President Kubitschek’s “Fifty Years in Five” program, launched in 1956. The program aimed for industrialization and urbanization to achieve large economic gains, focusing on the local economies of São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. Lúcio Costa, the lead urban planner, worked alongside Oscar Niemeyer and Roberto Burle Marx to develop a successful pilot plan. The first building commissioned and completed was the Alvadora Palace, the official residence for the President of Brazil.
The construction expanded to include public offices, airports, and a series of road networks connecting Brasília to other provincial capitals. The residential areas were designed to accommodate 500, 000 citizens, a goal reached by 1970. The construction period lasted 41 months, from 1956 to April 21, 1960, the date of Brasília’s inauguration.
NOVACAP, a company leading the development of Brasília, was headquartered in a work camp called Velhacap, which spawned similar work camps due to the large influx of domestic and international migrant workers. Nearby Velhacap was Candangolândia, and other smaller settlements arose in gaps left by the pilot plan. Many of these construction camps became internal communities, providing food in mess halls to workers living in residences similar to barracks. These communities formed the basis of many satellite cities in the Federal District.
What was the purpose behind the construction of Brasilia, the capital city of Brazil?
Brasilia, Brazil, is a prime example of 20th century modernist urbanism, built as the Brazilian capital from 1956 to 1960 as part of President Juscelino Kubitschek’s national modernization project. The city combines grand administrative centers and public spaces with new urban living ideas promoted by Le Corbusier in six-story housing blocks (quadras) supported on pylons. The city’s planning is notable for its remarkable congruence of Lucio Costa’s urban design (Plano Piloto) and Oscar Niemeyer’s architectural creations, particularly in the intersection between the monumental and thoroughfare axes. This intersection is the determining factor of the city’s urban scheme and underscores the representative character of Three Powers Square and the Esplanade of the Ministries.
Brasilia is a singular artistic achievement, representing the living expression of the principles and ideals advanced by the Modernist Movement and effectively embodied in the Tropics through the urban and architectural planning of Lucio Costa and Oscar Niemeyer. The Brazilian experience is notable for its grandiosity, bringing to a definitive close a particular historical epoch and being closely tied to an ambitious development strategy and a process of national self-affirmation before the world.
Brasilia is a unique example of urban planning brought to fruition in the 20th century, an expression of the urban principles of the Modernist Movement, as set out in the 1943 Athens Charter, Le Corbusier’s 1946 treatise How to Conceive Urbanism, and Oscar Niemeyer’s architectural designs.
What is unique about Brasilia?
Brasília, the federal capital of Brazil, is located in the Federal District of Goiás state and is situated between the headwaters of the Tocantins, Paraná, and São Francisco rivers. The city was designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1987 due to its unique city plan and architecture, as well as its significant role in the development of the Brazilian interior.
The central city’s plan is reminiscent of a bird, bow and arrow, or airplane. Its form is emphasized by the Highway Axis (Eixo Rodoviário) and the straight Monumental Axis (Eixo Monumental), which runs northwest-southeast and is lined by federal and civic buildings. At the northwestern end of the Monumental Axis are federal district and municipal buildings, while at the southeastern end, near the middle shore of Lake Paranoá, are executive, judicial, and legislative buildings around the Square of Three Powers.
Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer designed major structures such as the dramatic Congressional Palace, Planalto Palace, and the Palace of the Supreme Court. The city’s cathedral, considered Niemeyer’s finest achievement, is characterized by its parabolically shaped structure with 16 gracefully curving supports and translucent walls of tinted glass. Other notable buildings include Buriti Palace, Itamaraty Palace, the National Theatre, and several foreign embassies that creatively embody features of their national architecture.
What are 3 unusual facts about Brazil?
Brazil is a vibrant and exciting country with a vast area and five different time zones. It boasts around 60 of the Amazon rainforest, over 400 airports, and one of the world’s largest economies. Brazil shares borders with every South American country except Ecuador and Chile. It is the 5th largest country in terms of population and area.
The Brazilian public health system offers free sex change surgeries, and Brazilian prisoners can reduce their sentences by four days for every book they read. The country has the largest Catholic population, Brasilia, and Rio de Janeiro, which was once Portugal’s capital but was named in error. Voting in Brazil is compulsory, and Brazil was the only independent South American country to send troops to fight in WW2.
Brazil is home to the world’s best beach, the highest mountain, Pico de Neblina, the world’s largest coffee exporter, 70 uncontacted tribes, the largest Japanese population outside Japan, and one of the world’s most bio-diverse countries. It also has the world’s longest stretch of continuous coastline, 4655 miles, and its national dish is feijoada, a black bean stew with dried, salted, and smoked meat.
Why was the capital moved?
The City of Brotherly Love became the ex-capital of Philadelphia due to factors such as Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson’s machinations, the compromise over slavery, public health concerns, and a grudge against the Pennsylvania state government. The issue began with rowdy actions by Continental soldiers in 1783, which led to the Continental Congress meeting in June 1783 at Independence Hall, operating under the Articles of Confederation. The federal government faced issues in paying soldiers for their service.
What are two reasons prompted Brazil to move its capital from Rio de Janeiro to Brasilia?
Brazil’s center is shifting from the crowded coastal areas to the underdeveloped interior, driven by two main reasons: to free the government from Rio’s shackles and to address the growing population of 68 million, who are mostly concentrated along the coast. Kubistschek has advocated for the construction of Brasília as a solution to the growing population’s need for space to live and develop economically.
Why was Brasilia built inland?
