Discover Rio de Janeiro - Brazil
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- Duration: 7:57
- Published: 2007-01-24
- Uploaded: 2011-02-21
- Author: PrefeituradoRio
Discover Rio de Janeiro- Brazil.Narrated in English. "Sea,Lagoon, Forest... And all of that in the middle of a city"
| Name | Rio de Janeiro |
|---|---|
| Settlement type | Municipality |
| Official name | Município do Rio de Janeiro The Municipality of Rio de Janeiro |
| Nickname | Cidade Maravilhosa ("The Marvelous City") or simply Rio |
| Denonym | Carioca |
| Image seal | Rio de Janeiro (RJ) - Brasao.svg |
| Map caption | Location in the State of Rio de Janeiro |
| Pushpin map | Brazil |
| Pushpin map size | 250 |
| Pushpin map caption | Location in Brazil |
| Coordinates display | inline,title |
| Coordinates region | BR |
| Subdivision type | Country |
| Subdivision type1 | Region |
| Subdivision type2 | State |
| Subdivision name | |
| Subdivision name1 | Southeast |
| Subdivision name2 | Rio de Janeiro |
| Government type | Mayor-council |
| Governing body | Prefeitura da Cidade do Rio de Janeiro |
| Leader title | Mayor |
| Leader name | Eduardo Paes |
| Leader party | PMDB |
| Established title | Founded |
| Established date | 1 March 1565 |
| Area magnitude | 1 E8 |
| Area total sq mi | 486.5 |
| Area total mi2 | 1.182 |
| Area magnitude | 1 E8 |
| Area metro sq mi | 1759.6 |
| Population as of | 2010 |
| Population total | 6,323,037 |
| Population density km2 | 4781 |
| Population metro | 14,387,000 |
| Population rank | 2nd |
| Population demonym | carioca |
| Timezone | BST |
| Utc offset | -3 |
| Timezone dst | BDT |
| Utc offset dst | -2 |
| Elevation m | from 0 to 1021 |
| Elevation ft | from 0 to 3349 |
| Area code | +55 21 |
| Postal code type | Postal Code |
| Postal code | 20000-000 |
| Website | City of Rio de Janeiro |
The city was the capital of Brazil for nearly two centuries, from 1763 to 1815 during the Portuguese colonial era, 1815 to 1821 as the capital of the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and Algarves, and from 1822 to 1960 as an independent nation. Rio is nicknamed the Cidade Maravilhosa or "Marvelous City."
Rio de Janeiro represents the second largest GDP in the country (and 30th largest in the world ), estimated at about 201 billion reais (IBGE/2010), and is the headquarters of two major Brazilian companies – Petrobras and Vale, and major oil companies and telephony in Brazil, besides the largest conglomerate of media and communications companies in Latin America, the Globo Organizations. The home of many universities and institutes, it is the second largest center of research and development in Brazil, accounting for 17% of national scientific production – according to 2005 data.
Rio de Janeiro is the most visited city in the southern hemisphere and is known for its natural settings, carnival celebrations, samba, Bossa Nova, balneario beaches such as Barra da Tijuca, Copacabana, Ipanema and Leblon. Some of the most famous landmarks in addition to the beaches include the giant statue of Christ the Redeemer ('Cristo Redentor') atop Corcovado mountain, named one of the New Seven Wonders of the World; Sugarloaf mountain (Pão de Açúcar) with its cable car; the Sambódromo, a permanent grandstand-lined parade avenue which is used during Carnival; and Maracanã stadium, one of the world's largest football stadiums. Rio de Janeiro will host the 2016 Summer Olympics, the first South American city to host the event, and will host the final match for 2014 FIFA World Cup.
The Centre "Centro," the core of Rio, lies on the plains of the western shore of Guanabara Bay. The greater portion of the city, commonly referred to as the North Zone "Zona Norte," extends to the northwest on plains composed of marine and continental sediments and on hills and several rocky mountains. The South Zone "Zona Sul" of the city, reaching the beaches fringing the open sea, is cut off from the Centre and from the North Zone by coastal mountains. These mountains and hills are offshoots of the Serra do Mar to the northwest, the ancient gneiss-granite mountain chain that forms the southern slopes of the Brazilian Highlands. The large West Zone "Zona Oeste," long cut off by the mountainous terrain, had been made accessible by new roads and tunnels by the end of the 20th century.
