Goiânia
Encyclopedia
Climate
The city has a tropical wet and dry climate with an average temperature of 21.9 °C (71.4 °F). There's a wet season, from October to April, and a dry one, from May to September. Annual rainfall is around 1,520 mm.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 8 °C (46.4 °F) every winter, mainly in the suburbs. The highest temperature ever recorded was 39.2 °C (102.6 °F) on October 17, 2007.
Vegetation
The "cerradoCerrado
The Cerrado, is a vast tropical savanna ecoregion of Brazil, particularly in the states of Gioas and Minas Gerais...
" landscape is characterized by extensive savanna
Savanna
A savanna, or savannah, is a grassland ecosystem characterized by the trees being sufficiently small or widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach the ground to support an unbroken herbaceous layer consisting primarily of C4 grasses.Some...
formations crossed by gallery forests and stream valleys. Cerrado includes various types of vegetation
Vegetation
Vegetation is a general term for the plant life of a region; it refers to the ground cover provided by plants. It is a general term, without specific reference to particular taxa, life forms, structure, spatial extent, or any other specific botanical or geographic characteristics. It is broader...
. Humid fields and "buriti" palm
Moriche Palm
The Moriche Palm, Mauritia flexuosa, also known as the Ité Palm, Ita, Buriti, or aguaje , is a palm tree. It grows in and near swamps and other wet areas in tropical South America....
paths are found where the water
Water
Water is a chemical substance with the chemical formula H2O. A water molecule contains one oxygen and two hydrogen atoms connected by covalent bonds. Water is a liquid at ambient conditions, but it often co-exists on Earth with its solid state, ice, and gaseous state . Water also exists in a...
table is near the surface. Alpine pastures occur at higher altitudes and mesophytic forests on more fertile soil
Soil
Soil is a natural body consisting of layers of mineral constituents of variable thicknesses, which differ from the parent materials in their morphological, physical, chemical, and mineralogical characteristics...
s. More than 1600 species of mammals, birds and reptiles have been identified in the cerrado ("Cerrado's Fauna", Costa et al., 1981), including 180 reptile species, 113 amphibian
Amphibian
Amphibians , are a class of vertebrate animals including animals such as toads, frogs, caecilians, and salamanders. They are characterized as non-amniote ectothermic tetrapods...
s, 837 bird
Bird
Birds are feathered, winged, bipedal, endothermic , egg-laying, vertebrate animals. Around 10,000 living species and 188 families makes them the most speciose class of tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Extant birds range in size from...
s and 195 mammal
Mammal
Mammals are members of a class of air-breathing vertebrate animals characterised by the possession of endothermy, hair, three middle ear bones, and mammary glands functional in mothers with young...
s (WWF). Among the invertebrates, the most notable are the termites and the leaf-cutter ants ("saúvas"). They are the main herbivores of the cerrado, important to consuming and decomposing of organic matter
Organic matter
Organic matter is matter that has come from a once-living organism; is capable of decay, or the product of decay; or is composed of organic compounds...
, as well as constituting an important food
Food
Food is any substance consumed to provide nutritional support for the body. It is usually of plant or animal origin, and contains essential nutrients, such as carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, or minerals...
source to many other animal
Animal
Animals are a major group of multicellular, eukaryotic organisms of the kingdom Animalia or Metazoa. Their body plan eventually becomes fixed as they develop, although some undergo a process of metamorphosis later on in their life. Most animals are motile, meaning they can move spontaneously and...
species.
Economy
The third largest contributor to the economy is the governmental sector. As Goiânia is the state capital of Goiás, it is home to many federal and state governmental agencies that provide a large number of jobs to the population.
In recent years, modern telecommunications, along with its supporting industry, has begun to expand into Goiânia, and many large Brazilian companies have established offices in the city.
In addition, due to Goiânia being the state capital, it is home to countless private medical centers/clinics of all kinds.
In 2005, the GDP of the city was R$ 13,354,065.00.
In the same year, the per capita income
Per capita income
Per capita income or income per person is a measure of mean income within an economic aggregate, such as a country or city. It is calculated by taking a measure of all sources of income in the aggregate and dividing it by the total population...
for the city was R$ 11,119.
Economic inequality
Goiania has serious problems of economic inequality as the other Brazilian cities, but is the only metropolis of the country that has no shantytowns. The are not many homeless people in the city because the social assistance works.Education
PortuguesePortuguese language
Portuguese is a Romance language that arose in the medieval Kingdom of Galicia, nowadays Galicia and Northern Portugal. The southern part of the Kingdom of Galicia became independent as the County of Portugal in 1095...
is the official national language, and thus the primary language taught in schools, with English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
and Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
part of the official high school
High school
High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....
curriculum.