Brazil’s first capital was Salvador, and Rio de Janeiro became its capital in 1763. Resources were primarily concentrated in the southeastern region, with most of the population near the Atlantic coast. Brasilia’s central location created a regionally neutral federal capital. The first republican constitution, dated 1891, proposed the capital’s relocation from Rio de Janeiro to a central location. José Bonifácio, an advisor to Emperor Pedro I, proposed a new city called Brasilia in 1827, but the bill was not enacted due to Pedro I’s dissolution of the Assembly.
A legend suggests that Italian saint Don Bosco had a dream in 1883 that described a futuristic city that resembled Brasilia’s location. Today, Brasilia features numerous references to Bosco, who founded the Salesian order, and one church parish bears his name.
📹 Why Rio de Janeiro Isn’t the Capital of Brazil
The capital of Brazil is Rio de Janeiro, right? Nope, turns out it’s actually Brasília, a city built specifically to be the capital of Brazil, …
Greetings! I am a resident of Brasília, more precisely one of the satellites called Ceilândia (understand that the satellite cities here would be like conglomerates of neighborhoods separated from the center, but dependent on this center in a certain way). The problem with the Kubitscheck project is that it did not notice the immense popularity of the project and that it attracted hundreds of thousands of people, and this continued even after the death of the project, since the excess of people has a lot to do with populist policies that made the city swell, to the point of becoming the 11th most populous city in the Americas, and this has serious consequences for public services and, especially, for transportation. But thanks for explaining about the city I live in, I’m tired of having to explain that I don’t live in Rio de Janeiro!
I live in Rio de Janeiro, but Brasília is my home town. I am really proud of it. Only those who doesn’t know its history and purposes can, unfortunately, deceive or deny its greatness, as a whole modern city built from nothing in 3 years, by men and women like my grandfather and grandmother, an achievement we keep turning real until today. A capital of hope alone wouldn’t change a country, but Brasília portrays the dreams and real work from our ancestors, we try to honor them. May Brazil’s capital city be more known and its people’s value recognized!
I actually live in Brasília, born and raised. Just some side notes: 1 – Brasília is a great city to live in. 2 – Our nightlife exists, and it’s pretty darn good. 3 – We have lots of museums, art, music and culture. 4 – The architecture makes this city into a living work of art, and just like a painting or a sculpture, you may not like the style, but Brasília is definitely something to see. 5 – The satellite cities are NOTHING like shanty towns, of course there are significant poorer areas, but it’s nothing like what you put on the article, it was a really not a good comparison.
This is so unnacurate, oh god. 1- São Paulo is not a costal city, it sits arround 50km from the sea and 700m of altitude 2- Brazil’s government was not formed in 1889, we had been independent from Portugal since 1822 and been a monarchy for arround 60 years 3-Oscar Niemeyer was not the architect behind non public buildings, he projected almost all buildings including the presidents house, office, the national congress, the supreme court, the ministeries etc etc. Burle Marx meanwhile made the landscape design
Another aspect often untold unless you know the locals- traffic. Brasilia was built in a time where the ‘automobile’ was envisioned to be the transport mode of the future, and the urban layout accommodated that. However as times moved on a public transport became more widely used (often due to economically disadvantaged workers in the government buildings), bus systems were implemented but this only created further fluidity problems in the cities transit systems. That central square where the roundabout is? that was turned into a bus terminus to acommodate all the extra public transport needed, and even today, the traffic issues persist. Beautiful city though, and an absolute inspiration for us architects!
I have lived in 6 countries (Montevideo, Buenos Aires, Amaterdam, Tokyo, Recife, São Paulo, Brasilia and Cascais/Lisbon-now), and after Cascais, Brasilia has BY FAR the best quality of life for a high medium class family. It’s safe, beatiful, full of nature beauties around and is, compared to those cities, relatively cheap. However, all you said is “bureaucratically” true, but lack the sense of “living” there.
Most capitals of the world have a special charm, something touristic that encourages you to buy a ticket with your family or friends and say: Let’s go on vacation in this city. France has Paris, England has London, Argentina has Buenos Aires and Brazil has… Brasilia 🤢 There is no charm in this city, although some buildings were designed by one of the best architects in the world. There’s no history, it’s not touristy and it’s all very bland. It’s just a den of bandits, starting with the parliamentarians! The Capital of Brazil in the past was Rio de Janeiro. And that’s where I should have stayed
As someone born and raised in Brasília this article is straight up offensive. Not only it’s extremely superficial, it didn’t touch the main aspects of the city and failed to show how much vibrant amazing cultural life it has. It’s a city passed by many, but those who live there or spent enough time there knows how amazing it is. And in a way it’s better that morons like the guy who made this article doesn’t know much about it, so it remains a unique place for those who know how to appreciate it.
Great article! I really love perusal your many websites and always learning something new from your articles, or just laughing hysterically (and somehow still learning something), while perusal Business Blaze! I just wanted to point out that just like the country, the city’s name is pronounced BraZilia, as if it was written with a Z. Also, the J in José is pronounced as a soft J, never an H. Just blame the Portuguese language for this and other unique pronunciations, that seem to confuse speakers of most languages, even the Romance ones.
Brasilia protrait as na empty shallow for goverment is a major injustice. Brasilia is birth city to many of the most famous brazilian rock bands. Its very developed, and most of the satelite cities around it have a good infrastructure. There are a favelas as most of big brazilian cities, but they are not the majority of the satelite cities. Brasilia has a very cultural force, being the fourth largest city in the country. The reason why Rio and São Paulo are more rich in culture is because they are huge metropolitan areas, old and traditional cities. Brasilia hasn’t been around this long.
