Brazil's newest capital — Tocantins cerrado, Jalapão desert
Palmas is Brazil's newest state capital — purpose-built from scratch after Tocantins was carved from Goiás state in 1988. Like Brasília, it was designed by urban planners on a grid system, but it faces the extraordinary Lago de Palmas reservoir and serves as the main gateway to Jalapão State Park — a remote cerrado wilderness of ferruginous sand dunes, crystal waterfalls, and red-sand river beaches that has been called 'Brazil's mini-Sahara.'
Palmas was founded on 20 May 1989 — making it the only Brazilian state capital to be founded in the 20th century after Brasília. The city was built on a master plan by architect Luís Fernando Cruvinel Teixeira, with wide avenues and large green spaces inspired by Brasília but adapted for the tropical cerrado. The population grew from zero to 300,000 in 35 years, though Tocantins state itself has been inhabited by indigenous peoples including the Xerente and Karajá for thousands of years.