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This article is about the Brazilian city. For the state with the same name, see Rio de Janeiro (state).
| Rio de Janeiro | |||
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| Nickname: Cidade Maravilhosa ("The Marvelous City") or simply, Rio | |||
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| Coordinates: | |||
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| Country |  Brazil
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| Region | Southeast | ||
| State | Rio de Janeiro | ||
| Government | |||
| - Mayor | César Maia (Democrats) | ||
| Area | |||
| - City | 1,260 km² (486.5 sq mi) | ||
| Population (2006)1 | |||
| - City | 6,136,652 | ||
| - Density | 4,781/km² (12,382.7/sq mi) | ||
| - Metro | 12,620,000 | ||
| Time zone | UTC-3 (UTC-3) | ||
| - Summer (DST) | UTC-2 (UTC-2) | ||
| HDI (2000) | 0.842 – high | ||
| Website: Rio de Janeiro City | |||
First Coat of Arms of Rio de Janeiro (1565 - 1826)
Rio de Janeiro ("River of January", pronounced [ˈhiw dʒi ʒʌˈnejɾu] in Portuguese, /ˈriːoʊ di ʒəˈnɛroʊ/ in English), is the second major city of Brazil, behind São Paulo. (At one time it was the largest city.) The city is capital of the state of Rio de Janeiro. The city was the capital of Brazil 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 de facto capital of the Portuguese Empire from 1808 to 1821. Commonly known as just Rio, the city is also nicknamed A Cidade Maravilhosa - "The Marvelous City".
It is famous for its spectacular natural setting, its Carnival celebrations, samba and other music, hotel-lined tourist beaches, such as Copacabana and Ipanema, paved with decorated black and cream swirl pattern mosaics. 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 New Seven Wonders 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 largest football stadiums. Rio 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\'.Floresta da Tijua(Portuguese)
The Galeão - Antônio Carlos Jobim International Airport connects Rio de Janeiro with many Brazilian cities and also operates some international flights.
Despite its charm and beauty, Rio is reputed to be one of the most violent cities in the world. Folha de S.Paulo website, "Número de homicídios cai no Brasil", published 30 January 2008, retrieved 14 February 2008. See the .xls file linked in the article. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6214299.stm http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,241262,00.html
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Panoramic view of Rio de Janeiro.
| Climate chart for Rio de Janeiro | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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114 29 23 |
105 28 23 |
103 28 23 |
137 27 22 |
86 26 21 |
80 25 19 |
56 24 18 |
50 23 17 |
87 24 18 |
88 25 20 |
96 27 21 |
169 28 22 |
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| temperatures in °C • precipitation totals in mm source: MSN Weather | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Imperial conversion
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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,Estimativas para 1° de Julho de 2006 (Portuguese). IBGE. Retrieved on 2007-07-18. occupying an area of 1,182.3 square kilometres (456.5 sq mi).Área Territorial Oficial (Portuguese). IBGE. Retrieved on 2007-07-18. 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").
Rio has a Tropical climate.Rio de Janeiro Destination Guide from The Weather Channel. Retrieved 2007-12-02. The temperature occasionally reaches over 40°C (104°F) in inland areas of the city, and maximum temperatures above 30°C (86°F) can happen every month. In the main tourist areas (south zone, 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. The minimum temperature ever registered was 5°C (41°F) in July 1928, but temperatures around 12°C (54°F) are rare in most of city, the absolute maximum reached 43.8°C (110°F) in January 1984.Average Conditions, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. BBC Weather Center. Retrieved 2007-12-03.
Carioca Aqueduct, built in the first half of the 18th century.
Paço Imperial, 18th century palace that served as seat for the colonial government, King John IV of Portugal and the two Emperors of Brazil.
Candelária Church, in Rio de Janeiro
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. 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.
The city was founded on March 1 1565, by Portuguese knight Estácio de Sá, who called it São Sebastião do Rio de Janeiro 20 (St Sebastian of the January 20th River), 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.
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.