- Universidade Federal de Goiás (UFG);
- Pontifícia Universidade Católica de GoiásPontifícia Universidade Católica de GoiásThe Pontifícia Universidade Católica de Goiás is a private and non-profit Pontifical catholic university, located in Goiânia and Ipameri, is the first university of the State of Goiás. It is one of the largest and most prestigious Brazilian universities...
(PUC-GO); - Universidade Estadual de Goiás (UEG);
- Universidade Paulista (UNIP);
- Instituto Federal de Educação, Ciência e Tecnologia de Goiás - official site (IFG);
- and many others.
Road
Goiânia is connected to the federal capital, BrasíliaBrasília
Brasília is the capital city of Brazil. The name is commonly spelled Brasilia in English. The city and its District are located in the Central-West region of the country, along a plateau known as Planalto Central. It has a population of about 2,557,000 as of the 2008 IBGE estimate, making it the...
, via a four-lane highway (BR-060
BR-060
BR-060 is a federal highway of Brazil. The 1459 kilometre road connects Brasilia to Bela Vista, on the Paraguayan border....
), and to São Paulo
São Paulo
São Paulo is the largest city in Brazil, the largest city in the southern hemisphere and South America, and the world's seventh largest city by population. The metropolis is anchor to the São Paulo metropolitan area, ranked as the second-most populous metropolitan area in the Americas and among...
via a two-lane highway (BR-153, which is being expanded to four lanes). The state of Goiás maintains the main artery roads (marked GO-xx) in and out of the capital, which are typically two-lane roads.
As Goiânia was a planned city when first created, the downtown cores (Setores Central/Oeste/Sul) are relatively easy to navigate. Along the years, the planned urban development was replaced by the typical Brazilian way of urban growth, i.e. pure laissez-faire. The social and urban demands were neglected.
Due to this lack of planning and reliable public transportation, Goiania is the metropolis with the highest number of cars per capita in the country; at present, there are 1,000,000 registered motor vehicles in the city. The many vehicles on the roads cause major congestion during peak times throughout the city.
Rail
The Railway line was closed in the 1970s, though the Art Deco station remains open to the public. Nowadays transportation of goods is carried out via the connecting highways.Public Transportation
All public transportation is via bus. Bus service in Goiânia is provided by several different transportation companies all working under the municipality.There is a bus system map the can be founded in RMTC site. Buses run on a predictable time schedule demonstrated in RMTC site. Goiania is the only city of South America that has the ITS technology of bus transport, but the buses are usually full. Unlike most Brazilian cities, there are no ticket collectors on the buses in Goiânia; all the fares are collected using magnetic paper cards and turnstiles. Passes are provided by SitPASS and can be purchased on the street from street vendors or in small shops throughout the city.
Anhanguera Avenue, is one of the largest/longest avenues in the city. It underwent major work in the late 1990s that created a dedicated bus lane for the entire length of the avenue, with stations every 1/2 Kilometer. The bus lanes, however, are located in the center of the avenue, giving it a distinct look. The fare to travel on the Anhanguera bus route is half of normal fare and all buses on this route are articulated buses.
The new contract
Under the new contract, firmed in 2009, many aspects of the public transportation are being changed:
- The terminal stations are now placed under administration of the companies that are refurbishing them;
- The buses are being equipped with GPS modules to solve the schedule problem and many other benefits, Adapted to give accessibility to disabled peopleDisabilityA disability may be physical, cognitive, mental, sensory, emotional, developmental or some combination of these.Many people would rather be referred to as a person with a disability instead of handicapped...
, radios to give fast response on reroutes and other events, and other minor changes; - The introduction of the CityBus, a service of microbuses focused on give a choice to people of higher wealth to use the public transit system instead of their cars and to tourists who are visiting the city.
- Changes on "Eixo Anhanguera" (Anhanguera axis) and it's terminals. It is unclear what changes that will be made, but one of the main issues under discussion is the much criticized change in fares; in future, a person that gets on a terminal from the axis to integrate with an inter-municipal metropolitan line will have to pay a complete fare.
- A North-South axis is part of the project, but as of August/09 it has not been implemented yet
- An Operational Control Center that will monitor the bus traffic through GPS.
- A free number for users to call to know how much time is left before the next bus arrives is another part of project that has not yet been implemented.
Airports
Santa Genoveva AirportSanta Genoveva Airport
Santa Genoveva/Goiânia Airport is the airport serving Goiânia, Brazil.It is operated by Infraero.-History:The airport was inaugurated in 1955 although operations started a few years earlier...
is located on the northeast side Goiânia, in the state of Goiás, Brazil. Currently six airlines fly out of Santa Genoveva Airport to several destinations in Brazil. With a nominal yearly capacity of 600 thousand passengers, in 2004 it handled 950 thousand. With its new terminal, it will be able to handle up to 2 million users a year.