Brasília was built for a single reason: to guarantee the governability of the new president. The previous one had committed suicide, due to the pressure in Rio. City opened in 1960. In 1964, our wonderful American friends represented by their president, Lyndon Johnson, arranged a military coup for us. The original planning of a city for 500 thousand inhabitants was no longer followed. The infrastructure that was supposed to be increased every 500 thousand was never fulfilled.
Hey as a person born and raised in Brasília I have a few curiosities to bring, simon this is a megaproject please do your research 1 Lucio actually didn’t want to win the contest, he was pressure to submit something and just made a sketch of an bird 2 National rock was basically born here 3 Oscar actually planned for the lower class to live in the city, the 400’s squares have smallers apartments than the 200’s, 100’s and 300’s which all have three bedrooms apartments or more. But the city where planned for few people and they didn’t account for all the imigrants. 4 they made an artificial lake, thinking about entertainment for the citizens 5 Plano piloto, is how this part of Brasília is called, today all of the federal district can be considered Brasília. The city organization is based on the cartesian plane, all the places are called by the position on the plane using North, South, East and West as reference. So a residential square on the north wing (Asa Norte) and on the west side of what would be the X axis is identified as “SQN 301” (SQ means that it is a residential block, N means north of the “Y” axis, and the odd hundreds (100, 300, 500) means west of X)
It’s actually pronounced with a Z sound both in English and Portuguese. The closed captions showed Priscilla when he said Brasília haha! It’s not officially pronounced Bra see lia in English. And in Portuguese it’s pronounced Brazee lyuh. The r sounds like the American double d in daddy or double t in bitter, better, butter. J and ge, gi in Portuguese sounds like the g in genre and garage or the s in measure, leisure.
O article não e ruim. Hoje com 3 milhões de habitantes a cidade tem o melhor IDH do Brasil. Quem aqui cresceu, quase na totalidade ama a cidade e não sai daqui para lugar nenhum do mundo. Uma verdade; Existe pouca diversão em se comparando com Rio e São Paulo, em compensação os indices de violência aqui também são menores que as cidades do litoral.
Do you think you could do a article on the Nevada-Class Battleships as both ships had interesting careers. One of which USS Nevada tried to escape Pearl Harbor, fought at D-Day, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa, and survived 2 atomic bombs. I would say that’s a mega ship. Awesome article. Hope more articles are coming.
I died inside when he said spoke portuguese names with spanish accent, i am disgusted Also, satellite cities don’t exist anymore, they were transformed in Administrative Regions, that is different from municipality and neighbourhood, the Federal District itself is an type of different thing that have state features and municipality features, the city of Rio de Janeiro until 1960 was divided in the same way Brasília is divided today(para os meus conterrâneos brasilienses, é um segredo, não contem para os ceilandenses que o Rio também tinha R.As ou o cérebro deles fritam), and the administrative mostly have neighbourhoods inside it that are also neighbourhoods of Brasília, complicated right? Correction:no, we have nightlife and culture, what the heck is you saying? Another correction:mostly workers that worked on the construction of Brasília were from the northeast, center-west and sometimes from Minas Gerais, not from north and northeast, and the northeast isn’t poor kek
São Paulo even though close to the coast it is not a coastal city, as matter of fact, traveling from the coast to são paulo city center one must go up almost 1km while traversing the serra do mar ridge. Both the imigrantes-anchieta highways and the railway from santos to paranapiacaba would be great article topics for Sideprojects Simon!
I love these articles but WHY THE BACKGROUND MUZAC! If we were talking face to face how would you react if I turned on the radio as you began to speak! If there are viewers who really cannot cope with your dialog they can always turn on a food processor or vacuum cleaner, or radio if they wish but give us the choice of listening to you unadulterated please, not all of us have perfect hearing and this dreadful distracting noise is painful and unnecessary.
You’ll have a new mega project soon from Indonesia. Last year it was decided that the capital now in Jakarta will be moved to a new ground up city in Kalimantan (aja Borneo). The president got fed up with flooding, insane traffic and constant protests from certain far right religious groups. Jakarta is actually sinking but I’m sure that’s been covered on one of your many websites.
The ending of the article was full of BS. You were talking like the satellite cities of Brasilia are slums or something – or at least that’s how it sounded to me. They may have looked like it in the past when they started – of course, there are some underdeveloped areas in all of those nowadays, just like in most cities around the world -, but not all of them. Not at all. In recent years other satellite cities started from scratch and they don’t look like the older ones – they do look underdeveloped, but we never know what they’ll look like in the future. Just look for pictures of Taguatinga, Guará, Gama, Candangolândia, and you’ll see what those satellite cities that started existing 30+ years ago look like now.
São Paulo IS NOT coastal. But you can day-trip to Santos, a coastal city. So.. Pardoned! 🙂 Brasília was planned long before Juscelino. And the motivation was military: Rio, the previous capital (yes it WAS our capital), was supposed to be (obviously) easily blocked and embargoed in case of war. Also, there was a need to put the political power AWAY from the masses.
Mr. Whistler: Now that we can speak in private, thank you for opening up the discourse. Since childhood, I have looked with wonder and curiosity at Brazil. We get so little about that giant in the US. People dancing and marching at the Mardi Gras only speak to the culture (and that is not clear view). Your conclusion was just — neutral. >>How do Brazilians stuck in the slums at the capital see daily life the way we in the north do. >>Houselessness is a plague that haunts. >>>Warmly Yada, Yada, Yada.