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. Fortresses were built and an alliance was formed with nearby native tribes to defend the settlement.
against 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. 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.
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 neighbourhood 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 neighbourhood 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. 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 capital city, such as Vienna, Austria or Washington, D.C. (United States), 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.
The city is commonly divided into the historic downtown (Centro); the tourist-friendly South Zone (Zona Sul), with its world-famous beaches; the industrial North Zone (Zona Norte); and the West Zone (Zona Oeste), with the newer Barra da Tijuca district.
View of Rio de Janeiro downtown. The conical building is the Rio de Janeiro Cathedral.
() Centro (or 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 centre 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 Companhia Vale do Rio Doce (the two largest Brazilian corporations).
Ipanema Beach, in the South Zone, as featured in the song The Girl from Ipanema by Antonio Carlos Jobim and Vinicius de Moraes.
() The South Zone of Rio de Janeiro 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 revellers 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. 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.Engelbrecht Ferreira, Daniel Ernesto (April 2005). Poluição afeta Pedra Branca (Portuguese). O Globo. Retrieved on 2007-07-18. The Catholic University in 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.
The North Zone of Rio is home to the Maracanã stadium, once the world\'s highest capacity football (soccer) venue, able to hold nearly 180,000 people, as it did the World Cup final of 1950. In modern times its capacity has been reduced to conform with modern safety regulations and the stadium has introduced seating for all fans. Currently undergoing renovation, it only has the capacity for 95,000 fans; it will eventually hold around 120,000 people. Maracanã was site for the Opening and Closing Ceremonies and football competition of the 2007 Pan-American Games.
Besides the Maracanã, the North Zone of Rio also holds other tourist and historical attractions, such as \'Manguinhos\', the home of Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, a centenarian biomedical research institution with a main building fashioned like a Moorish palace, and the beautiful Quinta da Boa Vista, the park where the historical old Imperial Palace is located. Nowadays, the palace hosts the National Museum, specialising in Natural History, Archaeology and Ethnology.
The International Airport of Rio de Janeiro (Galeão – Antônio Carlos Jobim International Airport, named after the famous Brazilian musician "Tom" 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 zone is also home to most of the Samba Schools of Rio de Janeiro such as Mangueira, Salgueiro, Império Serrano, Unidos da Tijuca, among others. Most of the poor Cariocas live in this zone where they are commonly known as "suburbanos" or suburbans.
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 Olaria among others.
Barra da Tijuca cityscape.
The West Zone is the region furthest from the centre of Rio de Janeiro. It includes Barra da Tijuca, Jacarepaguá, Recreio dos Bandeirantes, Vargem Grande, Vargem Pequena, Realengo, Padre Miguel, Bangu, Campo Grande, Jardim Sulacap, Paciência and Santa Cruz. Neighbouring districts within the West Zone reveal stark differences between social classes. The area has industrial zones, but some agricultural areas still remain in its wide area.
Westwards from the older zones is Barra da Tijuca, a flat expanse of formerly undeveloped coastal land, which is currently experiencing a wave of new construction. It remains an area of accelerated growth, attracting some of the richer sectors of the population as well as luxury companies. High rise flats and sprawling shopping centres give the area a far more American feel than the crowded city centre. 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.
According to the IBGE of 2007, there were 11,714,000 people residing in the Metropolitan Region of Rio de Janeiro. The population density was 4.781 inh./km². The last PNAD (National Research for Sample of Domiciles) census revealed the following percentage: 6,278,704 White people (53.6%), 3,935,904 Pardo people (33.6%), 1,440,822 Black people (12.3%) and 58 thousand Asian or Amerindian people (0.5%). (2007) Síntese de Indicadores Sociais 2007 (PDF) (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: IBGE. ISBN 85-240-3919-1. Retrieved on 2007-07-18.