Currently construction is underway for a new airport terminal, but has been stalled and a new concurrence is being set to then restart the construction. The new expected date for inauguration is 2012. Modernization work will soon get underway at Goiânia Airport current terminal to help to minimize the current overload problems.
Aeródromo Nacional de Aviação
Aeródromo Nacional de Aviação
National Aviation Aerodrome is an airport in Goiânia, Brazil.-External links:...
handles general aviation
General aviation
General aviation is one of the two categories of civil aviation. It refers to all flights other than military and scheduled airline and regular cargo flights, both private and commercial. General aviation flights range from gliders and powered parachutes to large, non-scheduled cargo jet flights...
operations.
Security
Goiania is considered a safer city compared to most other state capitals within Brazil. The average yearly murder rate per year is under 450 persons per year according to the Goias State Police.The city of Goiania is patrolled and under the watch of the Goias Military Police, which is responsible for responding to crime and maintaining check points within the city and state. The Military Police are normally dressed in Military uniforms (Light Tan uniforms) while patrolling the city. The prosecution and investigations of crime and all administration issues are handled by the Civil police within the city (Policia Civil).
Within the City of Goiania traffic rules are enforced by the "AMT", whose members are traffic wardens with some minor police powers. This unit fall under the ownership of the city. Their responsibilities are to ensure road rules are enforced and attend to all accidents on the city streets.
Green areas
The most important of these parks are the Parque Zoológico, Parque Vaca Brava, Parque Ecológico, Bosque dos Buritis and Parque Areião. One of the biggest parks is the Bosque dos Buritís with an area of 140,000 square meters and containing many buriti palm trees, which have a yellow fruit. Parque Areião is home to monkeys native to the area. Almost all of the parks are surrounded by walking paths.
Goiânia is famous for being the ‘spring capital’ and was planned as a modern city, growing outside from the center. In the starting years this building plan worked well, but through the quick growth the plan was not followed to the letter, with the exception of the green areas, causing severe infrastructure problems in some areas, in particular with the public transport and healthcare systems.
In the Bosque dos Buritis is the Monument for World Peace, designed by Siron Franco. This monument contains a 7 meter high ampole with walls of glass and the soil of more than 50 countries from all over the world. Every year on World Environment Day there will be scattered soil of a new country added.
Another attraction is the Chico Mendes Botanic Garden), housing trees and flowers like bromelias, orchids, fruit trees and a lake.
Parque Zoológico
Created in 1946, it contains over one thousand animals, including mammals, birds, and reptiles. Five streams have their source in the park, which, besides the Zoo itself, also contains the Horto Florestal and the Lago das Rosas (Lake of Roses). The park is located in the Setor Oeste, one of the richest and most beautiful residencial areas of Goiânia.Buriti Park
Located in the center of the city this is Goiânia’s oldest green area. It has an area of 120,000 square meters. There is a running track and exercise area, that has pull up bars and situp benches with various inclines. There are three artificial lakes created by Buriti Stream. We can also find the Goiânia Art Museum and the Free Center of Arts. It houses a group of Marmosets and many turtles.Vaca Brava Park
Vaca Brava (which could be roughly translated as Angry Cow) has become a symbol of the new thriving area of the Setor Bueno, which has flourished in the past decades and is now one of the most important zones of Goiânia.
Areião Park
The Areião is one of the biggest green areas of Goiânia. Located in a wealthy area, it is famous for its dense vegetation, full of monkeys. Besides the many trails, there is also a lake, a jogging route and many wooden buildings, including a small theater, consisting of a stage and many seats in the middle of a bamboo forest.Cobra Veiga—center for snake research
Located in an area of 44000.5 m² (10.9 acre), it has an infrastructure for 750 serpents of different species, in addition to a laboratory and a rodent house. Its main activities are the extraction of poison for medicinal purposes, research on behavior of serpents in captivity and the recuperation of degraded areas and the preservation of springs and their forest.Leisure
The leisure options are diversified. There are many shopping malls. In sports there are numerous gyms, public and private. The city has a 45,000 capacity stadium: the Serra Dourada Stadium. Goiânia also has a racetrack (Ayrton SennaAyrton Senna
Ayrton Senna da Silva was a Brazilian racing driver. A three-time Formula One world champion, he is widely regarded as one of the greatest F1 drivers of all time...
International Racetrack), a kart track
Kart racing
Kart racing or karting is a variant of open-wheel motorsport with small, open, four-wheeled vehicles called karts, go-karts, or gearbox/shifter karts depending on the design. They are usually raced on scaled-down circuits...
and a horse racing
Horse racing
Horse racing is an equestrian sport that has a long history. Archaeological records indicate that horse racing occurred in ancient Babylon, Syria, and Egypt. Both chariot and mounted horse racing were events in the ancient Greek Olympics by 648 BC...
track.
