Brasília, since 21 April 1960. Rio de Janeiro was the capital for nearly two centuries before that and Salvador for two centuries before Rio. São Paulo has never been the capital of Brazil.
Brazil has had three capitals, and the current one was built from nothing in forty-one months.
| Years | Capital |
|---|---|
| 1549 to 1763 | Salvador, on the Atlantic coast in Bahia |
| 1763 to 1960 | Rio de Janeiro |
| 1960 to today | Brasília |
Moving the capital into the interior had been proposed since independence and was written into the republican constitution of 1891, which set aside a quadrilateral on the central plateau for it. Nothing happened for sixty years. Juscelino Kubitschek was elected president in 1955 promising "fifty years of progress in five", and building the capital was the centrepiece of it.
Lúcio Costa planned the city as a plano piloto: two crossing axes, the residential superblocks along one and the government buildings along the other. Oscar Niemeyer designed the buildings: the National Congress with its bowl and dome, the Cathedral, the Palácio da Alvorada. Work began in 1956 and the capital was inaugurated on 21 April 1960.
Brasília was made a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987, the first modern city to be listed.
São Paulo is the largest city in Brazil and in the southern hemisphere, and the capital of São Paulo state. It has never been the national capital.
Brasília and Canberra are the two best-known cities built to be capitals. Naypyidaw and Astana are the recent ones.
The places above come from GeoNames, reconciled against Wikidata. Last checked 21 September 2026. How we know · Suggest a correction