Most of Rio de Janeiro\'s population is of Portuguese descent, with a large number of people of African descent and Pardos of mixed Portuguese and African descent. Other important ethnic groups are present in the city, such as Germans, Italians, Spaniards, Arabs, Jews, Asians (mostly Koreans, Japanese), mixed Amerindian, etc
Source: PNAD.
| Religion | Percentage | Number |
| Catholics | 60.71% | 3,556,096 |
| Protestants | 17.65% | 1,034,009 |
| No religion | 13.33% | 781,080 |
| Spiritists | 3.44% | 201,714 |
| Umbandists | 0.51% | 72,946 |
| Jews | 0.41% | 23,862 |
Source: IBGE 2000.Sistema IBGE de Recuperação Automática - SIDRA
Vehicles: 1,684,173 (March/2007); Daily newspapers: 23 (May/2007); Established: 03/01/1565.
Source: IBGE.
The Rio de Janeiro Stock
Rio de Janeiro became an attractive place for companies to settle 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 for state-owned companies such as Petrobras, Caixa Econômica Federal and Vale do Rio Doce (which was privatized in the 1990s) to be headquartered. After the transfer of the capital to Brasília, in 1960. However, 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 choose Rio de Janeiro to settle, such as the Brazilian branches of Shell, EBX and Esso. The headquarters of BNDES and BANERJ, an important state institution, are also in Rio de Janeiro. The city also hosts the headquarters of large telecom companies, such as Intelig, Oi and Embratel.
Rio is a brazilian energy company headquartered in Rio de Janeiro. The greatest of the world of area: Petroleo Oil and Gasoline Company: Shell, Esso, Exxon Brazil and Ipiranga.
Rio de Janeiro have a great entertainment organizations. On Television have theGlobo, rede record, globosat, Globo News, SportTv, Telecine and Tv Brazil have headquarter in Rio.The same of cable tv NET, Sky and WayBrazil. And the radios CBN. The best newspapers of Brazil is Jornal do Brasil, O globo, O dia and Business Rio.
Rio de Janeiro have big laboratories how Merck, Roche, Arrow, Darrow, Baxter, Mayne and Mappel.
The best translation company of world is Delart.
The Rio de Janeiro have many shopping mall, the biggest of Latin America. It\'s example Barra Shopping and Citta America.
The other companies have headquarter in Rio de Janeiro is Bob\'s Burger, Mister Pizza, Porcão, Spoleto, Grupo Pão de Açúcar, Americanas Stores, Ponto Frio, Saban, Multiplan and EBX.
The GDP for the city was R$ 118,979,752,000 (2005). (2005) GDP (PDF) (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: IBGE. ISBN 85-240-3919-1. Retrieved on 2007-07-18.
The per capita income for the city was R$ 19,524 (2005). (2005) per capita income (PDF) (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: IBGE. ISBN 85-240-3919-1. Retrieved on 2007-07-18.
Rio de Janeiro\'s Financial Centre.
The Palácio Universitário, a 19th century Neoclassical building that serves as campus of the UFRJ. The Institutes for Economy, Education and Administration, among others, are based here.
Portuguese 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.
The official song of Rio de Janeiro is "Cidade Maravilhosa", which means "marvelous city". The song is considered the "civic anthem" of Rio, and is always the favourite song during Rio\'s Carnival in February.
Rio was eternalized in the super smash hit song "Garota de Ipanema" (The Girl from Ipanema) composed by Antonio Carlos Jobim and recognized worldwide and recorded by Astrud Gilberto and João Gilberto, Frank Sinatra, and Ella Fitzgerald. This 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. First introduced in the 1970\'s to refer to modern black pop music from the United States, such as James Brown, it evolved in the 1990\'s to describe a variety of electronic music associated with the current US black music scene including hip hop, modern soul, and house music. Recognizable by the bass of the beat box, funk music could be heard in the alley ways of lower-class neighborhoods in Rio throughout the mid-1990\'s. Dancing and interclass mixing were significant in the "funk movement." Sansone, Livio. "The Localization of Global Funk in Bahia and Rio." In Brazilian Popular Music & Globalization, 135-60. London: Routledge, 2002.
