Belo Horizonte, city in southeastern Brazil, capital of Minas Gerais State. It is an industrial, administrative, and cultural center of a great mining area rich in iron ore, gold, manganese, nickel, and precious stones. Iron and steel, refined metal, textiles, and transportation equipment are manufactured here. Belo Horizonte is laid out on a grand scale, with broad, tree-lined avenues radiating from a large park. The city, which contains one of the world's largest soccer stadiums, is the seat of the Federal University of Minas Gerais (1927), the Pontifical Catholic University of Minas Gerais (1958), and a school of fine arts (1954). In the Pampulha district is the noted Chapel of São Francisco, designed by Oscar Niemeyer Soares Filho; it houses paintings by the Brazilian artist Cándido Portinari.
The city was founded in 1895 and replaced Ouro Prêto as the state capital in 1897. It was Brazil's first planned city and rapidly became a major economic center for the interior of the country. Large residential and industrial districts were developed in the 1940s. Population (1996 estimate) 2,091,448.
