The Brazilian Federal District (in Portuguese, Distrito Federal, pron. <ref>The possible pronunciations in the Brazilian Portuguese are: IPA: [dis.'tɾi.tu fe.de.'ɾaw] (São Paulo and Central West), IPA: [dʒiʃ.'tɾi.tu fe.de.'ɾaw] (Rio de Janeiro), IPA: [dis.'tɾi.to fe.de.'ɾal] (South Region) and IPA: [diʃ.'tɾi.tu fɛedɛ.'ɾaw] (Northeast). The European Portuguese pronunciation is: /diʃ.'tɾi.tu fɨ.ðɨ.'ɾaɫ/.</ref>) is set apart for Brasília, the capital of Brazil. It is mostly surrounded by the state of Goiás.

1 History
2 Flag
3 See also
4 Notes
5 External links

[edit] History

The government was transferred to Distrito Federal in April 21 1960, which was then split off from Goiás. Before the transfer, the Brazilian Federal District used to be the municipality of Rio de Janeiro. After the transfer, the municipality of Rio de Janeiro became the Estado da Guanabara (State of Guanabara), which existed from 1960 until 1975 when the State of Guanabara and the State of Rio de Janeiro merged, to be named the state of Rio de Janeiro.

Originally, the majority of the population consisted of local workers who built the capital from nothing (called "Candangos") and federal government employees who were transferred to the new capital, Brasília. The capital is a thoroughly planned city with designated areas for residence, business, schools etc. No streets have names, but are identified instead by letters and numbers arranged in a geographical system. Originally built for up to one million inhabitants, the city has recently grown way past this number. Due to its complex organization, the growth of the city itself has been slow. This has forced many to settle in neighboring cities around Brasília, which now house a significant percentage of the population of the Distrito Federal.

[edit] Flag

The white color symbolizes peace, while the green and yellow colors in the middle refer to the national colors of Brazil. The four yellow arrows symbolize the native people of Brazil, their pointing into the four cardinal directions of the compass stands for the power emanating from the center. The yellow arrows also form a cross, which symbolizes the Southern Cross carried by Pedro Álvares Cabral. With their feathers they form a lozenge in the middle, another reference to the national flag of Brazil.

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

[edit] See also

List of cities in Brazil (all cities and municipalities)

[edit] Notes

[edit] External links

Image:Flag of Brazil.svg	Topics in Brazil edit
History	First Inhabitants • Colonization • Empire • Old Republic • Estado Novo • Second Republic • Military Rule • Present
Politics	President of Brazil • Constitution of Brazil • National Flag • Coat of Arms
Capital	Brazilian Federal District
States	Acre • Alagoas • Amapá • Amazonas • Bahia • Ceará • Espírito Santo • Goiás • Maranhão • Mato Grosso • Mato Grosso do Sul • Minas Gerais • Pará • Paraíba • Paraná • Pernambuco • Piauí • Rio de Janeiro • Rio Grande do Norte • Rio Grande do Sul • Rondônia • Roraima • Santa Catarina • São Paulo • Sergipe • Tocantins
Islands	Saint Peter and Paul Rocks • Rocas Atoll • Fernando de Noronha • Trindade and Martim Vaz
Geography	Amazon Forest • Caatinga • Cerrado • Mata Atlântica • Pampas • Pantanal • Islands
Economy	Banco do Brasil • Caixa Econômica Federal • Embraer • Petrobras • Vale do Rio Doce • List of Companies
Demographics	Indian • Portuguese • Afro • Italian • German • Spanish • Asian
Arts & Culture	Carnival • Cuisine • Cinema • Literature • Music • Sports • Religion
Science & Tech	Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa Agropecuária (EMBRAPA) • Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais (INPE) • Instituto Butantan • Instituto Oswaldo Cruz