The population of the city of Rio de Janeiro, occupying an area of , is about 6,100,000. The population of the greater metropolitan area is estimated at 11–13.5 million. It was Brazil's capital until 1960, when Brasília took its place. Residents of the city are known as Cariocas. The official song of Rio is "Cidade Maravilhosa."
Along the coast, the breeze, blowing alternately onshore and offshore, moderates the temperature. Because of its geographic situation, the city is often reached, especially during autumn and winter, by cold fronts advancing from Antarctica, causing frequent weather changes. It is mostly in summer that strong showers provoke catastrophic floods and landslides. The mountainous areas register greater rainfall since they constitute a barrier to the humid wind that comes from the Atlantic.
The average annual minimum temperature is , the average annual maximum temperature is , and the average annual temperature is . The average yearly precipitation is 109 cm. According to INMET, the minimum temperature recorded was in July; and the absolute maximum was in February. Temperatures below are very rare in the city. The temperature varies according to elevation, distance from the coast, and type of vegetation. Winter brings mild temperatures and less rain than in the summer.
Europeans first encountered Guanabara Bay on January 1, 1502 (hence Rio de Janeiro, "January River"), by a Portuguese expedition under explorer Gaspar de Lemos, who was a captain of a ship in Pedro Álvares Cabral's fleet, or under Gonçalo Coelho. Allegedly the Florentine explorer Amerigo Vespucci participated as observer at the invitation of King Manuel I in the same expedition. The region of Rio was inhabited by the Tupi, Puri, Botocudo and Maxakalí peoples.
In 1555, one of the islands of Guanabara Bay, now called Villegagnon Island, was occupied by 500 French colonists under the French admiral Nicolas Durand de Villegaignon. Consequently, Villegagnon built Fort Coligny on the island when attempting to establish the France Antarctique colony.
The city of Rio de Janeiro proper was founded by the Portuguese on March 1, 1565 and was named São Sebastião do Rio de Janeiro, in honor of St. Sebastian, the saint who was the namesake and patron of the then Portuguese Monarch D. Sebastião. Rio de Janeiro was the name of Guanabara Bay. 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.
In the late 17th century, still during the Sugar Era, the Bandeirantes found gold and diamonds in the neighboring captaincy of Minas Gerais, thus Rio de Janeiro became a much more practical port for exporting wealth (gold, precious stones, besides the sugar) than Salvador, Bahia, which is much farther to the northeast. And so in 1763, the colonial administration in Portuguese America was moved from Salvador to Rio de Janeiro. 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. There was a large influx of African slaves to Rio de Janeiro: in 1819, there were 145,000 slaves in the captaincy. In 1840, the number of slaves reached 220,000 people.
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 capital of Brazil after 1889, when the monarchy was replaced by a republic. 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. Expansion of the city to the north and south was facilitated by the consolidation and electrification of Rio's streetcar transit system after 1905. Botafogo'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. 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 capital of Brazil was officially moved from Rio de Janeiro to Brasília.
Between 1960 and 1975 Rio was a city-state 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, the territory surrounding the city whose capital was Niterói, in 1975. Even today, some Cariocas advocate the return of municipal autonomy.
The city hosted the 2007 Pan American Games and will host the 2014 FIFA World Cup final. It was announced on October 2, 2009, that Rio would host the 2016 Olympic Games, beating the finalist competitors Chicago, Tokyo, and Madrid. The city will become the first South American city to host the event and the second Latin American city (after Mexico City in 1968) to host the Games.
In its preparation to host the 2016 Olympic Games, the port area of the city (a natural extension of the downtown area) is undergoing a tremendous amount of construction and renovation. It is expected to become a major tourist hub within the city by the addition of two Museums ( MAR - Rio's Museum of Art & the Tomorrow's Museum), the largest Aquarium in Latin America, shops, restaurants, residential renovation of century-old houses, as well as new passenger's Cruise terminals and piers. The project is named "Porto Maravilha" (Marvelous Port) and is transforming the Port Region from total abandon to the place to be in the city.
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 National Park (Parque Nacional 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. The Pontifical Catholic University of Rio (Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro or PUC-Rio), Brazil's top private university, 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.
