Belo Horizonte is the capital of Minas Gerais state, located in the southeastern region of Brazil. It is the third largest metropolitan area in the country. Belo Horizonte or "Beagá" as it is more familiarly known from the sound of its initials BH in Portuguese; has a population of almost 2.4 million and over 5.3 million in the official Metropolitan Region of Belo Horizonte.The first settlements in the region occurred in the early 1700s, but the city as it is known today was planned and constructed in the 1890s, in order to replace Ouro Preto as the capital of Minas Gerais. It is nowadays well known for the contrast between contemporary and classical buildings, being in fact the location of many modern Brazilian architectural icons, most notably the Pampulha Church.Belo Horizonte has plenty of significant cultural landmarks, many of them situated in the Pampulha district, where there are very wonderful examples of Brazilian contemporary architecture. These include one of the largest soccer stadiums in the world, the Mineirão stadium, and the São Francisco de Assis Church, widely known as Igreja da Pampulha, designed by famous Brazilian Modernist architect Oscar Niemeyer. In Pampulha there is also the Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais campus, whose buildings themselves are important contributions to the city's architecture. Other remarkable Pampulha buildings include the Mesbla and Niemeyer buildings, in addition to the headquarters of corporations such as Usiminas, Seculus, and Telemig Celular.