Capital City of the Week: Brasilia

From NASA's Earth Observatory:

Capital City of the Week: Brasilia

Whether seen at night or during the day, the capital city of Brazil is unmistakable from orbit. Brasília is located on a plateau—the Planalto Central—in the west-central part of the country, and is widely considered to be one of the best examples of 20th century urban planning in the world. One of its most distinctive design features—as seen from above—suggests a bird, butterfly, or airplane traveling along a northwest-southeast direction, and is made dramatically visible by city light patterns (image center right, between Lake Paranoá and the airport).

Read more at
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=48963

See Brasilia during the day at
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=43743

See more space photographs of Brasilia at
http://eol.jsc.nasa.gov/Collections/CapitalCities/WorldCapitalCities.pl?country=Brazil