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• Brasília
  Brasília

  noun

  a city in and the capital of Brazil, on the central plateau.
• Brasilia
  Brasilia

  Capital of Brazil, located in its central highlands.

Brasília

American  

[bruh-zil-yuh, brah-zeel-yuh] / brəˈzɪl jə, brɑˈzil jə /

noun

1. a city in and the capital of Brazil, on the central plateau.

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Brasília British  

/ brəˈzɪljə, brəziˈliːa /

noun

1. the capital of Brazil (since 1960), on the central plateau: the former capital was Rio de Janeiro. Pop: 3 341 000 (2005 est)

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Brasilia Cultural  

1. Capital of Brazil, located in its central highlands.

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One of the newest cities in the world, Brasilia was inaugurated in 1960 to replace Rio de Janeiro as Brazil's capital. The Brazilian government moved the capital in an effort to promote development in central Brazil. In less than thirty years, its population had grown to over a million inhabitants.

Example Sentences

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Brasília Brasilia

I lived part of my teen years in Brasília, the capital built from scratch whose architecture and urban planning have drawn equal parts fascination and disdain.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 17, 2026

I sometimes hear echoes of what I used to hear about Brasília.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 17, 2026

Mr. da Silva’s establishment sits along Brazil’s Federal Highway 060, which runs more than 900 miles southwest from Brasília, the capital, to Bela Vista, bordering Paraguay.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 25, 2026

Brazil's Supreme Court allowed the 70-year-old to be transferred from federal police headquarters where he is serving his sentence to a hospital in the capital, Brasília, for the initial surgery.

From BBC ● Dec. 29, 2025

Meanwhile, the corridors of the presidential palace in Brasília were buzzing.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 22, 2025

Due to recurring health issues, the 71-year-old Jair Bolsonaro has been serving his sentence under house arrest in Brasilia.

From Barron's ● Oct. 9, 2026

“What we love about Brasilia is how it holds both realities at once,” Roy said.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 13, 2026

As of June, Brasilia was spending more than it took in at a pace equivalent to 10% of GDP, according to the central bank.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 5, 2026

Moraes had also previously denied Milei permission to visit the former president while he was under house arrest in Brasilia.

From BBC ● Jul. 27, 2026

And the advocates of development are often from Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, or Brasilia, cities that are thousands of miles away from the Amazon and culturally almost as remote as environmentalists’ cities.

From "1491" by Charles C. Mann