4.1 – Evolution of administrative regions

The urban areas of Planaltina and Brazlândia, respectively founded in 1859 and 1933, existed before the transfer of the capital. During the construction of Brasilia, new housing areas were created to lodge the laborers. In 1956, the Cidade Livre was founded, later named Núcleo Bandeirante; Vila Paranoá was camp of workers who came to build the Paranoá Lake dam in 1957, and there they remained; the city of Taguatinga was founded in 1958 to house workers who came for work on the capital; Cruzeiro was founded in 1959 to house public employees who were transferred to Brasilia; Gama was inaugurated in 1960 to accommodate workers transferred from the Plano Piloto, as was Sobradinho, also founded in 1960.

To facilitate the administration of these areas, the Federal District was divided into Administrative Regions – RA by means of Federal Law 4.545/1964, with the idea of decentralizing and improving the coordination of local services. Each RA has a Regional Administrator appointed by the Federal District Governor. In 1964, there were eight RAs, which were subdivided according to the urban development of the Federal District. District Law 5.161/2013 establishes criteria for the creation of new RAs, one of them being a minimum population of 20 thousand inhabitants. Currently, there are 33 ARs, officially delimited by Complementary Law nº 958, of December 20, 2020.