The democratic return that occurred in the 1990\'s in Rio de Janeiro facilitated "a new freedom of expression generating a sense of exuberance commonly associated with the Brazilian character, but also promoting creativity and experimentation in expressive culture." Behague, Gerard. "Globalization/Modernization: Rap, Reggae, Rock, or Samba: The Local and the Global in Brazilian Popular Music (1985–95)" Latin American Music Review 27, no. 1 (Spring/Summer 2006): 79-90.
In some cases, Funk Carioca is also connected to gang territorial dominance in Rio\'s slums. The gangs fund dance parties, known as bailes, to recruit new members, update each other on local news, and engage in selling drugs.Maxwell, Roberto. "Tá Tudo Dominado." You Tube. 12 Feb. 2006. You Tube, LLC. 13 Feb. 2008 <http://youtube.com/watch?v=2W-eRFztVX0>
Rio de Janeiro, representing one of the largest urban areas in Brazil, is populated with a medley of ethnic types and identities. This diversity allows for it to be the major site for the country\'s music industry to thrive. Many active scholars in the study of pop culture, such as Livio Sansone, Samuel Araújo, and Martha Ulhoa are located in the heart of this city, proving it to be an imperative place for any aspiring pop culture artist to be. Behague, Gerard. "Rap, Reggae, Rock, or Samba: The Local and the Global in Brazilian Popular Music (1985-95)." Latin American Music Review 27, no. 1 (Spring/Summer 2006): 79-90.
Carnival in Rio, famous for its production.
The Brazilian carnival (Carnaval, in Portuguese) is an annual celebration held 40 days before Easter and marking the beginning of Lent. Rio de Janeiro has many Carnival choices, including the famous Samba school (Escolas de Samba) parades in the sambadrome exhibition centre and the popular blocos de carnaval, which parade in almost every corner of the city. The most famous ones are:
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. http://www.maria-brazil.org/mpb3.htm
"Bloco Galinha do Meio-Dia": carnival block, in Copacabana
Apart from Carnaval, New Year is also a major event in Rio. It\'s celebrated with concerts and firework displays all around Rio, the largest one being in Copacabana beach. People wear white clothes, and some of them make offerings to Iemanjá, a deity in many of the Afro-Brazilian religions (e.g. Candomble, Umbanda, Macumba).
There are several significant museums in Rio as well. Among them are the Quinta da Boa Vista (which includes the National Museum of Brazil), the Naive Art Museum (primitives, with the largest collection of naive paintings in the world Museum home page), and the Indian Museum, (Museum home page)
Rio also has one of the world\'s most talked-about nightlife. Rio has a lot of nightclubs where the rich enjoy themselves and party the night away. Clubs like Baronneti, Nuth and Catwalk are some of the country\'s best known and frequented by celebrities such as Ronaldo, Calvin Klein, Mick Jagger and Naomi Campbell.
Rio\'s Galeão International Airport (GIG).
The City of Rio de Janeiro has five airports.
In Rio de Janeiro, buses are the main means of mass transportation. There are nearly 440 municipal bus lines serving over four million passengers each day, in addition to intercity lines. Although cheap and frequent, Rio\'s transportation policy has been moving towards trains and subway in order to reduce traffic jams and increase capacity. Driving in Rio de Janeiro, as in most large cities of Brazil, is hazardous due to aggressive driving habits, poorly maintained roads and the risk of being intercepted by bandits, specially in the traffic lights.http://www.rioholiday.com/Driving-in-Rio-de-Janeiro.htm
Carioca station passenger car
Rio de Janeiro has two subway lines (Metro Rio) and several commuter rail lines. Future plans include building a third subway line to Niterói and São Gonçalo, including an underwater tunnel beneath Guanabara Bay to supplement the ferry service currently there.http://odia.terra.com.br/rio/htm/linha_3_do_metro_vai_receber_r_35_milhoes_da_uniao_152725.asp
In Brazil, most interstate transportation is done by road. A large terminal for long-distance buses is in the Santo Cristo neighborhood of Rio de Janeiro. There are also two port facilities for cargo and passenger ships (Rio de Janeiro and Sepetiba port). From São Paulo: take the BR 116 (Presidente Dutra Federal Highway) or the BR-101 (Rio-Santos Federal Highway). From Belo Horizonte: BR 040. From Salvador: BR-101 or BR-324/BR-116/BR-393/BR-040.
| Brasília: | 1,160 km (720 mi) |
| São Paulo: | 430 km (270 mi) |
| Belo Horizonte: | 450 km (280 mi) |
The Port of Rio de Janeiro is visited by cruise boats, which travel along the Brazilian coast.
