Capitals of Brazil - Wikipedia Capitals of Brazil This article does not cite any sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. ( April 2013 ) The current Capital of Brazil ( Brasil ) is Brasília. The city of Salvador is usually called the `` first capital of Brazil '' for being more than two centuries the seat for the Portuguese colonial administration in Brazil ( general government and viceroyalty ). History Salvador was established in 1549 by the first Governor - General of Portuguese South America shortly after colonisation began. The city became the seat of the first Catholic bishopric of Brazil in 1552, and is still the center of Brazilian Catholicism. In the 17th century Rio de Janeiro became a far more practical export port than Salvador, and the colonial administration was moved in 1763. In 1808 the Portuguese royal family and most of the aristocracy in the Portuguese capital Lisbon fled Portugal ahead of Napoleon 's invasion. The Portuguese capital was temporarily transferred from Europe to Rio de Janeiro. The city remained the capital after the independence of Brazil in 1822 and after the abolition of the monarchy in 1889. In the 1950s plans were considered for moving the federal capital from the east coast to the interior ; the interior was sparsely populated and it was hoped that moving the capital to the region would help populate the area. The new capital, Brasília, was inaugurated as the federal capital on 21 April 1960 after being purpose built at great cost of 2 trillion U.S. dollars. National capitals of Brazil São Salvador da Bahia de Todos os Santos ( 1534 -- 1763 ) Salvador ( 1572 -- 1578 / 1581 ) -- capital city of the State of Maranhão Salvador ( 1621 -- 1640 ) -- capital city of the State of Maranhão under the Iberian Union São Sebastião do Rio de Janeiro ( 1572 -- 1578 / 1581 ) -- capital city of the State of Brazil Rio de Janeiro ( 1763 -- 1815 ) -- capital city of the Viceroyalty of Brazil Rio de Janeiro ( 1815 -- 1822 ) -- capital city of the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves Rio de Janeiro ( 1822 -- 1889 ) -- capital city of the Empire of Brazil Rio de Janeiro ( 1889 -- 1960 ) -- capital city of the Republic of the United States of Brazil Brasília ( 1960 -- present ) -- capital city of the Republic of the United States of Brazil, and since 1967 the Federative Republic of Brazil This article about politics in Brazil is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Capitals_of_Brazil&oldid=803972289 '' Categories : Government of Brazil Political history of Brazil Capitals by country Brazil politics stubs Hidden categories : Articles lacking sources from April 2013 All articles lacking sources All stub articles Talk About Wikipedia Simple English Edit links This page was last edited on 5 October 2017, at 21 : 12. About Wikipedia

Question: what was the capital of brazil before brasilia
Answer: Rio de Janeiro