Disappointing. The historical motivation and early history description were fairly good. But, as someone who was born and lived there for 30 years, the part on recent history was based on a time traveller from the 70s. As with another recent article from VisualPolitik on NZ politics, it’s sad to see the quality declining sharply here.. Unsubscribed.
All this infrastructure paved the way to the agricultural conquer of the cerrado which started on the following decade and holds an high share of Brazilian food output. If nowadays we Brazilians feed not just our 220 million selves, but one more billion people at almost any country on this world, there is back the leadership and dreams of Juscelino Kubstchek.
Europeans absolutely “discovered” the Western Hemisphere. These were previously unknown lands inhabited by pre-bronze-age peoples who had no concept of what lay beyond the land’s edge, no ships, no written language, no systems of math. Even the people living on the North and South American continents had no inkling of where they lived on the face of the earth or of what the earth really was beyond their local environment.
I’m born and raised in Brasilia. I’ve lived in the center and in a “satellite city” (that’s really outdated name). There’s so much more about this city and the organization, social, economic and cultural layers. It’s true the cultural hotspots are still RJ and SP. But 9 minutes is not near enough to talk about the past, what to say about the present? If you want and/or accept my input, I’ll be more than happy to make you a script with more information and curiosities. Just let me know. I’ll even help with pronunciation. 😉
This megaproject was familiar to Putrajaya, Malaysia. The same objective, in which to move the government from the bustling large city like Kuala Lumpur. Except for the Parliament, because it had already built in the center of KL, a few years after independence like the early 60s. I hope Simon can make a article about Putrajaya in the future Putrajaya was built in the mid-90s. Right now, it has been a thriving city since then, with the largest roundabout in the world.
Brasilia is famous for its stupendous, aspirational mid-twentieth century architecture. You should have focused/provided photos of its many examples of that architecture when offering your critique. Also, Brasilia was created precisely to draw the population away from the coast and into the interior of the country. No one was thinking, in the 1950s, about what good the Amazon rainforest might provide. What about Brasilia’s impact on the rainforest?
The article was pretty accurate (besides citing São Paulo as a coastal city, which it is not) until it’s last 3 minutes. Brasília is so much more than just an “empty shell”. It has the 3rd largest economy in the country, with many multinational companies having their HQs there, as well as on of the highest HDIs in Brazil, including most of the satellite cities (some of them really are very poor, however). It is also a significant cultural center, having a strong music scene, many museums and universities and great nightlife. It’s not Rio or São Paulo, true, but comparing them is like comparing Los Angeles and New York to Washington D.C.. Living there is actually pretty great, even though it does have quite a few of social and structural problems. Anyway, the article is really nice, it just get’s the “how Brasília is in the 21st century” thing a bit wrong.
A few things you missed out on: The city is planned in the shape of an eagle. The head of the eagle forms the government district, depicting leading a nation. The wings are residencies, symbolizing the people carrying Brazil forward. Also, as someone who has dabbled their toes in urban planning, Brasilia is absolutely awful. It is car oriented, everything looks the same, letting you easily become lost and disorientated. It is near impossible to get anywhere without a car. The main highway bisecting the city is like the Berlin wall. Sure, pedestrian paths exist, but they are so long that in the Brazilian heat it is akin to traversing the Sonora Desert. It is the typical Cities Skylines city. It is designed from a birds eye view, with little attention to how it would be used. They drew it out on a map, and failed to envision what it would be like for the ones who would live there. If the government moved out, there would be next to no reason for anyone to stay. It is a city on life support, all because it numbs the mind to the practicality of what it lacks.
As someone born and raised in Brasília, it’s cool to see it mentioned here. Really liked the article! I just think São Paulo is not coastal. It is much closer to the shore than Brasília, but still far from the sea. The São Paulo state, whose capital is São Paulo, is coastal though. (Maybe “coastal” in English would include cities at an 1:30 of car driving from the coast, is that so?)
I discovered this website by the yt recommendations and this is the second one that I’ve watch and I have to say that as a brasiliense it’s quite difficult to quote this as a matter of historical information because this article was kinda sad… Sorry, I see you had to shrink everything in a 9min article but for the sake of the people that live in Brasilia, man.. you practically said that the people living here don’t have cultural options. I know it’s mainly a bureaucrat city but a lot of the country’s musical personalities were born in Brasilia.. some of the most important rock bands of the country are from Brasilia. It is a beautiful city with green trees everywhere, very safe and clean city… with parties everywhere, not know during the covid pandemic but we are a very rich city, culturally and historically.
Extremely shallow and incomplete, sorry . ( just to begin with, mispronunciation of the name, yes, British and US Citizens have problem with words in Portuguese, In Portuguese, Brasil is the spelling, not Brazil, you guys write it wrong so you can pronounce it right, the same goes no Brasilia, that arepronounced as “Brazilia” . ( Yes, I live in Brasil, so I know much more about it then this very very basic information put in this article ) )
Weird points, I mean, the article is mostly factual but there are things that it seem to me can only come from an American perspective. For example, nobody cared about it being a more neutral city or a balance of power between the states as the city of Rio which had been the national capital for almost 200 years was already a neutral city. The key was to expand westwards and interiorize the country. As for the debt, most of it came during the military dictatorship not during Kubitschek’s years. As for the satellite cities around Brasília, they are not shanty towns although they are less well off than the planned parts of the capital they are still fairly middle class, mostly.
With all due respect to the people involved, but the appearance of our capital aged badly. It is the design of the future according to the 60’s mind, like an architectural response to the Jetsons. I imagine what a neoclassical city, perhaps built more slowly, in all that green, with the Brazilian Catholic, Black, European, and Indigenous influence, would look like.