The International Airport of Rio de Janeiro (Galeão – Antônio Carlos Jobim International Airport, named after the famous Brazilian musician Antônio Carlos Jobim), the main campus of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro at the Fundão Island, and the State University of Rio de Janeiro, in Maracanã, are also located in the Northern part of Rio.
This region is also home to most of the samba schools of Rio de Janeiro such as Mangueira, Salgueiro, Império Serrano, Unidos da Tijuca, among others. Some of the main neighbourhoods of Rio's North Zone are Tijuca, which shares the Tijuca Rainforest with the South Zone; Grajaú, Vila Isabel, Méier, São Cristovão Madureira and Penha among others.
The urban planning of the area, made in the late 1960s, resembles that of United States suburbs, though mixing zones of single-family houses with residential skyscrapers. The beaches of Barra da Tijuca are also popular with the city's residents. Barra da Tijuca is the home of Pan-American Village for the 2007 Pan American Games.
Beyond the neighbourhoods of Barra da Tijuca and Jacarepaguá, another district that has exhibited economic growth is Campo Grande. Some sports competitions in the Pan American Games of 2007 were held in the Miécimo da Silva Sports Centre, nicknamed the 'Algodão' (Cotton) Gymnasium, and others in the Ítalo del Cima Stadium, in Campo Grande.
This is the area of the City that will hold most of the sport's venues and competitions during the 2016 Summer Olympic Games. It will be home to the Olympic Village, Olympic Beach and Olympic Park as well.
, named one of the New Seven Wonders of the World.]] According to the IBGE of 2008, there were 11,513,000 people residing in the Metropolitan Region of Rio de Janeiro. The population density was 6180 people/km² (in the urban area). The last PNAD (National Household Sample Survey) census revealed the following percentage: 6,152,000 White people (53.43%), 4,039,000 Brown (Multiracial) people (35.08%), 1,274,000 Black people (11.6%), 20,000 Asian people (0.18%), 16,000 Amerindian people (0.14%).
Different ethnic groups contributed to the formation of the population of Rio de Janeiro. Before European colonization, there were at least seven different indigenous peoples speaking 20 languages in the region. A part of them joined the Portuguese and the other the French. Those who joined the French were then exterminated by the Portuguese, while the other part was assimilated.
Rio de Janeiro is home to the largest Portuguese population outside of Lisbon in Portugal. After the independence from Portugal, Rio de Janeiro became a destination for hundreds of thousands of immigrants from Portugal, mainly in the early 20th century. The immigrants were mostly poor peasants who subsequently found prosperity in Rio as city workers and small traders. The influence of Portugal is still seen in many parts of the city, including architecture and language.
The black community was formed with residents whose ancestors had been brought as slaves, mostly from Angola or Mozambique. The carnival and samba first appeared under the influence of the black community in the city. Today, nearly half of the city's population is black or part black.
As a result of the influx of immigrants to Brazil from the late 19th to the early 20th century, one may find in Rio de Janeiro communities of Jews, Arabs of Lebanese and Syrian origin, Italians, Spaniards, Germans, and people from different parts of Brazil.
Source: IBGE 2000.
The state of Rio de Janeiro has the second largest (behind only São Paulo) GDP of any city in Brazil. According to the IBGE, was approximately R$ 140 billion in 2007, equivalent to 5.4% of the national total. The services sector comprises the largest portion of GDP (65.52%), followed by collection of taxes (23.38%), by industrial activity (11.06%) and agribusiness (0.04%).
Benefiting from the federal capital position occupied by a long period (1763–1960), the town became a dynamic center administrative, financial, commercial and cultural. The Metropolitan Region of Rio de Janeiro, as perceived by the IBGE, has a GDP of US$ 187.374.116.000, constituting the second largest hub of national wealth. Concentrates 68% of the state's economic strength and 7.91% of all goods and services produced in the country.
Taking into consideration the network of influence exerted by the urban metropolis (which covers 11.3% of the population), this share in GDP rises to 14.4%, according to a study released in October 2008 by the IBGE. For many years brings together the second largest industrial hub of Brazil, with oil refineries, shipbuilding industries, steel, metallurgy, petrochemical, gas, chemical, textile, printing, publishing, pharmaceutical, beverages, cement and furniture. However, the last decades indicated a sharp transformation in its economic profile, which is acquiring more and more shades of a major national hub of services and businesses. The Stock Exchange of Rio de Janeiro (BVRJ), which currently trades only government securities, was the first stock exchange founded in Brazil in 1845 and located in the central region.
