The Federal District (Portuguese: Distrito Federal) was an administrative division of Brazil created by the Brazilian Constitution of 1891. During the Empire of Brazil, the administrative unit that corresponded to this territory was designated the Neutral Municipality (Município Neutro). It was a legal entity under public law until 1960, in the territory corresponding to the current municipality of Rio de Janeiro.
With the transfer of Brazil's federal capital to the city of Brasília, the new Federal District was created through the division of part of the state of Goiás on 21 April 1960. With the transfer of the federal capital, the former Federal District was transformed into the state of Guanabara, which in turn was merged with the state of Rio de Janeiro thus creating the municipality of Rio de Janeiro, the current capital of the state.