“Unlike Washington, DC….” Uh, the United States’ nation’s capital is located here because Thomas Jefferson wanted it in the South, but it IS designed to be a neutral site. That’s why it’s a federal district, not part of any state. How is Brasilia unlike this? P.S. My apologies—I did not hear the last part of the article which specifically says that the people of Brasilia—UNLIKE the citizens of Washington, DC—-have voting representation in their nation’s government.
I wonder if he has asked anyone leaving in Brasília if they actually think it is an uninteresting place to live. Having being born here and living here now i can state as a fact that this is b_llshit. It is an awesome city to live in and most people from Brasília share this same opinion… also he spelled são Paulo wrong and well, São Paulo is not a coastal city.
I think, as an intelligent, well researched, educative content website, you should actively avoid getting any kind of blockchain currency to feature adds on your articles. With all of it being nothing but a scam that’s going to hit hard in the near future and all. Remember when everybody got tricked into buying patches of rainforest which also did not actually exist apart from someone claiming it does.
Sao Paulo, one of the largest cities over the world, isn’t a coastal city. The foundation of the city was carefully chosen, it was built in a valley, protected by the surrounding hills. Of course, it’s not the case anymore since the city grew out of control. Been to Brasilia a couple of times, it’s a very interesting city. From the top of a building, I could see a good portion of the city and a lot of nothing at the horizon, like a a city surrounded by a desert, the region is very flat and I could see very far away. Although I don’t like Niemeyer that much (I think his projects were dated even at that time. All he did was large squared blocks of concrete, he almost never used glass and metal frames, that’s why most of his work “needed” a water mirror, not just to contribute with air humidity, but to make his projects appear a bit lighter), Brasilia is a beautiful city, specially if you appreciate evenness of the constructions and the organization of the blocks (I do, really liked there). One point that I think should be mentioned about Brasilia is the traffic and how the city was designed. The project was envisioned to be a futuristic city, and they thought car would be the future. Now there are large avenues with regular traffic and lots of bottlenecks to access Brasilia’s subdivisions, generating huge lines and heavy traffic. The city was also drawn to resemble an airplane. Nice city, nice people (except for the politicians). Many times I thought I was going to be robbed or kidnapped when I was waiting for a taxi, but it just people making conversation, they were very cordial (I’m from Sao Paulo, I’m always expecting something bad to happen).
You didn’t mention the manmade lake Paranoá, which provides water for the city and raises the humidity level in the arid dry season. Also you forgot to mention that it is shaped like an aeroplane. Brasilia is a great place to live, possibly one of the best in Brazil, it has good schools, hospitals, public services and weather. It is true that some of the satellite cities are dangerous, but there are others which are great places to live. Not to mention the close proximity to Chapada dos Veadeiros one of the most stunning national parks in the world! There is a whole host of other nation parks and beautiful tourist cities nearby, such as Pirenópolis. I ♥️ BSB
Will everyone please quit whining about this should be on megaprojects this should’ve been on side projects blah blah. Your complaining about 2 FREE websites on YouTube that we’re subscribed to each of them. Both of which are owned and narrated by the same guy!! It’s not your pricks length your lieing about being MEGA it’s just the names of websites!!!
The Construction quality was as bad as anything of the socialist world..Buildings falling apart almost months after being finished.. No one had Car, to expensive with Brazilian Taxes.. The contrast to the Shanty towns an poor was striking due to utter lack of foresight.. Check Out John Hughes ” Shock Of The New .. Brilliant..
3:04 The whole 4th republic thing is that the Vargas era is divided in two republics, the democratic Second Republic that got a Constitution and lasted from 1930 to 1936, and the Estado Novo Regime, considered the Third Republic as Vargas imposed a new set of constitutional laws making himself dictator.
The way you said Rio De Janeiro is pronounced varies according to different Brazilian accents. Yes, in Rio it does sound like “je” but in some others states it doesn’t. The correction isn’t necessary because anyone can understand if you say “de”. That said … the state of Bahia does not sound like you pronounced it. The “h” is silent all over the country. Brazilians would hardly recognized it because you sound like “Barria” to us. 😊
Which country should I do another article like this for? Also, did you know that you can get KhAnubis merch? Including infographic posters and a mug with the logo on both sides so you can use it left or right-handed (which I’m still really proud of)? Just thought I’d remind you all crowdmade.com/collections/khanubis
I lived in Brasília for almost my entire life! Pretty cool seeing a article from a foreign YouTuber talking about it’s origins! Honestly, the phrase of “the city being built for a car” is very far from being true, because from simply going to your house from school could take 2 hours because of traffic jams 😂 The city might be a bit uncomfortable, but there are a lot of nice people who live there! I moved to Canada last year and I still miss them all! it is a awesome place, if you get the chance to visit Brasília, you should definitely go there ❤🇧🇷
There is one other reason that isn’t talked a Lot in geography classes even in the high School grades for the change of the capital but that was as crucial, If not more, than the other reason at the time: the military. In the middle of the cold war Brazil was a big country that was rapidly growing diplomaticly but was poor and didn’t standed for neither side (at the time). Having such vast lands and frontiers to defend, being a basicly a giant target and gate for south America as a whole, Brazil couldn’t afford entering in a traditional war and maintain the union at the same time. To secure Its central commands, make It difficult to invade and force any oversea potential agressor to invest in an assymetrical war or invest in a costly large scale invasion, militarly It also made sense to move the capital to a more central location.
