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Rio de Janeiro (”River of January”, pronounced [ˈhiw dʒi ʒʌˈnejɾu] in Brazilian Portuguese, /ˈriːoʊ di ʒəˈnɛroʊ/ in English), is the second largest city of Brazil, behind São Paulo. The city is capital of the state of Rio de Janeiro. It was the for almost two centuries, from 1763 to 1822 while it was a Portuguese colony and from 1822 to 1960 as an independent nation. It was the capital of the from 1808 to 1821. Commonly known as just Rio, the city is also nicknamed A Cidade Maravilhosa, or “The Marvelous City”.

Rio de Janeiro is famous for its natural settings, its Carnival celebrations, samba and other music, and hotel-lined tourist beaches, such as Copacabana and Ipanema, paved with decorated black and cream swirl pattern mosaics known locally as “pedra portuguesa”. Some of the most famous local landmarks in addition to the beaches include the giant statue of Jesus, known as Christ the Redeemer (’Cristo Redentor’) atop Corcovado mountain, which has recently been named one of the of the World; Sugarloaf mountain (Pão de Açúcar) with its cable car; the Sambódromo, a giant permanent parade stand used during Carnival; and Maracanã stadium, one of the world’s .

The city also boasts the two world’s largest forests inside an urban area. The first is the forest in Parque Estadual da Pedra Branca, or White Stone State Park. The second, almost connected to the first, is the famous Floresta da Tijuca, or “Tijuca Forest”.[1] The Galeão - Antônio Carlos Jobim International Airport connects Rio de Janeiro with many Brazilian cities and also operates several international flights.

Despite its charm and beauty, Rio is reputed to be one of the most in the world [2][3][4] and motivated movies such as Bus 174, City of God and Tropa de Elite portraying severe social issues. Violent crime is concentrated in the slum areas known as favelas, which are located largely on the periphery of the City.
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Rio de Janeiro is located at 22 degrees, 54 minutes south latitude, 43 degrees 14 minutes west longitude. The population of the City of Rio de Janeiro is about 6,136,652,[5] occupying an area of 1,182.3 square kilometres (456.5 sq mi).[6]

The population of the larger metropolitan area is estimated at 11-12 million. It was Brazil’s capital until 1960, when Brasília took its place. Residents of the city are known as Cariocas. The city’s current mayor (2006) is Cesar Maia. The official song of Rio is “Cidade Maravilhosa” (translated as “Marvelous City”).

[edit] Climate

Rio has a tropical climate.[7] The temperature occasionally reaches over 40°C (104°F) in inland areas of the city, and extreme maximum temperatures above 30°C (86°F) can happen every month.[citation needed] In the main tourist areas (south side, where the beaches are located), the temperature is moderated by the cool sea-breezes from the ocean.

The average annual minimum temperature is 20°C (68°F), the average annual maximum temperature is 26°C (79°F) and the average annual temperature is 23°C (73.5°F). The average yearly precipitation is 1,086 mm.[citation needed] The minimum temperature recorded was 4.8°C (40°F) in July 1928, but temperatures below 10°C (50°F) are rare in most of city today, the absolute maximum reached 43.2°C (110°F) in January 1984.[8]

[edit] Cityscape
Panoramic view of Praia de Botafogo (Botafogo Beach) with Pão de Açúcar (Sugarloaf Mountain) and Morro da Urca in the background.
Panoramic view of Praia de Botafogo (Botafogo Beach) with Pão de Açúcar (Sugarloaf Mountain) and Morro da Urca in the background.

[edit] History
Carioca Aqueduct, built in the first half of the 18th century.

Guanabara Bay was reached by Portuguese explorers in an expedition led by Portuguese explorer Gaspar de Lemos on January 20, 1502; hence Rio de Janeiro, “January River.” There is a legend that the mariners named the place thus because they thought the mouth of the bay was actually the mouth of a river, but no experienced sailor would make that mistake. At the time, river was the general word for any large body of water.