Sports
Goiânia has three football (soccer) clubs: Atlético Clube GoianienseAtlético Clube Goianiense
Atlético Clube Goianiense, usually known as Atlético Goianiense or just Atlético, is a Brazilian football team from the city of Goiânia, Goiás state. Atlético Goianiense is the oldest Goiânia city football club. The club is the first team of its state to win a national competition, which was the...
, Goiás Esporte Clube
Goiás Esporte Clube
Goiás Esporte Clube, also known as Goiás, is a Brazilian football team in Goiânia, Goiás state. It is one of the largest clubs of the Central-Western part of Brazil and they won the 'Série B once.Its main rival is Vila Nova...
and Vila Nova Futebol Clube
Vila Nova Futebol Clube
Vila Nova Futebol Clube is a Brazilian football team from Goiânia in Goiás, founded on July 29, 1943. They play in red shirts, shorts and socks. Their nickname is 'The Tigers' . The club won the Campeonato Brasileiro Série C in 1996. Vila Nova's greatest rival is Goiás...
. Atlético Clube Goianiense competes in the Série A
Campeonato Brasileiro Série A
The Campeonato Brasileiro de Clubes da Série A , popularly known as the Brasileirão , is a professional football league at the top of the Brazilian football league system held annually since 1959. Contested by twenty clubs, it operates a system of promotion and relegation with the Série B...
. Vila Nova and Goiás compete in the Série B
Campeonato Brasileiro Série B
The Série B is the second division of Brazilian football. It is played by 20 teams. However, the competition format has changed almost every year since it first occurred, in 1971. In some years, it was not played altogether...
.
Museums
The most important museums are the Museu Antropológico da Universidade Federal de Goiás, Instituto Goiano de Pré-História e Antropologia, Fundação Museu de Ornitologia, Museu de Arte Contemporânea and Museu Zoroastro Artiaga. One interesting place is the so-called Memorial do Cerrado.Rock Scene
Goiânia is home to one of the most important rock scenes from Brazil. It has started in the early 1990s, with the creation of the first independent rock festivals in the city. Independent labels like Monstro Discos, Two Beers or Not Two Beers and Insetus flourished and have been crucial to support and broadcast the scene, which, due to the fact of being completely independent from the mainstream media, sometimes is not known even to native Goianienses.The main styles are Alternative or Indie rock
Indie rock
Indie rock is a genre of alternative rock that originated in the United Kingdom and the United States in the 1980s. Indie rock is extremely diverse, with sub-genres that include lo-fi, post-rock, math rock, indie pop, dream pop, noise rock, space rock, sadcore, riot grrrl and emo, among others...
represented by bands like MQN, Black Drawing Chalks, Violins, Hang The Superstars, Valentina, NEM, Fantasma de Agnes and Flores Indecentes; punk
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
and hardcore
Hardcore punk
Hardcore punk is an underground music genre that originated in the late 1970s, following the mainstream success of punk rock. Hardcore is generally faster, thicker, and heavier than earlier punk rock. The origin of the term "hardcore punk" is uncertain. The Vancouver-based band D.O.A...
by bands like Desastre, Vacilo, Resistentes, Descarga Negativa, Señores, Umbral and HC-137 and metal
Heavy metal music
Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...
with bands like Ressonância Mórfica (unlike most Metal bands they sing in archaic Portuguese) Spiritual Carnage http://www.myspace.com/bandaspiritualcarnage, Eternal Devastation and Hellphoria.
There are currently two major independent festivals held in the city, Bananada (usually held in May) and Goiânia Noise (usually in December). It is interesting to notice that Goiânia, as the capital of a state that was rural until 3 decades ago, has been traditionally influenced by the sertanejo style, strongly connected with the countryside lifestyle. Though the sertanejo is still an icon of Goiás' culture, the rock scene is seen by some as a response to it and as the creator center of a goianiense legitimately culture, independent of the countryside culture. Goiânia is, now, a leading center in the underground rock movement in Brazil.
Health
Goiânia is a national reference in several areas of medicine, especially ophthalmology, neurology, burn treatment, and leprosy.Health data
- Infant mortality rate: 21.30 in 1,000 live births (2000)
- Hospitals: 60
- Hospital beds: 6.037
- Walk-in public health clinics: 667
- Doctors in the public health system: 6,315 (2002)
- Nurses in the public health system: 808
- Dentists in the public health system: 659
Ranking on the Municipal Human Development Index
- HDI-M: 0.832 (2nd in the state and 115th nationally)
- HDI-M - Income: 0.813
- HDI-M - Education: 0.933
- HDI-M - Life expectancy: 0.751
(Data are from 2000)