Our republics are not usually referred to by numbers, we mostly use a “theme” for each period (this is vastly more complex than it sounds though) so we usually use the following: Republic of the Sword (1889-1894) Old Republic (1894-1930) Vargas Era (1930-1945) Populist Republic (1945-1964) Military Dictatorship (1964-1985) New Republic (1985- present) But hey! Loved your article!
Brasília, above all else, was a means for the political class to flee from popular pressure. As you mentioned, most of Brazil’s population reside far away from Brasília, while Rio is, together with São Paulo, the social and economic epicenter of our country. With the move, it became much harder to counter the corruption and neglect we’ve had from the federal government for decades.
Rio was the brazilian capital since our indepence in 1822 till 1960. Some historicians say that the change of the capital to the middle of the country (Brasília) was the 2nd coup Brazil and Rio suffered since the coup that founded our Republic in 1889. Why do they say that? Brasília was built to take the Political Power of people’s hands. Brasília was and still is an isolated and far area from the largest urban centers of Brazil (mostly in the Southeastern region). After the change of the capital, Rio started it’s downfall. There are many docs that explain these events even deeper, but they are mostly in portuguese.
Just an observation, but the plan to change the capital of Brazil to the interior is much older than the first republic and even the idea of a independent Brazil. In 1761 the Marquis of Pombal them prime minister of Portugal proposed to move the capital of the Portuguese empire to the Interior of Brazil. And José Bonifácio the patriarch of independence and first prime minister of Brazil also proposed that a new capital should be made in the central plateau and its name would be Petrópolis or Brasilia and that’s how Brasilia got its name too.
Honestly, no offense to Brazilians but I don’t like Brasilia. Mostly because I hate modern architecture. It would have been better if they built the city with a mix of European, Native and African traditional architecture styles so it would reflect the ethnic background of the country’s people and also look good.
Just an note on pronounciation, because this seems to be an issue on every english speaking geography website i’ve seen: We REALLY don’t mind how you pronounce D and R. When you try to do it correctly, it gets worse than just using your standard english pronounciation. In most cases, english pronounciation is actually closer to the portuguese one than you realize, and the only thing that is really funny is how you seem to be incapable of pronouncing the “ão” sound, which is a very nasal, closed sound most foreigners cannot articulate. In the case of Rio de Janeiro: If you REALLY want to pronounce the “de” correctly, then you EITHER say it exactly like in english, which is absolutelly correct btw, OR you say “dji”. Do not say “DJE”, it’s weird when you do. But srsly don’t bother, because it’s weird that you guys would pronounce “de” correctly but use retroflex R for “Rio” and “Janeiro”. Either go full gringo or do it correctly. The middle ground is uncanny. IN GENERAL, if you want a nice pronounciation that no Brazilian would find objectionable, the best you can do is really just to wing it, but remember that H is mute, NH is the same as Ñ in spanish and LH is the same as LL in spanish and GL in italian. Hope it helps, and keep up the good job in the website 😉
Good morning mr. Anubis, as much as i like your content, i might say you got some thing wrong, such as in the pronunciation of Rio de Janeiro, no one says “je”, due to colloquial manneirisms, we turn the E into a I in the use of “de”, so instead of Rio “je” Janeiro, it’s closer to the italian “di”. Another point of interest is mentioning Vasco da Gama in the pursuit of the Indias and the first navegation “under” Africa (going south of Cabo da Boa Esperança). Furthermore, your pronounciation of Bahia, although good, should be noted for the use of the H as a RR sound, when in reality there’s no actual sound to the H, indicating the elongation in the I (Bah-e-ah). In another note, it should be pointed out that you mentioned the 2nd and 3rd articles of the constitution, but you’ve messed up the year of the constitution, by 1960 we were under the 1946 constitution, wrote after the deposal of the dictator Getúlio Vargas, you mentioned the 1891 constitution, which was overruled by 1930 with the coup from Vargas (and a later phony constitution was written in 1937). This is in no way, shape or form a derrogatory analysis of your article, i absolutely adore your articles and expect to see more of you, good evening. From São Paulo, Brasil.
Your first pronunciation of Rio de Janeiro is not wrong, the “de” does not have a “je” sound everywhere. Although people from Rio de Janeiro talk like this, in many other states it is said “de”. The accent from Rio and São Paulo are the most used in tv (and I guess when foreigners are learning brazilian portuguese) and that’s why for many it’s the “right” way of talking, which is incorrect
As someone who has been living here my whole life, Brasilia is definitely not built to a human scale. However, it is WAY better than many other cities in South America. The reason for it’s dependency is because it is one of the only populous cities here that was actually built recently. I find it is slowly converting to a more walkable city with the implementation of bike lanes and some other efforts made by the government, but it still is sadly a city that you cannot live in without a car. I hope they invest in better public transportation and infrastructure in the future so I can continue to live in this beautiful city I grew up in
Should be noticed as a consequence of not being the capital, Rio de Janeiro was essentially completely abandoned by the Federal administration, which was a factor in both the city (which became the state of Guanabara) and the state being the only ones to consistently give victories to the opposition to the military dictatorship, which resulted in them merging the state and city as a way to retaliate, which made things worse for both. Rio would only see heavy investment in the 21st century because of the Olympics and World Cup, but that only led to corruption and white elephants- the governor at the time Rio won the two bids is serving 400 years for dozen of corruption convictions, many related to those events. Afterward, the city and the state were mostly abandoned again, even worse than before.