Rio de Janeiro became an attractive place for companies to locate when it was the capital of Brazil, as important sectors of society and of the government were present in the city. The city was chosen as headquarters for state-owned companies such as Petrobras, Eletrobrás, Caixa Econômica Federal and Vale (which was privatized in the 1990s). After the transfer of the capital to Brasília, in 1960, it kept attracting more companies, especially after the discovery of oil in the Campos Basin, which produces most of the total oil production of Brazil. This made many oil and gas companies to be based in Rio de Janeiro, such as the Brazilian branches of Shell, EBX and Esso. The headquarters of BNDES, an important state institution, is also in Rio de Janeiro. The city is also the headquarters of large telecom companies, such as Intelig, Oi and Embratel. Big multi-national companies such as Coca-Cola, Praxair, Xerox, BHP Billiton, Shell, Chevron, Halliburton, DSNK, Aker, PSA Peugeot Citroen, BG, IBM and El Paso also have offices in the city.
Rio ranks second nationally in industrial production and second financial and service center, trailing only São Paulo. The city's industries produce processed foods, chemicals, petroleum products, pharmaceuticals, metal products, ships, textiles, clothing, and furniture. The service sector dominates the economy, however, and includes banking and the second most active stock market in Brazil, the Bolsa da Valores do Brasil. Tourism and entertainment are other key aspects of the city's economic life and the city is the nation's top tourist attraction for both Brazilians and foreigners. Because it was once the national capital, Rio de Janeiro was chosen as the site for the headquarters of many private, national, multinational, and state corporations, even when their factories were located in other cities or states. Despite the transfer of the capital to Brasília, many of these headquarters remained within the Rio metropolitan area, including those of Petrobrás, the state oil company, and the National Economic and Social Development Bank, a federal investment bank. A newer electronics and computer sector has been added to the older industries of metallurgy, engineering, and printing and publishing. Other manufacturing sectors focus on the production of shipyard-related materials, apparel and footwear, textiles, nonmetallic mineral products, food and beverages, chemicals, and pharmaceuticals. Construction, also an important activity, provides a significant source of employment for large numbers of unskilled workers and is buoyed by the number of seasonal residents who build second homes in the Greater Rio area. To attract industry, the state government has designated certain areas on the outskirts of the city as industrial districts where infrastructure is provided and land sales are made under special conditions. Oil and natural gas from fields off the northern coast of Rio de Janeiro state are a major asset used for developing manufacturing activities in Rio's metropolitan area, enabling it to compete with other major cities for new investment in industry.
As with manufacturing, Rio is an important financial centre, second only to São Paulo in volume of business in financial markets and in banking. Its securities market, although declining in significance relative to São Paulo, is still of major importance. Owing to the proximity of Rio's port facilities, many of Brazil's export-import companies are headquartered in the city. In Greater Rio, which has one of the highest per capita incomes in Brazil, retail trade is substantial. Many of the most important retail stores are located in the Centre, but others are scattered throughout the commercial areas of the other districts, where shopping centres, supermarkets, and other retail businesses handle a large volume of consumer trade.
Major Brazilian entertainment organizations are based in Rio de Janeiro like TV Globo (Globosat, Globo News, SportTv, Telecine, TV Brazil), NET, Sky and WayBrazil and also some of Brazil's major newspapers: Jornal do Brasil, O Globo, O Dia, and Business Rio. Major international pharmacuetical companies have their Brazilian headquarters in Rio such us Merck, Roche, Arrow, Darrow, Baxter, Mayne, and Mappel.
Rio de Janeiro is the 2nd richest city in Brazil, behind São Paulo and 30th richest city in the world with a GDP of R$ 201,9 billion (2010).
The per capita income for the city was R$ 22,903 (2007).
Portuguese language is the official national language, and thus the primary language taught in schools. But English and Spanish are part of the official high school curriculum. There are also international schools, such as the American School of Rio de Janeiro, Our Lady of Mercy School, the Corcovado German School, the Lycée Français and the British School of Rio de Janeiro.
