The 2012 STEP LATIN AMERICAN Summit

12 - 15 November, 2012
Fundação Dom Cabral
Aloysio Faria Campus
Nova Lima, Brazil

Tourist Attractions

Belo Horizonte

Belo Horizonte is the capital and largest city in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais, located in the southeastern region of the country. It is the third largest metropolitan area in the country. Belo Horizonte (also known as "Belô", "Beagá", or "BH") has a population of 2,475,440 inhabitants (2010) in the city, 5,497,922 people in the official Metropolitan Area (2010), and in the expanded metropolitan area is home to about 9,010,376 inhabitants (2011).

The region was first settled in the early 18th century, but the city as it is known today was planned and constructed in the 1890s, in order to replace Ouro Preto as the capital of Minas Gerais. The city features a mixture of contemporary and classical buildings, and is home to several modern Brazilian architectural icons, most notably the Pampulha Complex. In planning the city, Aarão Reis and Francisco Bicalho sought inspiration in the urban planning of Washington, D.C. The city has employed notable programs in urban revitalization and food security, for which it has been awarded international accolades.

The city is built on several hills and is completely surrounded by mountains. There are several large parks in the immediate surroundings of Belo Horizonte. The "Parque das Mangabeiras", located six kilometers south-east from the city centre in the hills of the Serra do Curral, affords a view over the city. It has an area of 2.35 km2 (580 acres), of which 0.9 km2 (220 acres) is native forest. The "Mata do Jambeiro" nature reserve extends over 912 hectares (2,250 acres), with vegetation typical of the Atlantic forest. More than one hundred species of bird inhabit the reserve, as well as ten different species of mammals.

Ouro Preto

Ouro Preto, the old capital of Minas Gerais, owes its origins to the discovery and exploitation of the gold. The creation in 1698 of the Capitania de São Paulo e Minas do Ouro resulted in the earlier mining settlements being transformed into villas (small towns), the second of which was Vila Rica, in 1712. Minas Gerais became an independent Capitania in 1720, with Vila Rica as its capital. The growth of the town was rapid as a result of the rich mineral resources, and it developed its own urban features characteristic of a mining town. In the closing years of the 18th century it became a centre of the movement for the emancipation of Brazil from colonial rule known as Inconfidência Mineira. A rapid decline in mineral resources and mining resulted in a deterioration in the economy of this part of the province.

In 1823 its status was changed to that of an imperial town, with the new name of Ouro Preto and this attracted a number of higher education establishments, but with the transfer of the provincial capital in 1897 to Belo Horizonte the fortunes of Ouro Preto declined again. Since the 1930s it has been principally a tourist centre. The town was shaped by the grouping together of small settlements (arriais) in a hilly landscape, where the houses, mostly single- or two-storeyed, seem to support one another, forming an irregular urban layout that follows the contours of the landscape.

However, the resources derived from mining, coupled with the talents of artists such as Aleijadinho and others, some outstanding architectural and artistic masterpieces are to be found. A 'Mining Baroque' style developed in the second half of the 18th century which successfully fused Brazilian influences with European Baroque and Rococo. Tiradentes Square is the main point from which all the roads diverge. Around it are situated imposing public and private buildings, such as the old Parliament House (1784), today the Museum of the Inconfidência, and the Palace of the Governors, which has become the School of Mines and Metallurgy.

Rio de Janeiro

Rio de Janeiro, capital of the State, is the second largest city of Brazil, located in the southeast of the country. Brazilian city more known abroad, the largest international tourism route in the main tourist destination in Brazil and Latin America and throughout the southern hemisphere, the capital fluminense works as a "mirror", or "portrait", either positively or negatively.

It is one of the main economic centers, cultural and financial of the country, being internationally known for several cultural icons and landscapes, such as the sugar loaf, Corcovado with Christ the Redeemer Statue, the beaches of Copacabana, Ipanema and Barra da Tijuca (among others), the Maracanã Stadium, the Estádio Olímpico João Havelange, the Municipal Theater of Rio de Janeirothe forests of Tijuca and Pedra Branca, the Quinta da Boa Vista, the national library, the island of Paquetá, new year's Eve in Copacabana, the Carnival, the Bossa Nova and samba.

Represents the second largest GDP in the country (and the 30th largest in the world), estimated at about 140 billion (IBGE/2007), and is the headquarters of the two largest Brazilian companies-Petrobras and Vale, and major oil companies and Brazil, telephony as well as the largest conglomerate of media companies and communications of Latin America, the Globo organizations. Covered by a large number of universities and institutes, is the second largest hub of research and development of Brazil, responsible for 17% of the national scientific production, according to data from 2005.[15] Rio de Janeiro is considered a beta world city-at the 2008 inventory of Loughborough University (GaWC).

Was the capital of Brazil from 1763 to 1960, when the Government moved to the newly built Brasilia. Being successively the capital of the State of Brazil (1621-1815)-a colony of the Portuguese overseas Empire until 1763-1815, after the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves (1815-1822), the Empire of Brazil (1822-1889) and the Republic of the United States of Brazil (1889-1968) until 1960, as a result of the foundation of Brasília, in the same year, the transfer from the Government to the last. In 1968, with the Brazilian capital being Brasilia, the Brazilian State took the name of the Federative Republic of Brazil, its official name until today.

Currently, Rio de Janeiro is the country's second largest city, after São Paulo. It is also known for the wonderful city, and that which is born is called carioca. In 2012, the urban landscape of the city was regarded as Cultural heritage of humanity by UNESCO.