An unofficial European presence in the area began not long after. In 1519 when Ferdinand Magellan resupplied his ships in the bay, French smugglers were already using the bay as a post for smuggling brazilwood. When French naval officer Nicolas Durand de Villegaignon arrived in 1555 with a fleet of two ships and 600 soldiers and colonists, he founded the first permanent European settlement in the area.[citation needed] The colony was referred to as “France Antarctique”. The colonists consisted of mainly French Huguenots and Swiss Calvinists. Villegaignon left in 1557 after disputes with some of the colonists.[citation needed]

The city was founded on March 1, 1565, by Portuguese knight Estácio de Sá, who called it São Sebastião do Rio de Janeiro (St Sebastian of the January River),[9] in honour of Saint Sebastian (day of death traditionally on January 20). For centuries, the settlement was commonly called São Sebastião – or even ‘Saint Sebastian’ – instead of the currently popular second half of its name. The city was founded as a base from which to invade the French settlement. They succeeded in 1567 and the French were expelled. Later, São Sebastião was frequently attacked by pirates and privateers, especially by then enemies of Portugal, such as the Netherlands and France.
Paço Imperial, 18th century palace that served as seat for the colonial government, King John IV of Portugal and the two Emperors of Brazil.

The exact place of Rio’s foundation is at the foot of Pão-de-Açúcar (Sugarloaf Mountain). Later, the whole city was moved within a palisade on top of a hill, imitating the medieval European defense strategy of fortified castles – the place has since then been called Morro do Castelo (Castle Hill). Thus, the city developed from the current center (Downtown, see below) southwards and then westwards (with large parts built over reclaimed land); an urban movement which continues today.[citation needed]

In the late 16th century, the Portuguese crown began treating the village as a strategic location for the Atlantic transit of ships between Brazil, the African colonies and Europe.[citation needed] Fortresses were built and an alliance was formed with nearby native tribes to defend the settlement. Invaders – Rio’s neighbor, Niterói, for instance, was founded by Araribóia, a Tamoio Indian chief, for defensive purposes. Sugar cane was the first industry in the area. First native, and later African, slaves were used for manual labor. Eventually the industry dwindled as higher quality sugar cane from northern Brazil became more available.

Until early in the 18th century, the city was threatened or invaded by several, mostly French pirates and buccaneers, such as Jean-François Duclerc and René Duguay-Trouin.[10] After 1720, when the Portuguese found gold and diamonds in the neighboring captaincy of Minas Gerais, Rio de Janeiro became a much more useful port for exporting wealth than Salvador, Bahia, which is much farther to the north. In 1763, the colonial administration in Portuguese America was moved to Rio. The city remained primarily a colonial capital until 1808, when the Portuguese royal family and most of the associated Lisbon nobles, fleeing from Napoleon’s invasion of Portugal, moved to Rio de Janeiro. The kingdom’s capital was transferred to the city, which, thus, became the only European capital outside of Europe. As there was no physical space or urban structure to accommodate hundreds of noblemen who arrived suddenly, many inhabitants were simply evicted from their homes.[citation needed]

When Prince Pedro I proclaimed the independence of Brazil in 1822, he decided to keep Rio de Janeiro as the capital of his new empire. Rio continued as the after 1889, when the monarchy was replaced by a republic.
XV Square.

Until the early years of the 20th century, the city was largely limited to the neighborhood now known as the historic Downtown business district (see below), on the mouth of Guanabara Bay. The city’s center of gravity began to shift south and west to the so-called Zona Sul (South Zone) in the early part of the 20th century, when the first tunnel was built under the mountains located between Botafogo and the neighborhood now known as Copacabana. That beach’s natural beauty, combined with the fame of the Copacabana Palace Hotel, the luxury hotel of the Americas in the 1930s, helped Rio to gain the reputation it still holds today as a beach party town (though, this reputation has been somewhat tarnished in recent years by favela violence resulting from the narcotics trade). Plans for moving the nation’s capital city to the territorial centre had been occasionally discussed, and when Juscelino Kubitschek was elected president in 1955, it was partially on the strength of promises to build a new capital.[citation needed] Though many thought that it was just campaign rhetoric, Kubitschek managed to have Brasília built, at great cost, by 1960. On April 21 that year the was officially moved from Rio de Janeiro to Brasília.

