Ceilândia

Ceilândia was originally created by the government in the 1970s as a campaign by then governor Hélio Prates da Silveira to keep people from moving into Brasília and setting up invasions.[5] The root of the name Ceilândia is "CEI" (Portuguese: Campanha de Erradicação de Invasões: Invasions Eradication Campaign).[6] The campaign was created by Hélio Prates da Silveira to prevent people from invading Brasilia, and to combat irregular settlements in the region.

In 1969, after only nine years of existence, Brasília already had 79,128 people living in irregular occupations, out of a population of 500 thousand inhabitants in all the Federal District. In that year a seminar took place in Brasília concerning social problems of the Federal District. Invasion dwellers were the most serious problem.

17619 lots were laid out and in 1970 the first construction began. In nine months the transfer of the families was concluded with the streets opening. The beginning was dramatic. The population had no water, no public lighting, no public transport and struggled against dust, mud and flash floods.

Today Ceilândia is the largest electoral college of the Federal District and the most populous city, with more inhabitants than the Brasília. It occupies a total of 91 residential squares laid out like Brasília, intercalated by areas for local commerce, churches and schools. There are also some special areas that are set aside to provide community services.

Partial view of the Casa do Cantador, one of its symbols

An active commercial center, it has 4,500 commercial establishments and 1,600 small industries. The economically active population is more than 160,000 people.

Two important locals of Ceilandia are the Caixa d'Água (Water Tower), and the Casa do Cantador (House of the Singer), a cultural center dedicated to the artists of Northeast Brazil. The building was designed by Oscar Niemeyer and completed in 1986.