Rio de Janeiro

Rio de Janeiro is the second largest city in Brazil. It is the capital of the state of Rio de Janeiro. Until April 21, 1960, it was the capital city of Brazil. According to the 2022 Census, the city had 6,211,223 people, and an area of over 1,000 km2. In 2021 Eduardo Paes became Mayor, having been mayor before in 2009 to 2017. History and geography The city was started in 1565. It is named for a river that does not exist after Portuguese explorers mistook an oceanic bay for a river. Copacabana Beach, Ipanema Beach, Sugar Loaf Mountain (in Portuguese, Pão de Açúcar), the statue of Christ the Redeemer (in Portuguese, Cristo Redentor), a harbor on Guanabara Bay, and Tom Jobim Airport are in Rio de Janeiro. It has much commerce and many industries, especially textiles, food, chemicals, and metallurgy. Most of these industries are in the northern and western suburbs of the city. Rio de Janeiro also has a small rural area, near the suburb of Campo Grande, where fruits and vegetables are grown. Other cities near Rio de Janeiro, like Duque de Caxias, Nova Iguaçu, Queimados and São Gonçalo, that form the Metropolitan Region of Rio de Janeiro, also have a lot of industries and population. The city hosted the Summer Olympic Games in 2016. Geography The city is 420 kilometers (about 261 miles) away from São Paulo, the biggest city in South America. The cities of Rio and São Paulo are linked by the Presidente Dutra Highway (also known as Via Dutra). The region crossed by the Presidente Dutra Highway has been an important industrial zone since the 1950s. In the city of Rio de Janeiro lies Tijuca National Park, created in 1961. This park contains some 33 km2, between the northern and the southern parts of the city. The district (in Portuguese, bairro) of Santa Tereza can be reached by taking an electric tram (in Portuguese, bonde) from central Rio de Janeiro (near Largo da Carioca subway station), crossing over the Arcos da Lapa, an aqueduct built during the colonial period to provide water to the city. Operation Containment Operation Containment (Portuguese: Operação Contenção) was a large-scale joint police and military action conducted on 28 October 2025 in the Complexo do Alemão and Penha favela complexes in northern Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It aimed to weaken the Comando Vermelho (Red Command) criminal faction and reassert state control over areas dominated by organized crime. The operation became one of the deadliest security actions in the city’s history. Sister cities Warsaw, Poland References Other websites Virtual photo tour through Rio de Janeiro and neighbourhood with www.riodejaneirophotoguide.com Archived 2012-11-25 at the Wayback Machine Prefeitura da Cidade do Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro's City Hall. Includes statistical information about the city, about Carnival, and municipal laws. (in Portuguese) Rio de Janeiro at Wikivoyage