The Rio de Janeiro State University (public), Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (public) and Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro (private) are among the country's top institutions of higher education. The literacy rate for Cariocas aged 10 and older is nearly 95 percent, well above the national average. In Rio, there were 1,033 primary schools with 25,594 teachers and 667,788 students in 1995. There are 370 secondary schools with 9,699 teachers and 227,892 students. There are 53 University-preparatory schools schools with 14,864 teachers and 154,447 students. The city has six major universities and 47 private schools of higher learning.
Rio de Janeiro inherited from the past a strong cultural role. In the late nineteenth century, there were sessions held the first Brazilian film and since then, Spread out several cycles of production, which eventually enter the cinema at the forefront Rio experimental and leadership national cinema. Currently, Rio brings together the main production centers of Brazilian TV.
In Rio there are important cultural landmarks, like the Biblioteca Nacional (National Library in Portuguese), the seventh largest library in the world, its collections include over 9 million items; the Theatro do Rio, Built on principles of twentieth century; the National Museum of Fine Arts; the Rio de Janeiro Botanical Garden; the Imperial Square; the Brazilian Academy of Letters; the and the Natural History Museum.
For local English language news, The Rio Times is an online weekly publication covering; politics, business, sports, entertainment, real estate and travel, as well as offering classifieds and a daily nightlife guide. In Portuguese, there are many option starting with the daily O Globo, Extra, and O Dia newspapers, and of course local television news and radio (all in Portuguese.)
Rio de Janeiro is Brazil's primary tourist attraction and resort. It receives the most visitors per year of any city in South America with 2.82 million international tourists a year. The city sports world-class hotels, approximately 80 kilometres of beachland, and the famous Corcovado and Sugarloaf mountains. While the city has in past had a thriving tourism sector, the industry entered a decline in the last quarter of the 20th century. Annual international airport arrivals dropped from 621,000 to 378,000 and average hotel occupancy dropped to 50% between 1985 and 1993. Services for tourists were lacking at the time, and visitors frequently found themselves subjected to a hostile environment: Few workers in the commercial sector could speak any language but Portuguese, beach and city pollution was deterring holidayers, and crime against tourists was increasing. The fact that Brasilia replaced Rio de Janeiro as the Brazilian capital and São Paulo as the country's commercial center has also been cited as a leading cause of the decline. Rio de Janeiro's government has since undertaken to modernise the city's economy, reduce its chronic social inequalities, and improve its commercial standing as part of an initiative for the regeneration of the tourism industry.
After Brazilian independence from Portugal in 1822, Rio de Janeiro quickly developed a European-style bourgeois cultural life, including numerous newspapers, in which most nineteenth-century novels were initially published in serial. Joaquim Manuel de Macedo's A Moreninha (1884) was perhaps the first successful novel in Brazil and inaugurates a recurrent nineteenth-century theme: a romantic relationship between idealistic young people in spite of cruelties of social fortune. The first notable work of realism focusing on the urban lower-middle class is Manuel Antônio de Almeida's Memórias de um sargento de milícias (1854), which presents a series of picaresque but touching scenes, and evokes the transformation of a town into a city with suggestive nostalgia. Romantic and realist modes both flourished through the late nineteenth century and often overlapped within works. The most famous author of Rio de Janeiro, however, was Machado de Assis, that is also widely regarded as the greatest writer of Brazilian literature and considered the introducer of Realism in Brazil, with the publication of The Posthumous Memoirs of Bras Cubas (1881); he had commented and criticized the political and social events of the city and country such as the abolition of slavery in 1888 and the transition from Empire to Republic with his numerous chronicles published in newspapers of the time. Much of his short stories and novels, like Quincas Borba (1891) and Dom Casmurro'' (1899), are placed in Rio.
The Portuguese Royal jolie papillon located at Rua Luís de Camões, in downtown Rio. The institution was founded in 1837 by a group of forty-three Portuguese immigrants, political refugees, to promote culture among the Portuguese community in the then capital of Império. A history of the Brazilian Academy of Letters is linked to the Royal Cabinet, since the five solemn.
