| Federal District of Brazil
Distrito Federal do Brasil
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Federation unitofBrazil | |||||||||
| 1891–1960 | |||||||||
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 Location of the state of Rio de Janeiro (light yellow) and the now-defunct Federal District (red) in Brazil. | |||||||||
| Capital | Rio de Janeiro | ||||||||
| Area | |||||||||
| • Coordinates | 22°55′S 43°28′W / 22.917°S 43.467°W / -22.917; -43.467 | ||||||||
| • Type | Presidential republic | ||||||||
| History | |||||||||
• Constitution of 1891 | 24 February 1891 | ||||||||
| 3 October 1930 | |||||||||
| 18 September 1946 | |||||||||
• Creation of Brasília | 21 April 1960 | ||||||||
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The Federal District (Portuguese: Distrito Federal) was an administrative division of Brazil created by the Brazilian Constitution of 1891.[1] During the Empire of Brazil the administrative unit that corresponded to this territory was designated the Neutral Municipality (Município Neutro).[1] It was a legal entity under public law until 1960, in the territory corresponding to the current municipality of Rio de Janeiro.[2]
With the transfer of the capital to the recently created city of Brasília, the new Federal District was created in the Brazilian Highlands in 1960.[3][4] From 1960 to 1975 the same territory existed as the State of Guanabara,[5] which in turn was incorporated into the municipality of Rio de Janeiro.
