What is the capital of Brazil?

Brasília was built to pull the country inland. Brazilian population and power had always hugged the Atlantic coast, and the idea of an interior capital had been discussed since the nineteenth century and even written into the constitution. President Juscelino Kubitschek made it happen in the 1950s under the slogan of fifty years of progress in five, and the city rose on an empty plateau in the state of Goiás in under four years. Lúcio Costa planned it in a form usually described as an aeroplane or a bow and arrow, with residential superblocks along the curved wings and the government buildings along the monumental axis, while Oscar Niemeyer designed the landmarks in sweeping reinforced concrete, including the cathedral of upswept ribs and the twin towers of congress flanked by a dome and a bowl. It was designed around the car, which has drawn criticism ever since.

Brasília's modernist core is a World Heritage site, listed for its planning rather than for age.