Brazilian Federal District

Coordinates: 15°47′42″S 47°45′28″W / 15.79500°S 47.75778°W / -15.79500; -47.75778
From Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Federal District
Distrito Federal
Flag of Federal District
Coat of arms of Federal District
Motto(s): 
VENTVRIS VENTIS
"To the coming winds"
Location of Federal District in Brazil
Location of Federal District in Brazil
Coordinates: 15°47′42″S 47°45′28″W / 15.79500°S 47.75778°W / -15.79500; -47.75778
CountryBrazil
Seat of governmentBrasília
Government
 • GovernorRodrigo Rollemberg (PSB)
 • Vice GovernorRenato Santana (PSD)
 • SenatorsCristovam Buarque (PPS)
José Reguffe (I)
Hélio José (PROS)
Area
 • Total5,802 km2 (2,240 sq mi)
 • Rank27th
Population
 (February 2017)[1]
 • Total3,013,144
 • Rank20th
 • Density520/km2 (1,300/sq mi)
  • Rank1st
DemonymBrasiliense
GDP
 • Year2015 estimate
 • TotalUS$116 billions(PPP) US$65 billions (8th)
 • Per capitaUS$38.549 (PPP)[2] US$21,779 (1st)
HDI
 • Year2014
 • Category0.839 [3]very high (1st)
Time zoneUTC−03:00 (BRT)
 • Summer (DST)UTC−02:00 (BRST)
Postal code
70000-000 to 73690-000
ISO 3166 codeBR-DF
Websitedf.gov.br

The Federal District (Portuguese: Distrito Federal [d͡ʒisˈtɾitu fedeˈɾaw] (audio speaker iconlisten)) is a part of Brazil, which is used to shelter Brasília, the federal capital. It is in the centre of the country.

History[change | change source]

The capital of Brazil was transferred from Rio de Janeiro to Brasília on 21 April 1960 and its new territory, split off from state of Goiás on the border with the state of Minas Gerais, became the current Federal District. After the transfer the old Federal District, containing the city of Rio de Janeiro, became the state of Guanabara. This state existed from 1960 until 1975, when it merged with the state of Rio de Janeiro. With the merger the capital of the state of Rio de Janeiro was transferred back from Niterói to Rio de Janeiro itself (as it had been until 1834 when the empire created the Neutral Municipality).

Originally, most of the people were local workers (called "Candangos"), who built the capital, and federal government workers who were sent to the new capital, Brasília. The capital is a planned city. It had areas built for homes, business, schools and other uses. Originally built for up to one million people, the city now has many more than one million people. Because of how the city was built, it has been hard for the city to grow. This has caused many people to live in cities around Brasília. A large percentage of the people of the Federal District live outside the city now.

Flag[change | change source]

The white color is for peace. The green and yellow colors in the middle refer to the national colors of Brazil. The four yellow arrows are for the native people of Brazil. The arrows pointing into the four cardinal directions of the compass stands for the power moving out from the center. The yellow arrows also form a cross. This is a symbol of the Southern Cross carried by the explorer Pedro Álvares Cabral.

The flag was created by the poet Guilherme de Almeida, and was adopted by decree no. 1090 on August 25, 1969.

References[change | change source]

  1. "IBGE - Projeção da população". www.IBGE.gov.br. Retrieved 3 August 2017.
  2. Pontes, Helena Maria Mattos. "IBGE - Agência de Notícias". Agência de Notícias - Ibge. Retrieved 18 March 2018.
  3. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2017-03-07. Retrieved 2018-05-10.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)

Other websites[change | change source]


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Federal district: Distrito Federal