The current capital of Brazil, since its construction in 1960, is Brasilia.

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a ...

was the country's capital between 1763 and 1960. The city of Salvador served as the seat for the Portuguese colonial administration in Brazil for its first two centuries and is usually called the "first capital of Brazil."

History

Salvador was established in 1549 by the first Governor-General of Portuguese South America shortly after colonization began. The city became the seat of the first

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

bishopric In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associate ...

of Brazil in 1552 and is still the center of Brazilian Catholicism. In the 17th century, Rio de Janeiro became a far more practical export port than Salvador, and the colonial administration was moved in 1763. In 1808 the Portuguese royal family and most of the aristocracy in the Portuguese capital Lisbon fled Portugal ahead of

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...

's invasion. The Portuguese capital was temporarily transferred from Europe to Rio de Janeiro. The city remained the capital after the independence of Brazil in 1822 and after the abolition of the monarchy in 1889. In the 1950s plans were considered for moving the federal capital from the east coast to the interior; the interior was sparsely populated and it was hoped that moving the capital to the region would help populate the area. The new capital, Brasília, was inaugurated as the federal capital on 21 April 1960 after being purpose built for $2 trillion U.S.

National capitals of Brazil

* São Salvador da Bahia de Todos os Santos (1534–1763) ** Salvador (1572–1578/1581) – capital city of the State of Maranhão ** Salvador (1621–1640) – capital city of the State of Bahia under the

Iberian Union pt, União Ibérica , conventional_long_name =Iberian Union , common_name = , year_start = 1580 , date_start = 25 August , life_span = 1580–1640 , event_start = War of the Portuguese Succession , event_end = Portuguese Restoration War , ...

São Sebastião do Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

(1572–1578/1581) – capital city of the State of Brazil *

(1763–1815) – capital city of the

Viceroyalty of Brazil The Viceroyalty of Brazil refers, in narrow scope, to office of viceroy of the Portuguese colonial State of Brazil and, in broad scope, to the whole State of Brazil during the historic period when its governors had the title of "viceroy". The te ...

(1815–1822) – capital city of the

United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves The United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves was a pluricontinental monarchy formed by the elevation of the Portuguese colony named State of Brazil to the status of a kingdom and by the simultaneous union of that Kingdom of Brazil ...

(1822–1889) – capital city of the

Empire of Brazil The Empire of Brazil was a 19th-century state that broadly comprised the territories which form modern Brazil and (until 1828) Uruguay. Its government was a representative parliamentary constitutional monarchy under the rule of Emperors Dom ...

(1889–1960) – capital city of the Republic of the United States of Brazil *

Brasília Brasília (; ) is the federal capital of Brazil and seat of government of the Federal District. The city is located at the top of the Brazilian highlands in the country's Central-West region. It was founded by President Juscelino Kubitsche ...

(1960–present) – capital city of the Republic of the United States of Brazil, and since 1967 the

Federative Republic of Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area an ...

References

Government of Brazil Political history of Brazil

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

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