Btw the construction of Brasilia was a disaster, it’s a city far away from everything that relies on money from other states to exist and coasted an ridiculous amount of money to be built. The city isn’t touristic, an international hub nor it has industried, and it’s still has the highest GDP per capita of Brazil…
Oh wow, mispronuciations aside this article is just great. Ab imo pectore this was perfect. ‘Cabral’ and ‘Bahia’ were prononced wrong though, not a big deal at all, but just as a heads-up. Bahia has a silence h so it is more or less ‘Baia’, not a linguist sorry, (I live in Salvador btw, first capital, and the Black Rome, ruuules woop woop!) and you said Cabal ignoring the R.
the airplane shape it is because outside america in any civilazed nation who create the airplane was Santos Dummont a Brazilan man who had also french ancestry, whe are proud of him, and because of that we have the third biggest aerospace industry in the world, almost every regional flight you take it is in a airplane design and made in Brazil
The history of Brazil began 15.000 years ago, with the people of Luzia in Lagoa Santa, a population that had aboriginal traits. The Amazon had millions of people living inside of it, thousands of years ago, in cities that are now hidden into the forest, such as the Marajoara people and recent discovered Kasarab hidden cities, and rock inscriptions of Piauí.
Brazil did not REALLY fought for Independence. The reason it became an EMPIRE is exactly because the Independence was declared by the Prince and heir to the Portuguese throne and it seems his father, the Portuguese king himself, counseled his son to declare Brazil’s independence and put the crown in his head. The second Emperor, Dom Pedro II was the son of the first emperor and brother of the Queen of Portugal, who btw was the only European monarch since the ancient age to be born outside Europe (although she had been born in the capital of the Portuguese Empire,which was Rio de Janeiro, also the first time in modern history an European Metropolis had been ruled from the ex colony)
Some historians says that a hidden meaning behind building Brazilia, was the fact that Rio de Janeiro had already too crowded streets, and it was easy to make a riot look big. Which is why Esplanada dos Ministérios ( that big square with those buildings that serve as the Government headquarters ) is huge.
Interesting fact: Brasília was built in the 1960s, but there were older projects. One of them is the project of Marshal José Pessoa. In this project, the capital, instead of having the shape of an airplane, would have the shape of a cross and would be called Vera Cruz, in reference to the first name given by the Portuguese to Brazil, the island of Vera Cruz.
Fun fact 1: The map of Brasil after you expanded is a little anachronistic, since some territories shown weren’t in Brasil’s domain during independence (like Acre) Fun fact 2: The second republic is the first part of the Vargas Regime, and the third is the “Estado Novo” part of his reign, from 1937 to 1945 (they weren’t misplaced heheheheheh) Fun fact 3: the actual spelling of the countries’ name is “Brasil”
2:56 a litlle explanation about this by a brazilian: the independence wasn’t with war cause who claimed independence was the son of Portugal’s king,Dom Pedro. So Brazil wasn’t 100% independence, and Brazil needed to pay for his own independence. And how Portugal had a lot of debts with England the debts just passed from Portugal to Brazil. By this Brazil turned in an almost england colony
About the republics numbers There’s the first republic (Republic of the Sword) The second republic (Old Republic/Cofee and Milk Republic) Vargas Era (this counts as a third) And Forth Republic (during which Vargas, the dictator was reelected) Bonus: after the 4th there was another long dictatorship period, after that things started to look like how they are nowadays Overall we got a total of 8 Constitutions
Fun fact: one reason Brasília was built in a dead zone is because they wanted to place the central government away from the people, so that the population didn’t pressure the government in a way that, for example, people wouldn’t protest if bad decisions were made. And… it worked, unfortunately. Now, Brasília is a political island, and many Brazilians, like myself, haven’t even visited it once and don’t even have the urge to do so. It doesn’t nationally feel like a capital
If it wasn’t Brasilia, it would probably be São Paulo. Why Rio?! Rio “JE” Janeiro?!?! Nope. Hard nope. Might be something like “Reeyo dee Jah-ney-row” The corrupts moved the capital to be more isolated and less potential revolts from the poeple. Now they can CORRUPT in peace. I used to love Brasil, since I was born there. But nowadays, that place is just horrible. Corrupt boomers took over. Poverty widespread. Inequality on a steady rise. Sad place nowadays.
It’s funny how you spend a whole chunk of your article “correcting” the English pronunciation of one tiny word to correspond to the local dialect, but then go on to pronounce the rest of that word and every other word in a completely anglicised way. Why bother unless you’re gonna say the whole thing with a Portuguese accent….?
1960 was indeed the worst year in Rio’s history. At the same time, the city lost the national political elite to Brasilia, alongside with the high-ranking diplomats and civil servants, and also lost the financial edge, as Sao Paulo surpassed Rio both in population and GDP. Since then, many companies changed their national headquarters to Sao Paulo and the leading professionals and intellectuals also started migrating there. Devoid of Brazil’s most brilliant people, a vacuum of power had been created. And it was promptly filled by the military (which in Brazil includes the police), the evangelicals and the organized crime (illegal drug and gambling lords). Since then, the city has gone downhill. If you search for any movie or documentary about Rio from before the 1960s, the city was seen as a paradisiac destination. Many Americans and Europeans traveled there or even retired in Rio, as back then it was one of the few places in the world where you could combine nice beaches and a warm climate with the amenities of a global metropolis. Nowadays, the place is unfortunately ridden by crime and corruption. Even people from São Paulo, which also has issues with urban violence, are becoming afraid to go there.
The year 「1549」was also introducing of the Christianity to Japan by Português. Very interesting Portuguese Movement, Colonizations. Please note that Japanese Samurai Lords we’re against ” Christianity ” because of slaves trade and send them to its colonies and Portugal and Spain. Thanks to the Shogun and other Samurai Lord’s.
