Brasilia, the capital city of Brazil, has the same spelling as it is written in English. The location of the city is along the Central Western region of the country along Planalto central plateau. Its metropolitan area has an approximate population of about 3.6 million people which ranks as the forth largest in the country. It is a host to 119 embassies and falls in as one of the world-heritage-sites in accordance with UNESCO (Ribeiro, 33).
The city holds the Brazilian government’s headquarters amongst a very large number of company headquarters. This city was inaugurated in the year 1960 by then President Juscelino Kubitscheck after an almost five year long period of the city’s construction from scratch. This was a fulfillment of a proposal that dated back in the late 19th century. The reason for its choice as the capital of the country was due to its central location as compared to the former capital Rio de Janeiro. The main player in the architectural designs of the city was Oscar Niemeyer with the close assistance of his friend Lucio Costa. The latter was the main person in urbanizing the shape of this city. The city boasts of having the best traffic control in the country today as compared to other Brazilian cities courtesy of Costa.
The city has a “tropical savanna” mode of climate. It has a dry season which ends towards the close of September from late in March or earlier in the month of April. June is the coolest month in the city with the temperatures approaching 13 degrees. The city consists most of white people who make up approximately 50% of the population. The least in the population are (Santos, 241).
The main religion in Brasilia is Catholics who make up approximately 70% receded by Muslims who are about 1%. The landscape of the capital is likened to a plane according to the design by Costa. Planalto palace houses the presidential offices. During the initial plan, the city was meant for government officials and other nobles though it got an influx of other people who mainly came to the city in search of employment opportunities in the civil service. This explains the difference in settlement schemes in the area which is often referred to as “utopian” due to the high end living conditions (Santos, 241).
The economy of the city is in a large essence a government based one. Public administration has overtaken industrialization in the city having the highest GDP at 55%. The main industries in the city are non-pollutant due to a setting by the government which discourages emissions in the capital (Leach, 8).
The official language which is taught in primary schools is Portuguese. In other schools like international institutions and high schools, they are taught at times in English. Hotel sectors are all over the city as per the initial set up of the city. The main business hub is the “Brasilia International Airport” (Proença, 32).and amongst the most famous place is the “Palácio da Alvorada”, “Complexo Cultural da republica” among other major sites. There is a metro system for normal transport and also buses (Bosi, 181).
Works cited
Anderson, Benedict. Imagined Communities. Verso Press. New York. 1983.
Bosi, Alfredo “Situação de Macunaíma”. In Mário de Andrade, Macunaíma: o herói sem nenhum caráter. A commented edition organized by Telê Porto Ancona Lopez. Florianópolis. Editora da Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina.1998.
Leach, Edmund. Political Systems of Highland Burma. Boston. Beacon. 3rd edition.1968.
Proença, Cavalcanti. Roteiro de Macunaíma. Rio de Janeiro. Editora Civilização Brasileira. 1969.
Ribeiro, Gustavo Lins. “Bichos-de-Obra. Fragmentação e Reconstrução de Identidades”. Revista Brasileira de Ciências Sociais 18: 30-40. 1992.
Santos, Mariza Veloso Motta. O Tecido do Tempo: A idéia de patrimônio cultural no Brasil 1920-1970. Doctoral Dissertation in Anthropology. University of Brasilia. 1992.