More notable sports events in Rio include the MotoGP Brazilian Grand Prix and the World Beach volleyball finals. Jacarepaguá was the place of Formula One Brazilian Grand Prix into 1978-1990 and the Champ Car event into 1996-1999. WCT/WQS Surf championships were contested on the beaches from 1985-2001. The city has built a new stadium, Estádio Olímpico João Havelange, near the Maracanã, 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.Botafogo vai administrar estádio olímpico do Engenhão. Correio Web. Retrieved on 2007-08-28.
Rio de Janeiro was an applicant city for the 2012 Summer Olympics but failed to make the shortlist of official candidate cities. Copacabana beach would have been the site of the triathlon and beach volleyball, while yachting competitions would have been held in Guanabara Bay. On September 2006, it was announced that Rio would bid for 2016 Summer Olympics. Depending on quantity and quality of bids that the IOC will receive from other NOCs, the IOC will probably announce a shortlist of official candidate cities in early 2008, and conduct voting for the host city in 2009.
Sports are a very popular pastime in Rio de Janeiro. The most popular is soccer. Rio de Janeiro is home to five traditional Brazilian soccer clubs: América Football Club, Botafogo, Flamengo, Fluminense and Vasco da Gama.
The Engenhão Stadium.
The Brazilian dance/sport/martial art capoeira is very popular. Other popular sports are beach football, beach volleyball, surfing, kitesurfing, hang gliding, motor racing, jiu-jitsu, recreational sailing, and competitive rowing. Another sport that is highly popular on the beaches of Rio is called "frescobol" (IPA: [fres.ko.\'bɔu̯], matkot), a type of beach tennis.
Rio de Janeiro is also a 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.
Hang gliding in Rio de Janeiro started in the 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. Starting with amateur flights, this activity soon turned into a profitable industry of tandem hang gliding with some very experienced pilots at a cost for a ride around US$100. In the Summer, between December and March, booking in advance is recommended.
Fishing is a very popular activity in Brazil. In Rio de Janeiro, one can expect to catch a plethora of famous Brazilian copperfish, known as peixe de cobre. Many markets sell peixes de cobre and these fish are quite popular for traditional meals. No license is required for fishing in Brazil.
Rio de Janeiro is one of the 18 remaining candidates to host games of the 2014 FIFA World Cup that will be hosted in Brazil.http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/brazil2014/news/newsid=625695.html
Team Black House is located in Rio de Janeiro. Current members are UFC standouts Anderson Silva, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, and Lyoto Machida. Former UFC star Vitor Belfort is also a member.
The favela.
There are enormous disparities between rich and poor in Rio de Janeiro. Disparities between rich and poor Although the city clearly ranks among the world\'s major metropolises, a large proportion of the city\'s 6.1 million inhabitants live in poverty. The poorest of the areas are the slums and shanty towns known as \'favelas\'; often crowded onto the hillsides, where sturdy buildings are difficult to build, accidents from heavy rainfall are frequent, and access to the sanitation and electricity can be spotty. accidents from heavy rainfall in favelas
A unique aspect of Rio\'s favelas is their close proximity to the city\'s wealthiest districts. favelas in rio de janeiro Upper-class neighbourhoods such as Ipanema and Copacabana are squeezed in between the beach and the hills, the latter of which are covered with poor neighbourhoods. Bad public education, a poor health system combined with the saturation of the penitentiary system contribute to the overall poverty of the favelas. But th
