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Federal District (Brazil)

Federal District
Distrito Federal
Federal district
Flag of Federal District
Flag
Coat of arms of Federal District
Coat of arms
Motto: 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; -47.75778Coordinates: 15°47′42″S 47°45′28″W / 15.79500°S 47.75778°W / -15.79500; -47.75778
Country  Brazil
Seat of government Brasília
Government
 • Governor Rodrigo Rollemberg (PSB)
Area
 • Total 5,802 km2 (2,240 sq mi)
Area rank 27th
Population (November 2016)
 • Total 2,998,553
 • Rank 20th
 • Density 520/km2 (1,300/sq mi)
 • Density rank 1st
Demonym(s) Brasiliense
GDP
 • Year 2006 estimate
 • Total R$ 189,800,000,000 (8th)
 • Per capita R$ 45,600 (1st)
HDI
 • Year 2010
 • Category 0.936 – very high (1st)
Time zone BRT (UTC−03:00)
 • Summer (DST) BRST (UTC−02:00)
Postal code 70000-000 to 73690-000
ISO 3166 code BR-DF
Website df.gov.br

The Federal District (Portuguese: Distrito Federal; Portuguese pronunciation: [dʒisˈtɾitu fedeˈɾaw]) is one of 27 federative units of Brazil. Located in the Central Plateau of the Brazilian Highlands, the Federal District is divided into 31 administrative regions, and contains the Brazilian capital city, Brasília, which is also the seat of government of the Federal District. The capital — the seat of the three branches of the federal government of Brazil (legislative, executive and the judiciary) — is the main attraction of this dry area, whose climate has only two seasons. During the dry season (winter), the humidity can reach critical levels, mainly in the peak hours of the hottest days. The artificial Paranoá Lake, with almost 40 km2 (15 sq mi) and 500 million cubic metres (410,000 acre·ft) of water, was built to minimize the severe dry, climatic conditions of winter in the Cerrado vegetation.

The capital of Brazil was transferred from Rio de Janeiro to Brasília on 21 April 1960 and its new territory was split off from Goiás. After the transfer the old Federal District (1891-1960) became Guanabara state, the only city-state Brazil ever had so far. This existed from 1960 until 1975 when it merged with Rio de Janeiro state. With the merge, the capital was transferred back from Niterói to Rio de Janeiro, as it was until 1834 when the empire created the Neutral Municipality.


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