The Building
In early 1900s, the Brazilian National Congress happened to be in separate buildings. The Senate, for instance, was located near Railway Central Station, beside the Republica's Square, at Moncorvo Filho Street, where there is today a Federal University of Rio de Janeiro students' center. The Federal Chamber of Deputies was located at Misericórdia Street, where it would be built later the State of Rio de Janeiro's local Chamber of Deputies. From the 1930s to early 1960s, the Senate occupied the Monroe Palace, which was demolished in the 1970s to allow the construction of the subway Cinelândia station. The Federal Chamber of Deputies moved to Brasília in early 1960s as well, but temporarily occupied for a couple of years a building near the Municipal Theater.
Since the 1960s, the National Congress has been located in Brasília. As with most of the city's government buildings, the National Congress building was designed by Oscar Niemeyer in the modern Brazilian style.
The semi-sphere on the left is the seat of the Senate, and the semi-sphere on the right is the seat of the Chamber of the Deputies. Between them are two vertical office towers. The Congress also occupies other surrounding office buildings, some of them interconnected by a tunnel.
The building is located in the middle of the Monumental Axis, main street of Brasília. In front of it there is a large lawn where demonstrations take place. At the back of it, is the Praça dos Três Poderes, where lies the Palácio do Planalto and the Supremo Tribunal Federal.
On December 6, 2007, the Institute of Historic and Artistic National Heritage (Portuguese: Instituto do Patrimônio Histórico e Artístico Nacional) decided to declare the building of the National Congress a historical heritage of the Brazilian people. The building is also among the UNESCO World Heritage Sites, as part of Brasília's original urban buildings, since 1987.
In 2010, 22 out of the country's 27 political parties were able to elect at least one representative in the Chamber, while fifteen of them were able to elect at least one Senator. In both houses the coalition that supported
| Parties | Chamber | Senate | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | % of votes | Seats | % of seats | +/– | Votes | % of votes | Elected seats | Total seats | % of seats | +/– | |||
| Worker's Party (Partido dos Trabalhadores, PT) | 16,289,199 | 16.9 | 88 | 17.1 | +5 | 39,410,141 | 23.1 | 11 | 15 | 17.3 | +7 | ||
| Brazilian Democratic Movement Party (Partido do Movimento Democrático Brasileiro, PMDB) | 12,537,252 | 13.0 | 79 | 15.3 | −10 | 23,998,949 | 14.1 | 16 | 19 | 24.6 | +3 | ||
| Republic Party (Partido da República, PR) | 7,311,655 | 7.6 | 41 | 7.9 | +16 | 4,649,024 | 2.7 | 3 | 4 | 4.9 | — | ||
| Brazilian Socialist Party (Partido Socialista Brasileiro, PSB) | 6,851,053 | 7.1 | 34 | 6.6 | +7 | 6,129,463 | 3.6 | 3 | 3 | 3.7 | — | ||
| Democratic Labour Party (Partido Democrático Trabalhista, PDT) | 4,854,602 | 5.0 | 28 | 5.4 | +4 | 2,431,940 | 1.4 | 2 | 4 | 4.9 | −2 | ||
| Social Christian Party (Partido Social Cristão, PSC) | 3,072,546 | 3.2 | 17 | 3.3 | +8 | 1,247,157 | 0.7 | 1 | 1 | 1.2 | — | ||
| Communist Party of Brazil (Partido Comunista do Brasil, PCdoB) | 2,748,290 | 2.8 | 15 | 2.9 | +2 | 12,561,716 | 7.4 | 1 | 2 | 2.4 | +1 | ||
| Brazilian Republican Party (Partido Republicano Brasileiro, PRB) | 1,633,500 | 1.7 | 8 | 1.5 | +7 | 3,332,886 | 2.0 | 1 | 1 | 1.2 | −1 | ||
| Christian Labour Party (Partido Trabalhista Cristão, PTC) | 595,431 | 0.6 | 1 | 0.1 | −2 | 282,629 | 0.2 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | — | ||
| National Labour Party (Partido Trabalhista Nacional, PTN) | 182,926 | 0.2 | 0 | 0.0 | — | 6,013 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | — | ||
| Brazilian Social Democratic Party (Partido da Social Democracia Brasileira, PSDB) | 11,477,380 | 11.9 | 53 | 10.3 | −13 | 30,903,736 | 18.1 | 5 | 11 | 13.5 | −5 | ||
| Democrats (Democratas, DEM) | 7,301,171 | 7.6 | 43 | 8.3 | −22 | 10,225,883 | 6.0 | 2 | 6 | 7.4 | −7 | ||
| Brazilian Labour Party (Partido Trabalhista Brasileiro, PTB) | 4,038,239 | 4.2 | 21 | 4.0 | −2 | 7,999,589 | 4.7 | 1 | 6 | 7.4 | −1 | ||
| Socialist People's Party (Partido Popular Socialista, PPS) | 2,536,809 | 2.6 | 12 | 2.3 | −10 | 6,766,517 | 4.0 | 1 | 1 | 1.2 | +1 | ||
| Party of National Mobilization (Partido da Mobilização Nacional, PMN) | 1,086,705 | 1.1 | 4 | 0.7 | +1 | 241,321 | 0.1 | 1 | 1 | 1.2 | +1 | ||
| Labour Party of Brazil (Partido Trabalhista do Brasil, PTdoB) | 642,422 | 0.7 | 3 | 0.5 | +2 | 1,480,846 | 0.9 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | |||
| Progressive Party (Partido Progressista, PP) | 6,330,062 | 6.6 | 41 | 7.9 | — | 9,170,015 | 5.4 | 3 | 4 | 4.9 | +3 | ||
| Green Party (Partido Verde, PV) | 3,710,366 | 3.8 | 15 | 2.9 | +2 | 5,047,797 | 3.0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | −1 | ||
| Socialism and Freedom Party (Partido Socialismo e Liberdade, PSOL) | 1,142,737 | 1.2 | 3 | 0.5 | — | 3,041,854 | 1.8 | 2 | 2 | 2.4 | +1 | ||
| Humanist Party of Solidarity (Partido Humanista da Solidariedade, PHS) | 764,412 | 0.8 | 2 | 0.3 | — | 305,793 | 0.2 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | — | ||
| Social Liberal Party (Partido Social Liberal, PSL) | 499,963 | 0.5 | 1 | 0.1 | +1 | 446,517 | 0.3 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | — | ||
| Brazilian Labour Renewal Party (Partido Renovador Trabalhista Brasileiro, PRTB) | 307,925 | 0.3 | 2 | 0.3 | +2 | 74,478 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | — | ||
| Progressive Republican Party (Partido Republicano Progressista, PRP) | 307,188 | 0.3 | 2 | 0.3 | +2 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | — | ||
| Others | 358,178 | 0.4 | 0 | 0.0 | — | 677,309 | 0.4 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | — | ||
| Total valid votes | 96,580,011 | 100.0 | 513 | 100.0 | — | 170,431,573 | 100.0 | 45 | 81 | 100.0 | — | ||
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Chamber of Deputies
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Senate
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Exterior, on a rainy day
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The Congress at night
Coordinates: 15°47′58.82″S 47°51′51.05″W / 15.7996722°S 47.8641806°W / -15.7996722; -47.8641806
Read more about this topic: National Congress Of Brazil
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