| Boa Vista | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| — Municipality — | |||
| The Municipality of Boa Vista | |||
| Aerial view of Boa Vista | |||
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| Motto: "Segurança, Desenvolvimento, Integração" ("Security, Development, Integration") | |||
| Location of Boa Vista in the State of Roraima | |||
| Country | Brazil | ||
| Region | North | ||
| State | Roraima | ||
| Founded | June 9. 1890 | ||
| Government | |||
| • Mayor | Iradilson Sampaio PPS | ||
| Area | |||
| • Total | 5,687 km2 (2,195.8 sq mi) | ||
| Elevation | 85 m (279 ft) | ||
| Population (2010) | |||
| • Total | 266,901 | ||
| • Density | 43.8/km2 (113.4/sq mi) | ||
| Time zone | UTC-4 | ||
| Postal Code | 69300-000 | ||
| Website | Boa Vista, Roraima | ||
Boa Vista (Portuguese pronunciation: [ˈboɐ ˈvistɐ], Good View) is the capital of the Brazilian state of Roraima. Situated on the western bank of the River Branco, the city lies 220 km (136 mi) away from Brazil's border with Venezuela. It is the only Brazilian capital located entirely north of the Equator. Boa Vista has an equatorial climate, with high temperatures throughout the year and a very narrow range of temperatures, with an average temperature of about 30 °C. It also lies within a very wet climate with annual precipitation often more than 2000 mm. These hot and wet conditions are ideal for the growth of plants, so the vegetation found in the city is both dense and varied. The Equatorial Rainforests also have an extremely diverse fauna.
Boa Vista is the most populous municipality in the state of Roraima;[1] approximately half of the population of the state lives in the city. Commerce mostly occurs with Manaus, the capital of the State of Amazonas. Business also takes place between Boa Vista and with the cities of Lethem, in Guyana and Santa Elena de Uairén, in Venezuela. These two foreign cities are the only major cities that can be accessed from Boa Vista by road, although roads connect other smaller state municipalities with the capital city. Travel by airplane is the only means of transportation with other regions of the country.
The federal government has started a project to link Boa Vista by road to Manaus and then by extension to the major centers of Brazil, by asphalting the BR 319 and building several bridges in the Amazon forest, allowing a direct road link to Manaus and then on to the central and southern regions of Brazil.[2]
As a modern city, Boa Vista stands out among the other capitals of the North Region of Brazil as it is a planned city with a radial plan. It was planned by the architect Darci Aleixo Derenusson who based his design for the city on one that is similar to that of Paris, France. The city was built under the direction of Captain Ene Garcez, the first governor of Roraima. The main avenues converge at Civic Center Plaza, where the headquarters of three governmental branches (legislative, judiciary, and executive) reside. Aside from such cultural attractions as (theaters and palaces), there are hotels, banks, post offices, and cathedrals.
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The municipality of Boa Vista formed the first urban area of the state of Roraima. The São Joaquim Fort, founded in 1775, is located about 32 km from the capital and is considered to be of great importance to the region.
The city was created on July 9, 1890 as Boa Vista do Rio Branco. It was founded by Augusto Villeroy (Amazonas's Governor). The first mayor was João Capistrano da Silva Mota, also known as Coronel Mota. After the mayor, two councillors (José Francisco Coelho and José Gonzaga de Souza Junior) were appointed.
In 1943, during the middle of World War II, Boa Vista became the capital of the recently created Federal Territory of Rio Branco. The territory grew from mining operations in the area. The then Federal Territory of Rio Branco was elevated to statehood, later being renamed as "Roraima". Later, machine-based mining was prohibited (because of the resulting damage to the landscape), which ended up hindering the economy of the state and the municipality.
The GDP of the city was R$ 2,265,603,000 (2005).[3]
The per capita income of the city was R$ 9,366 (2005).[4]
The Portuguese is the official national language, and the primary language taught in schools. But English and Spanish are part of the official high school curriculum.
Festa Junina was introduced to Northeastern Brazil by the Portuguese for whom St John's day (also celebrated as Midsummer Day in several European countries), on the 24th of June, is one of the oldest and most popular celebrations of the year. Differently from what happens on the European Midsummer Day, the festivities in Brazil do not take place during the summer solstice but during the tropical winter solstice. The festivities traditionally begin after the 12th of June, on the eve of St Anthony's day, and last until the 29th, which is Saint Peter's day. During these fifteen days, there are bonfires, fireworks, and folk dancing in the streets (step names are in French, which shows the mutual influences between court life and peasant culture in the 17th, 18th, and 19th-century Europe). Once exclusively a rural celebration, today, in Brazil, it is now largely a city festival. Typical foods and beverages are served. As during Carnival, the festivities include wearing costumes (in this case, peasant costumes), dancing, heavy drinking, and visual spectacles (fireworks and folk dancing). Like what happens on Midsummer and St John's Day in Europe, bonfires are a central part of these festivities in Brazil.
The Civic Center, built in the form of an opened fan, starts from the banks of the Rio Branco. This design was created by the engineer Darci Aleixo Deregusson during Ene Garcez's government, the first of its kind in Roraima.
From the Civic Center runs a system of 16 avenues, with inspiration drawn from Paris, France, Belo Horizonte, and Goiânia, Brazil. In this square are the head offices of the Executive, Judicial and Legislative branches of the state government. Other buildings of significance are the Palace of Culture, the Amazônia Bank, the Ministry of Education, and a cathedral.
The civic center also showcases a monument to the miners who were the first inhabitants of this land.
Initially, indigenous people were the only inhabitants of Boa Vista. Boa Vista had the highest growth rate of any Brazilian capital in the 1970s, at 3% per year. What attracts immigrants most to this city are employment opportunities that generated by public service jobs for Brazilians. General commercial opportunities attract immigrants from neighboring countries. In 1950 Boa Vista had about 5,200 inhabitants. This number has grown 47 fold in only 56 years to approximately 250,000 inhabitants.
There are several professional football clubs in Boa Vista:
The city's most important stadium is Estádio Flamarion Vasconcelos, better known as Canarinho, located in the neighborhood of the same name, Canarinho. The stadium, which located in the southern part of Boa Vista, has a maximum capacity of 10,000 people. Also found in Boa Vista is the Ribeirão stadium, located in a suburb of the city.
Boa Vista is served by Boa Vista-Atlas Brasil Cantanhede International Airport with flights to Belém, Brasília, Georgetown (Guyana), Manaus, Paramaribo (Suriname), and Rio de Janeiro. Boa Vista International Airport was opened on February 19, 1973, and underwent major remodelings in 1998 and 2009. The passenger terminal, runway and apron were all enlarged, and a separate taxiway was built.
The airport currently can handle a total of 330,000 passengers a year, conveniently and securely.
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