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Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro (meaning River of January in Portuguese) is the name of
both a state and a city in south-eastern Brazil. Commonly known as just
Rio (particularly in English), the city is considered by many to be
amongst the most beautiful cities in the world. It is famous for the
hotel-lined tourist beaches Copacabana and Ipanema, for the giant statue
of Jesus, known as Christ the Redeemer ('Cristo Redentor') atop the
Corcovado mountain, and for its yearly Carnival celebration. It also has
the biggest forest inside an urban region, called Floresta da Tijuca, or
'Tijuca Forest'.
Rio de Janeiro is located at 22 degrees, 54 minutes south latitude, 43
degrees 14 minutes west longitude (22°54′S 43°14′W). The population of
the city of Rio de Janeiro is about 6,150,000 (as of 2004), occupying an
area of 1256 km² (485 mi²). The larger metropolitan area population is
estimated at 10-13 million. It is Brazil's second-largest city after São
Paulo and was the country's capital until 1960, when Brasília took its
place. Residents of the city are known as Cariocas. The city's current
mayor is Cesar Maia.
History
The area where Rio de Janeiro is now was reached in January of 1502 by
Portuguese explorers in an expedition led by Portuguese explorer Gaspar
de Lemos. As the Europeans thought primarily that the Guanabara Bay was
actually the mouth of a river, they called it Rio de Janeiro, which
means January River.
The actual city wasn't founded until March 1, 1565, by Portuguese knight
Estácio de Sá, who called it São Sebastião do Rio de Janeiro (St
Sebastian of the January River), in honour of King Sebastian I of
Portugal. For centuries, the settlement was commonly called São
Sebastião - or even 'Saint Sebastian' - instead of the currently popular
second half of its name. It was frequently attacked by pirates and
privateers, especially by then enemies of Portugal, such as the
Netherlands and France.
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 neighbour, Niterói, for instance, was founded
by a native chief for the purpose of supporting defence.
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 defence strategy of
fortified castles - the place has since then been called Morro do
Castelo (Castle Hill). Thus, the city developed from the current centre
(Centro, see below) southwards and then westwards; an urban movement
which continues today.
Until early in the 18th century the city was threatened or invaded by
several - mostly French - pirates and buccaneers, such as Jean-François
Duclerc, René Duguay-Trouin and Nicolas de Villegaignon. After 1720,
when the Portuguese found gold and diamonds in the neighbouring
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 mostly a colonial capital until 1808, when the
Portuguese royal family and most of the 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, but, by
then, the city region was losing importance - economic and political -
to São Paulo.
Until the early years of the 20th century the city was largely limited
to the neighbourhood now known as the historic Centro business district
(see below), on the mouth of Guanabara Bay. The city's centre 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
beachy party town (though, this reputation has been somewhat tarnished
in recent years by favela violence resulting from the narcotics trade).
Rio was maintained as Brazilian capital in 1889, when the military
overthrew of the monarchy and imposed a republic. However, plans for
moving the nation's capital city to the territorial centre were
considered off and on, until finally in 1955 president Juscelino
Kubitschek was elected, promising 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 (such as Hamburg in Germany)
under the name State of Guanabara (after the bay it borders). However,
for administrative and political reasons, a presidential decree known as
A Fusão (The Fusion) removed the city's federative status and merged it
with the state of Rio de Janeiro in 1975. Even today, some Cariocas
claim the return of municipal autonomy.
Carnival
The carnival in Rio de Janeiro has many choices, including the famous
'Escolas de Samba' parades in the sambódromo exhibition centre and the
popular 'blocos de carnaval', which parade in almost every corner of the
city. The most famous ones are the following:
- Cordão do Bola Preta: Parades in the centre of the city. It is one of
the most traditional 'blocos de carnaval'.
- Banda de Ipanema: Gay parade, which goes along the Ipanema beach area.
- Suvaco do Cristo: Band that parades in the Botanic Garden, directly
below the Redeemer statue's arm. The name, in English, translates as
'Christ's armpit', and was chosen for that reason.
- Carmelitas: Band that was supposedly created by nuns, but in fact it
is just a theme chosen by the band. It parades in the hills of Santa
Teresa, which have very nice views.
Wikipedia.org
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