Goiania

The idea of creating a new state capital had been bounced around from early on in the state of Goiás. The first plan came from D. Marcos de Noronha who in 1753 wanted to establish the state capital in the municipality of Pirenópolis; again in 1863 José Vieira Couto de Magalhães put forward a plan to move the capital to the edge of the Araguaia river. The impetus behind the efforts to move the state capital was the need to locate it in accordance with the economic interests of the state. The first state capital, Vila Boa (today City of Goiás), had been chosen when the economy was based on gold extraction. Later, when cattle-raising and agriculture came to dominate the state's development, the old capital was considered remote. Legislators kept the idea of change alive for a long time. …

The city has a tropical wet and dry climate (Köppen: Aw) with an average temperature of 23.2 °C (73.8 °F). It has a wet season, from October to April, and a dry one, from May to September. Annual rainfall is around 1,300 mm (51 in). The lowest temperature ever recorded was 0.5 °C (32.9 °F) on July 18, 2000, in the suburbs. 1.2 °C (34.2 °F) was the lowest recorded downtown, on July 9, 1938. However, such lows are very rare. Temperatures may fall below 12 °C (54 °F) every winter, mainly in the suburbs. The highest temperature ever recorded was 41.2 °C (106.2 °F) on October 7, 2020. The "cerrado" landscape is characterized by extensive savanna formations crossed by gallery forests and stream valleys and includes various types of vegetation. Humid fields and "buriti" palm paths are found where the water table is near the surface. …

While Goiânia's economy today is based on a variety of industries, the local economy's roots are found in the agricultural industry thriving in and around the city. The supply of agricultural equipment, tools, fertilizer and other products make up a large portion of the economic activity. Second to agriculture are vehicle sales and service industry. Repairs, sales and reconditioning of vehicles are widespread and visible in all areas of the city. The third largest contributor to the economy is the government sector. As Goiânia is the state capital of Goiás, it is home to many federal and state government agencies that provide a large number of jobs. In recent years, modern telecommunications, with its supporting industry, has begun to expand into Goiânia. Many large Brazilian companies have established offices in the city. …

The population of the municipality in 2011, according to the IBGE, was 1,302,001 inhabitants, being the most populous municipality in the state and 12th in Brazil. The main reason for the large population in the vicinity of Goiânia and Brasília — that spurred the growth of the city and the region between it and the federal capital — making the axis Brasília-Goiânia's third largest agglomeration in the country, bringing together about nine million people. The metropolitan area of Goiânia is the tenth largest agglomeration urban Brazil, with a population of 2,173,141, presents a population density of 782.5 inhabitants per 1 square kilometre (0.4 sq mi), the largest of its state. The Human Development Index Municipal (HDI) of Goiânia is considered high by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), at 0. …