Brasília is the capital city of Brazil — the city where the country’s government sits. It is a planned city, built on purpose in the middle of the country, and it opened in 1960. Before that, the capital was Rio de Janeiro, the famous city by the sea. English often writes Brasilia without the accent; in Portuguese it is Brasília. Though actually, many people still picture Rio or São Paulo first when they think of Brazil, because those cities are bigger in daily life. Brasília is the new capital, with wide roads and modern government buildings, not the beach city on the postcards.