The only reason for Brazil to change the capital was for governability. It was necessary to get out of the pressure of certain groups in Rio. Pressure that had led the previous president to commit suicide. Brazil did not change its capital because of overcrowding in Rio de Janeiro, which only had 1.5 million inhabitants. Brasília was inaugurated in 1960. But in 1964 our American friends created a military dictatorship for us. Brasília, which had been designed for 500,000 inhabitants, envisaged in its planning an increase as the mark was exceeded. In other words, when it was about to reach 1 million, the infrastructure would have to be doubled and so on. Nothing as planned, it was more executed
In Brazil they discriminate Rio a lot Rio is a state which produces lots of money But the federal government takes most of that money and give to São Paulo, because every year they do everything to take things from Rio and move to São Paulo It’s a discrimination which is growing more and more every year, many people in Rio live in misery because of that It’s so ridiculous that the country discriminated it’s own people, that’s the horrible mess which Brazil is Instead of work to build a strong country, the powerful people leave some states in misery to benefit other states, that’s the disgusting routine in Brazil And that’s why Brazil will never be a first world country, because people are so selfish and discriminate their own people
The confusion with the pronunciation of Rio de Janeiro probably comes from the fact many people say Rio “dji” Janeiro and foreigners may think the “dj” sound also applies to the other possible pronunciations, when it applies only to the “i” reading. So you can say “de”, “dji”, or even “di”, but never “dje”. This misconception probably came from the Geography Now! website.
I’m surprised you didn’t mention that Brasilia was situated where it wasbecause of the legend that Italian Saint Don Bosco had a dream that a legendary city would be founded at around the latitude that Brasilia sits today. There are plenty of references to him around the city, including a beautiful church that bears his name. I’m sure that despite the moving of the capital and building a new city was a vanity project by a right wing president there is no coincidence that it was built where it was. I’m also shocked that there was no mention of the damning of the Paranóia river to create Lago Paranóia, a lovely setting for embassies, upper class neighbourhoods, and the presidential palace.
A lot of this could apply to Canberra in Australia. A planned city built in the middle of some cattle grazing rural land that has become a federal district (called a territory in Australia’s case). It’s location was picked to appease Sydney and Melbourne about where the capital should be. The middle of Australia would be too difficult to maintain a large city because of the aridity so the capital was located between the two largest cities. Canberra is probably a little less car centric (due to the inclusion of bike tracks), but it is still a sprawl that favours a car over walking.
good article, but there are two major things that you missed: first thing is that Brasilia was built in the center of the country with the allegation of making the capital situated at the same distace from every region of the country so it could see all parts of it as equals. Many belive that they actually did it so every region was equally distanced from the political decisions. the other thing is that it was made in the center in order to make it virtually impossible to invade the country and take the capital in a fast move. In Rio, it would have been much easier for an enemy force to take control.
está cheio de brasileiros comentando em inglês, corrigindo algumas informações erradas do vídeo 🤣🤣🤣 se você é brasileiro e veio ver os comentários nem gaste seu google tradutor 🤣🤣 gringo não se interessa pela geografia do brasil 🤣🤣 as visualizações são tudo de brasileiros vendo o que eles estão falando de nos 🤣🤣 e ainda descobrindo que tem erros no vídeo🤣🤣🤣
Isso acontece pq um cara mto aleatório bem desconhecido assim, chamado de Juscelino Kubitschek bem aleatório msm, resolveu expandir o territorio e foi parar no meio do Brasil, aí, acabou que ele decidiu mudar a porra toda e fazer uma capital nova, planejada, que demorou muitos anos pra fazer, morreu um monte de gente, mas de boa, pq e o Brasil, se n fosse todo fudido seria estranho
the story i’ve heard, being born, raised and living here, in Rio, my whole life, is that moving the capital to, essentially, middle of nowhere was to deliberately avoid the influence of the people in the political stage. And, in moving it into those lands, it would be right into the hands of the big agrarian elites.
Most historians agree that Pedro Alvarez Cabral discovered Brazil only officially. Emperor Dom Pedro II himself ordered an investigation about it in Portugal and Brazil. Most voyages of discovery of Portugal were state secret and documentation of much was lost or destroyed on purpose at the time. But it’s probable the Portuguese discovered Brazil when learning about the Volta do Mar trade winds in the South Atlantic. Either 3 years before CAbral or possibly even before Tordesillas Treaty. Cabral just landed a huge fleet in Brazil, one of the ship’s had as captain a guy who had exploited the South Atlantic trade winds and had reached the Cape of Good Hope. They reached South America precisely at a location that belonged to Portugal according to the treaty (how lucky) and near a very good natural harbour. They prayed a mass and erected a cross, to cement the Pope sanctioned treaty,and left. For like 30 years
fun fact: the designer for Brasilia, Oscar Niemmyier (im brazilian and i ofter forget how to spell this guys name, and hes fricking famous as heck, so i probably botched it) said one time that he should have projected the capital as a police van instead of an airplane, in regard on the type of people usually elected, for him it was like designing a beautiful garden and then throw a trash truck in it.
Brasilia inhabitant here. Actually born and raised in Brasilia. It actually sucks to walk around as a pedestrian, and the city wasn’t actually made organically, so it often doesn’t have a “human” feel of communities to it. It’s all very separated into identical blocks and it’s very reminiscent of Soviet aesthetics and brutalist architecture. The city does have it’s highlights but I’d much rather live in Curitiba down in the South part of the country.