Between 1960 and 1975 Rio was a capital city under the name State of Guanabara (after the bay it borders). However, for administrative and political reasons, a presidential decree known as “The Fusion” removed the city’s federative status and merged it with the state of Rio de Janeiro in 1975. Even today, some Cariocas advocate the return of municipal autonomy.[citation needed]

[edit] City districts

The city is commonly divided into the historic downtown (Centro); the tourist-friendly South Zone (Zona Sul), with its world-famous beaches; the residential North Zone (Zona Norte); and the West Zone (Zona Oeste), with the newer Barra da Tijuca district.

[edit] Downtown

( [show location on an interactive map] 22°54′19″S 43°10′38″W / -22.905392, -43.177128 (Downtown))
View of Rio de Janeiro downtown. The conical building is the Rio de Janeiro Cathedral, and the one on its right is the Petrobras headquarters.

Centro (Downtown in American English or CBD in other English use) is the historic centre of the city, as well as its financial centre. Sites of interest include the Paço Imperial, built during colonial times to serve as a residence for the Portuguese governors of Brazil; many historic churches, such as the Candelária Church, the colonial Cathedral and the modern-style Rio de Janeiro Cathedral. Around the Cinelândia square there are several landmarks of the Belle Époque of Rio, such as the Municipal Theatre and the National Library building. Among its several museums, the Museu Nacional de Belas Artes (National Museum of Fine Arts) and the Museu Histórico Nacional (National Historical Museum) are the most important. Other important historical attractions in central Rio include its Passeio Público, an 18th-century public garden, as well as the imposing arches of the Arcos da Lapa, a Roman-style aqueduct built around 1750. A bondinho (tram) leaves from a city center station, crosses the aqueduct (converted to a tram viaduct in 1896) and rambles through the hilly streets of the Santa Teresa neighbourhood nearby.

Downtown remains the heart of the city’s business community. Some of the largest companies in Brazil have their head offices here, including Petrobras and Vale (formerly Companhia Vale do Rio Doce), the two largest Brazilian corporations.

[edit] South Zone

( [show location on an interactive map] 22°58′27″S 43°11′58″W / -22.974199, -43.199444 (South Zone))
A view of the Copacabana Beach.

The South Zone of Rio de Janeiro (in Portuguese: “Zona Sul”) is composed of several districts, amongst which are São Conrado, Leblon, Ipanema, Arpoador, Copacabana and Leme, which compose Rio’s famous Atlantic beach coastline. Other districts in the South Zone are Glória, Flamengo, Botafogo and Urca, which border Guanabara Bay and Santa Teresa, Cosme Velho, Laranjeiras, Humaitá, Lagoa, Jardim Botânico and Gávea. It is the richest region of the city and the most famous overseas.

The neighbourhood of Copacabana beach hosts one of the world’s most spectacular New Year’s Eve parties (”Reveillon”), as more than two million revelers crowd onto the sands to watch the fireworks display. As of 2001, the fireworks have been launched from boats, to improve the safety of the event.[citation needed] To the north of Leme, and at the entrance to Guanabara Bay, is the district of Urca and the Sugarloaf Mountain (’Pão de Açúcar’), whose name describes the famous mountain rising out of the sea. The summit can be reached via a two-stage cable car trip from Praia Vermelha, with the intermediate stop on Morro da Urca. It offers views second only to Corcovado mountain.

One of the highest hills in the city is the 842 metres (2,762 ft) high Pedra da Gávea (Crow’s nest Rock) near the botanical gardens. On the top of its summit is a huge rock formation (some, such as Erich von Däniken in his 1973 book, “In Search of Ancient Gods”, claim it to be a sculpture) resembling a sphinx-like, bearded head that is visible for many kilometers around.

Hang gliding is a popular activity on the nearby Pedra Bonita (Beautiful Rock). After a short flight, gliders land on the Praia do Pepino (Cucumber Beach) in São Conrado. Since 1961, the Tijuca Forest (”Floresta da Tijuca”), the largest city-surrounded urban forest and the second largest urban forest in the world, has been a National Park. The largest urban forest in the world is the Floresta da Pedra Branca (White Rock Forest), which is also located in the city of Rio de Janeiro.[11] The Catholic University of Rio (Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro or PUC-Rio) is located at the edge of the forest, in the Gávea district. The 1984 film Blame it on Rio was filmed nearby, with the rental house used by the story’s characters sitting at the edge of the forest on a mountain overlooking the famous beaches.

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