Rio was popularised by the hit song "Garota de Ipanema" (The Girl from Ipanema), composed by Antonio Carlos Jobim and Vinicius de Moraes and recorded by Astrud Gilberto & João Gilberto, Frank Sinatra, and Ella Fitzgerald. It is also the main key song of the bossa nova, a musical genre that was born in Rio. A genre unique to Rio and Brazil as a whole is Funk Carioca. While samba music continues to act as the national unifying agent in Rio, Funk Carioca found a strong community following in Brazil. With its genesis in the 1970s as the modern black pop music from the United States, it evolved in the 1990s to describe a variety of electronic music associated with the current US black music scene, including hip hop, modern soul, and house music." Brazil's return to democracy in 1985 after over 20 years of military authoritarian rule, and the subsequent end of rampant censorship, allowed for a new freedom of expression which promoted creativity and experimentation in expressive culture. Commercial and cultural imports from Europe and North America have often influenced Brazil's own cultural output. For example, the hip hop that has stemmed from New York is localized into various forms of musical production such as Funk Carioca and Brazilian hip hop. Democratic renewal also allowed for the recognition and acceptance of this diversification of Brazilian culture.
Football is the most popular Sport in Rio de Janeiro. Rio de Janeiro is home to 5 traditional Brazilian football clubs: América Football Club, Botafogo, Fluminense, Vasco da Gama and Flamengo, the latter according to a national survey and to FIFA numbers, is the team with the largest number of supporters in the world. Opening Ceremony in Maracanã Stadium.]] Other notable sports events in Rio include the MotoGP Brazilian Grand Prix and the world Beach Volleyball finals. The raceway in Jacarepaguá was the site for the Formula One Brazilian Grand Prix from 1978 to 1990 and the Champ Car event from 1996 to 1999. WCT/WQS Surfing championships were contested on the beaches from 1985–2001. The Rio Champions Cup Tennis tournament is held in the spring. As part of its preparations to host the 2007 Pan American Games, Rio built a new stadium, Estádio Olímpico João Havelange, to hold 45,000 people. It was named after Brazilian ex-FIFA president João Havelange. The stadium is owned by the City of Rio de Janeiro, but it is rented to Botafogo de Futebol e Regatas for 20 years. Rio de Janeiro has also a multi-purpose arena, the HSBC Arena.
The Brazilian Dance/Sport/Martial art Capoeira is very popular. Other popular Sports are Beach Football, Beach Volleyball, Beach American Football, Footvolley Surfing, Kite Surfing, Hang gliding, Motor racing, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Sailing, and competitive Rowing. Another Sport that is highly popular in beaches of Rio is called "Frescobol" (), a type of beach Tennis. Rio de Janeiro is also paradise for Rock climbers, with hundreds of routes all over the town, ranging from easy boulders to highly technical big wall climbs, all inside the city. The most famous, Rio's granite mountain, the Sugar Loaf (Pão de Açúcar), is an example, with routes from the easy 3rd grade (American 5.4, French 3) to the extremely difficult 9th grade (5.13/8b), up to 280 metres.
Horse racing events are held Thursday nights and weekend afternoons at the Jockey Club. An impressive place with excellent grass and dirt tracks, it runs the best horses in the nation for your pleasure. Hang gliding in Rio de Janeiro started in mid-1970s and quickly proved to be perfectly suited for this town, because of its geography: steep mountains encounter the Atlantic Ocean, which provide excellent take-off locations and great landing zones on the beach.
One of the most popular sea sports in the city is yachting. The main yacht clubs are in Botafogo area that extends halfway between Copacabana and the center of town. Though the most exclusive and interesting is probably the Rio Yacht club, where high society makes it a point to congregate. Most yacht clubs are open to members only and gate crashing is not easy. Copacabana is also a great place to do Surfing as well as "Arpoador of Ipanema" beach and "Praia dos Bandeirantes." The sea at these beaches is rough and dangerous, the best surfers from Brazil and other sites of the world come to these beaches to prove themselves.
