About Brasilia
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Brazil’s capital, Brasilia, was founded on April 21, 1960, by President Juscelino Kubitschek. The city is located on Brazil’s Central Plateau at the 15th parallel, a savannah region – known as the Cerrado – that is home to one of the world’s richest biodiversity endowments. The average yearly temperature in Brasilia is 25º C (77º F). The region is marked by two well-defined seasons: a rainy season that extends from November to March, when precipitation levels average 1,500 millimeters (59 inches), and a dry season that stretches from April to October, in which there is virtually no precipitation. The Lago Paranoá, which was built to bring residents some measure of relief from the region’s climatic conditions, is located more than 1,000 meters (3,280 feet) above sea level.
The city’s modernistic Pilot Plan was designed by the Brazilian urbanist Lucio Costa. His plan emphasizes large green areas and “human scale.” The apartment buildings constructed in the city’s residential areas on large supporting columns are limited to six stories. Brasilia is organized in “super-blocks,” an idea conceived by the urban designer himself that combines garden areas and apartment buildings to form what Costa coined a “city-park.”
Another of Brasilia’s distinguishing features is the architecture of Oscar Niemeyer, whose designs include monumental buildings such as the Palacio do Planalto (seat of the executive branch) and the National Congress. In 1987, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco) declared the city a World Heritage Site.
Today, the Federal District, where Brasilia is located, has nearly 2.3 million inhabitants. The city boasts a modern service and commercial infrastructure system offering a wide array of restaurants, bookstores, theaters and movie houses.
To plan your list of places to visit in Brasilia, visit the official site of Embratur, the Brazilian Tourism Institute, and learn more about the city's tourist attractions by clicking on:
http://www.embratur.gov.br/