Brasília
Brasília has been Brazil's capital since 21 April 1960. It was designed by architect Oscar Niemeyer, urban planner Lucio Costa and landscape architect Burle Marx and built by millions of peasant workers, in just three years between 1957 and 1960.
Brasília was designed on a grand scale, distances are enormous and the few trees provide little protection from the blazing sun. The only feasible way to get around is by car.
The Parque Nacional de Brasília is an ecological reserve in the north of town. It provides numerous shady places in the otherwise hot city. Bureaucrats and politicians are paid salary hikes of 100% when they move to Brasilia, but as soon as they have a few days off, they are on their way to Rio de Janeiro or São Paulo. Most of the people who work in the construction and service industries in Brasília are poor and live some 30 km away in the favelas (shanty towns) of so-called 'anti-Brasília'.
Somehow Brasília managed to get on the UNESCO World Heritage List, but there is little of interest unless you are into modern architecture. Accommodation is widely available and there are numerous bars and restaurants in Brasilia.
Miscellaneous Information
Latitude: 15°51' S
Longitude: 47°56' W
Elevation: 1,061 m (3,481 ft)
Population: 2,000,000
Cost-of-living compared to Washington D.C.: 118%
Longitude: 47°56' W
Elevation: 1,061 m (3,481 ft)
Population: 2,000,000
Cost-of-living compared to Washington D.C.: 118%
Hours from UTC: -2
Daylight savings time: Late October through late March
City phone code: 61
Country phone code: 55
Average Weather Patterns
| Temperature | Precipitation | |
| January | 22.5°C (72.5°F) | 22.9 cm (9.02 in) |
| April | 22.2°C (72°F) | 8.6 cm (3.39 in) |
| July | 18.1°C (64.6°F) | 0 cm (0 in) |
| October | 22.8°C (73°F) | 12.4 cm (4.88 in) |
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