Ceilândia () is an
administrative region in the
Federal District
A federal district is a specific administrative division in one of various federations. These districts may be under the direct jurisdiction of a federation's national government, as in the case of federal territory (e.g., India, Malaysia), or the ...
in
Brazil
Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...
. It is bordered by
Brazlândia to the north,
Taguatinga to the east, and
Samambaia and
Sol Nascente/Por do Sol to the south. With about 398,374 inhabitants, it is the administrative region of largest population in the Federal District. Ceilândia was created in 1971 by Hélio Prates da Silveira, originally created as the "CEI" () in 1969, a campaign to combat irregular settlements near Brasília.
History
Early history
Ceilândia was originally created by the government in the 1970s as a campaign by then governor Hélio Prates da Silveira to keep people from moving into
Brasília
Brasília ( ; ) is the capital city, capital of Brazil and Federal District (Brazil), Federal District. Located in the Brazilian highlands in the country's Central-West Region, Brazil, Central-West region, it was founded by President Juscelino ...
and setting up invasions. The root of the name Ceilândia is "CEI" (). The campaign was created by Hélio Prates da Silveira to prevent people from invading Brasilia, and to combat irregular settlements in the region.
In 1969, after only nine years of existence, the Federal District already had 79,128 people living in
irregular occupations, out of a population of 500 thousand inhabitants in all of the Federal District. In that year a seminar took place in Brasília concerning social problems of the Federal District. Invasion dwellers were the most serious problem.
17619 lots were laid out and in 1970 the first construction began. In nine months the transfer of the families was concluded with the streets opening. The population had no water, no public lighting, and no public transport and struggled against dust, mud and
flash flood
A flash flood is a rapid flooding of low-lying areas: washes, rivers, dry lakes and depressions. It may be caused by heavy rain associated with a severe thunderstorm, hurricane, or tropical storm, or by meltwater from ice and snow. Flash f ...
s.
Ceilândia was founded on March 27, 1971, receiving the status of administrative region, according to Law 49, of October 25, 1989.
Recent developments
Today Ceilândia is the largest electoral college of the Federal District and the most populous city, with more inhabitants than the Brasília. It occupies a total of 91 residential squares laid out like Brasília, intercalated by areas for local commerce, churches and schools. There are also some special areas that are set aside to provide community services.
An active commercial center, it has 4,500 commercial establishments and 1,600 small industries. The economically active population is more than 160,000 people.
Two important locals of Ceilandia are the ' (Water Tower), and the ' (House of the Singer), a cultural center dedicated to the artists of
Northeast Brazil
The Northeast Region of Brazil ( ) is one of the five official and political regions of Brazil, regions of the country according to the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics. Of Brazil's twenty-six states, it comprises nine: Maranhão, ...
. The building was designed by
Oscar Niemeyer
Oscar Ribeiro de Almeida Niemeyer Soares Filho (15 December 1907 – 5 December 2012), known as Oscar Niemeyer (), was a Brazilian architect considered to be one of the key figures in the development of modern architecture. Niemeyer was b ...
and completed in 1986.
Ceilândia and its fairs
Ceilândia is considered the second largest "Northeastern city" outside the Brazilian Northeast Region (the first one is
São Paulo
São Paulo (; ; Portuguese for 'Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul') is the capital of the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo, as well as the List of cities in Brazil by population, most populous city in Brazil, the List of largest cities in the ...
). About 70% of the population is of Northeastern origin. The presence of the Northeast culture can be seen in the number of open-air fairs (13 in all). The fairs (') were also an alternative for the workers that did not find space in the economy of the Federal District. In most of them, fruits, foods, clothes and footwear are commercialized. The Fair of the Producer () sells wholesale and supplies almost 50% of the Federal District.
The Central Fair (), is the largest of all. It occupies an area of seven thousand square meters and sells household articles, tools, electric appliances, fruits, vegetables, and poultry. It is located next to the ' (Water Tower) - the symbol of Ceilândia. Another fair is the .
Sports
Venues
* Estádio Maria de Lourdes Abadia
Clubs
* Football
**
Ceilândia Esporte Clube
Transportation
Ceilândia is served by several highways connecting it to
Brasília
Brasília ( ; ) is the capital city, capital of Brazil and Federal District (Brazil), Federal District. Located in the Brazilian highlands in the country's Central-West Region, Brazil, Central-West region, it was founded by President Juscelino ...
* DF-075 (Estrada Parque Núcleo Bandeirante - EPNB);
* DF-085 (Estrada Parque Taguatinga - EPTG, or "Linha Verde");
* DF-095 (Estrada Parque Ceilândia - EPCL, or "Via Estrutural").
Metro
Ceilândia is served by the following
Federal District Metro stations, and is expected to have two more stations.
*
Ceilândia Sul station
*
Ceilândia Centro station
*
Ceilândia Norte station
See also
*
List of administrative regions of the Federal District
References
External links
Regional Administration of Ceilândia websiteGovernment of the Federal District website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ceilandia
Administrative regions in the Federal District (Brazil)