Carnival, or Carnaval, from Latin "Carnevale", is an annual celebration in the Roman Catholic tradition that allows merry-making and red meat consumption before the more sober 40 days of Lent penance which culminates with Holy or Passion Week and Easter. The tradition of Carnival parades was probably influenced by the French or German courts and the custom was brought by the Portuguese or Brazilian Imperial families who had Bourbon and Austrian descents. Up until the time of the marchinhas, the revelry was more of a high class and Caucasian-led event. The influence of the African-Brazilian drums and music was more noticeable from the first half of the 20th century. Rio de Janeiro has many Carnival choices, including the famous samba school (Escolas de Samba) parades in the sambadrome exhibition center and the popular blocos de carnaval, street revelry, which parade in almost every corner of the city. The most famous ones are: Cordão do Bola Preta: Parades in the centre of the city. It is one of the most traditional carnavals. In 2008, 500,000 people attended in one day.
In 1840, the first Carnaval was celebrated with a masked ball. As years passed, adorned floats and costumed revelers became a tradition amongst the celebrants. Carnaval is known as a historic root of Brazilian music.
and Carnival]]
*Jacarepaguá Airport: used by general aviation and home to the Aeroclube do Brasil (Brasil Flying club). The airport is located in the district of Baixada de Jacarepaguá, within the municipality of Rio de Janeiro approximately 30 km (18 mi) from the city center. Baixada de Jacarepaguá lies between the Atlantic Ocean and the Pedra Branca and Tijuca rocky massifs. The airport is bordered on the north by Jacarepaguá Lagoon, on the south by the Rio de Janeiro Municipal Biological Reserve (Bosque da Barra), and on the east and west by land owned by third parties.
*Santa Cruz Air Force Base: A Brazilian Air Force airbase. Formerly called Bartolomeu de Gusmão Airport, it was built by the Luftschiffbau Zeppelin. Today it is one of the most important Air Force Bases in Brazil;
*Afonsos Air Force Base: One of the historical Brazilian Air Force airbases. It is also the location of the University of the Air Force, of the Aerospace Museum, and where air shows take place.
There is also another type of local bus called the "Frescão." This bus runs on a route from Centro through Botafogo, Copacabana, Ipanema and to Leblon (and vice versa). It is more upscale/comfortable and is air conditioned and costs R$ 3.50. However, it is only available during the week. The buses also run more frequently during the rush hours in the morning and evening. Going in the direction of Centro (Downtown), the bus can be flagged down on the beach road (Buses with plaques showing "Castelo"). Coming from Centro, the bus starts off from the Menezes Cortes garage and runs on a road parallel to the beach (but one or two blocks in). It runs on Barata Ribeiro through Copacabana, Prudente de Morais through Ipanema and Av. General San Martin through Leblon. Executive buses cover the whole city constantly throughout the week and may be safer and easier for non-locals to use. The price does vary depending on the distance; for example, it is not the same price to go to Copacabana from Downtown as to go to Barra da Tijuca or Recreio from Downtown.
At the Wharf of Gamboa, leaseholders operate terminals for sugar, paper, iron and steel products. Leaseholders at the Wharf of the Cashew operate terminals for roll-on/roll-off cargoes, containers, and liquid bulk. In 2004, the Port of Rio de Janeiro handled over seven million tons of cargo on almost 1700 vessels. In 2004, the Port of Rio de Janeiro handled over two million tons of containerized cargo in almost 171 thousand TEUs. The port handled 852 thousand tons of wheat, more than 1.8 million tons of iron and steel, over a million tons of liquid bulk cargo, almost 830 thousand tons of dry bulk, over five thousand tons of paper goods, and over 78 thousand vehicles. In 2003, over 91 thousand passengers moved through the Port of Rio Janeiro on 83 cruise vessels.
Top neighborhoods and localities Gávea (0.970) - (Greater than - 0.938) Leblon (0.967) - (Greater than - 0.937) Ipanema (0.962) - (Greater than - 0.907) Lagoa (0.959) - (Greater than - 0.902)
Neighborhoods and localities in last place Complexo do Alemão (0.711) - (Less than - 0.710) Jacarezinho (0.720) - (Less than - 0.720) Rocinha (0.732) - (Less than - 0.732) Cidade de Deus (0.751) - (Less than - 0.750)
The Rio de Janeiro state government under Sergio Cabral Filho launched in 2008 the Pacifying Police Unit (UPP) program to reclaim areas controlled by drug dealers. The program is considered successful. This is the latest in a line of policies regarding the crime issue in the favelas, such as the Special Areas Policing Groups (GPAE) and the Community Policing program, in the Garotinho administration, or the no-entry policy adopted by Leonel Brizola for the police in those areas. Through the UPP, between 2009 and 2010 the rate of homicides in the state fell by 21%, the largest drop since 1991.
