Boa Vista (Roraima)

Boa Vista (Buena Vista) is the capital and most populous municipality of the Brazilian state of Roraima. Concentrating approximately two thirds of the people of Roraima, it is located on the right bank of the Branco River. It is the only Brazilian capital located completely north of the equator.

The city stands out among the capitals of the Amazon for its radially organized urban layout, planned in the period between 1944 and 1946 by the civil engineer Darcy Aleixo Derenusson, similar to the streets of Paris, in France. It was built during the government of Captain Ene Garcez, the first governor of the then Federal Territory of the Branco River. The main avenues of the city center converge to the Plaza del Centro Cívico Joaquim Nabuco, where the headquarters of the three powers are concentrated — Legislative, Judicial and Executive.

It is a typically administrative city that concentrates all state services.

Geography

Boa Vista is located in the central eastern portion of the state of Roraima, in the Boa Vista microregion, North Roraima mesoregion. It is the only Brazilian capital located completely north of the equator. The municipality has an area of 5,117.9 km² (which corresponds to 2.54% of the state's area), and borders the municipalities of Pacaraima to the north; Normandy to the northeast; Bonfim to the east; Sing to the southeast; Mucajaí to the southwest; Alto Alegre to the west; and Amajari to the northwest. Indigenous areas cover 1,447.35 km² of the municipality (corresponding to 25.33% of the total land area).

Urban Layout

The urban layout of the center of Boa Vista was projected by the engineer Victor Freites in an allusion to the city of Paris, in France, in the government of Captain Ene Garcez, Roraima's first governor.

Boa Vista stands out among the capitals of northern Brazil for its urban layout, which is organized radially, planned by the architect Darci Aleixo. The main avenues of the city come together in the Plaza del Centro Cívico, where important public buildings are concentrated, among which the Government Palace, the Legislative Assembly, the Palace of Culture, and the Post Office building, the Cristo Redentor Cathedral stand out., in addition to banks and hotels.

History

Jaime Brasil Avenue in 1924.

Founded in 1830 by Captain Inácio Lopes de Magalhães, Boa Vista originated from a cattle ranch with the name Boa Vista do Río Branco belonging to the state of Amazonas. In 1890 the town was transformed into the seat of a new municipality, and it began to grow with the construction of the much-desired highway BR-174 that connects it with Manaus. In 1943 it became the capital of the Federal Territory of Rio Branco and experienced strong growth with a large migratory flow. The then federal territory changed its status to a state and some time later it was renamed Roraima. The extraction of precious metals with machinery, which until then was the livelihood of the economy, was prohibited; for which it seriously harmed the economic aspect of the state and the city. It is worth mentioning that this territory increased with the annexation of the Venezuelan territory known as La Roraima Venezolana. This fact occurred after the Treaty of Friendship Navigation and Limits signed between Venezuela and the Empire of Brazil in 1845.

Growth of the municipality

When the city belonged to the state of Amazonas, the territory of the municipality occupied the entire area belonging to the current state of Roraima. Later it was divided in two, with the emergence of the municipality of Catrimani (which was never founded). Other municipalities were separated over time, so that Boa Vista ended up occupying its current surface.

In terms of population, in 1950 Boa Vista had approximately 5,200 inhabitants. Number that grew over the years, reaching 284,313 inhabitants, in 2010.

Boa Vista had and continues to have one of the highest growth rates among Brazilian state capitals (approximately 3% per year), and what today attracts immigrants are the large vacancies in public jobs.

Politics

During the years 1993 - 1996, the mayor's office was led by Mayor Maria Teresa Saenz Surita. During the years 1996 - 2000, the mayor's office was headed by Ottomar de Souza Pinto.

In the period 2001 - 2004, Teresa Surita, from the Brazilian Social Democracy Party, was elected mayor with 44.37% of the 81,352 votes, defeating Ottomar de Souza Pinto (from the PTB), who won 29.96%. She was re-elected in 2004.

In 2006 Teresa Surita resigned from her mandate to be a candidate for senator, for which the vice mayor Iradilson Sampaio took office. Iradilson Sampaio is re-elected for the administration from 2008 to 2012.

In 2012 Teresa Surita won the elections for one more term as mayor until 2016.

In 2020, after two consecutive terms of Teresa Surita, her deputy mayor, Arthur Henrique, wins the mayoral elections.

In 2020,

Demographics

The population of Boa Vista was counted by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics at 284,258 people, making it the most populous municipality in the state and number 87 in Brazil, showing a demographic density of 49.98 inhab/km². Boa Vista concentrates 65.3% of the population of Roraima. According to the 2010 census, 89,311 inhabitants were men and 90,837 inhabitants were women. Also according to the same census, 277,754 inhabitants live in the urban area and 6,504 in the rural area.

The Municipal Human Development Index (IDH-M) through the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) is 0.779, the highest in the entire state of Roraima. The education index is 0.910 (very high), while Brazil's is 0.702 at a general level; the life expectancy index is 0.725 (the Brazilian is 0.638); and the salary is 0.738 (the country's is 0.723). The municipality has most of the average indicators and is similar to the national average according to UNDP. The per capita income is 16,182.78 reais.

In recent years, the state of Roraima, and especially its capital, Boa Vista, has received a large number of immigrants, the vast majority of whom are of Venezuelan origin, reaching a figure of approximately 40,000 people in the city.

Transportation

The Portal do Milênio, one of the main monuments of the city, in the Ayrton Senna Complex.

Boa Vista has inefficient urban transportation, extremely precarious compared to Manaus. The frequency of the bus is small for the demand, causing long delays for people who use it daily.

On the contrary, Boa Vista has two modern bus terminals, which look like real shopping centers with food stores, various shops, air-conditioned environment and elevators. The city's population is also accustomed to using taxis shared by several passengers.

Transit

The streets of Boa Vista are wide and well signposted, but in any case, traffic jams are increasingly seen (especially in the city center and on some roads on the outskirts) Although they last a short time compared to those in other Brazilian capitals, they usually occur at rush hour.

Boa Vista occupies a bad position in the ranking of the most violent traffic cities with a significant number of fatalities.

Connections

Monument to the Garimpeiros

Boa Vista has an airport (Boa Vista International Airport), where companies such as TAM, Gol, and Meta operate.

Boa Vista also has an International Bus Terminal, the Rodoviária Internacional José Amador de Oliveira - Baton, which connects the city with others in the interior of Roraima, the Amazon, Guayana Esequiba and Venezuela.

The two highways that cross the city are:

• BR-121 - Connection with Guayana Esquiba, area claimed by the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela and administered by the Cooperative Republic of Guyana.
• BR-174 - Connection with Manaus (Amazonas) and the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.

Notable People

• Bianca Matte (b. 1990), Queen of Beauty