More recently, with the planned hosting of both the 2014 FIFA World Cup and the 2016 Olympics, the crime-fighting activity has increased. Starting on November 25, 2010, a combined force of police (both military and civil) and later armed forces, escalated the confrontation with gangs in an attempt to regain control of the city's various shanty towns in response to four days of violence. Authorities have made some inroads, and currently control the Complexo do Alemão among other areas.
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*Tom Jobim, composer and musician, one of the creators of Bossa Nova
*Oscar Niemeyer, architect
*Carlos Tufvesson, high fashion designer and human rights activist
*Fernando Henrique Cardoso, sociologist, twice president of Brazil
*Walter Salles, film director
*Adolfo Lutz, physician and scientist
Category:Carnival cities and towns Category:Populated coastal places in Rio de Janeiro (state) Category:Former national capitals Category:Port cities in Brazil Category:Populated places established in 1565 Category:State capitals in Brazil
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![[HD] Beyonce - I Am Tour - Rio de Janeiro - 07/02/10 - Intro + Crazy + Naughty Girl](http://web.archive.org./web/20110224041432im_/http://i.ytimg.com/vi/Ajq9KCGJegM/0.jpg "[HD] Beyonce - I Am Tour - Rio de Janeiro - 07/02/10 - Intro + Crazy + Naughty Girl")
![Downtown Rio de Janeiro is home to the largest Portuguese population outside of Lisbon in Portugal.[26][27] After the independence from Portugal, Rio de Janeiro became a destination for hundreds of thousands of immigrants from Portugal, mainly in the early 20th century.](http://web.archive.org./web/20110224041432im_/http://cdn.wn.com/pd/50/0e/5607bbd5449f0ac036abc01842f3_grande.jpg "Downtown Rio de Janeiro is home to the largest Portuguese population outside of Lisbon in Portugal.[26][27] After the independence from Portugal, Rio de Janeiro became a destination for hundreds of thousands of immigrants from Portugal, mainly in the early 20th century.")
![The Imperial Museum Petrópolis (Portuguese pronunciation: [ˌpeˈtɾɔːpʊʎiʃ]), also known as The Imperial City of Brazil, is a town in the state of Rio de Janeiro, about 65 km from the city of Rio de Janeiro.](http://web.archive.org./web/20110224041432im_/http://cdn.wn.com/pd/03/2f/9d7d55e2440188ab0f29e4c4c668_grande.jpg "The Imperial Museum Petrópolis (Portuguese pronunciation: [ˌpeˈtɾɔːpʊʎiʃ]), also known as The Imperial City of Brazil, is a town in the state of Rio de Janeiro, about 65 km from the city of Rio de Janeiro.")
![Downtown Rio de Janeiro is home to the largest Portuguese population outside of Lisbon in Portugal.[26][27] After the independence from Portugal, Rio de Janeiro became a destination for hundreds of thousands of immigrants from Portugal, mainly in the early 20th century.](http://web.archive.org./web/20110224041432im_/http://cdn.wn.com/pd/50/0e/5607bbd5449f0ac036abc01842f3_thumb.jpg "Downtown Rio de Janeiro is home to the largest Portuguese population outside of Lisbon in Portugal.[26][27] After the independence from Portugal, Rio de Janeiro became a destination for hundreds of thousands of immigrants from Portugal, mainly in the early 20th century.")
![The Imperial Museum Petrópolis (Portuguese pronunciation: [ˌpeˈtɾɔːpʊʎiʃ]), also known as The Imperial City of Brazil, is a town in the state of Rio de Janeiro, about 65 km from the city of Rio de Janeiro.](http://web.archive.org./web/20110224041432im_/http://cdn.wn.com/pd/03/2f/9d7d55e2440188ab0f29e4c4c668_thumb.jpg "The Imperial Museum Petrópolis (Portuguese pronunciation: [ˌpeˈtɾɔːpʊʎiʃ]), also known as The Imperial City of Brazil, is a town in the state of Rio de Janeiro, about 65 km from the city of Rio de Janeiro.")
