Rio de Janeiro (in english, River of January) is very famous by its beaches, music - as samba and Bossa Nova -, Carnival and the beautiful views. But, Rio is much more than that.
It was founded by Estácio de Sá on 1st March, 1565, 65 years after Brazil was discovered by Portugal. In 1763 Rio de Janeiro became the capital of Brazil-Colony and when the royal family of Portugal came to Brazil in 1808, Rio was the capital of the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and Algarves. In 1960 the capital of Brazil was transferred from Rio, in the coast, to Brasília, in the Brazilian interior.
As Rio used to be the capital of the country, “cariocas” (people who are born on Rio) have access to a dynamic center of tourism, economy, business, commerce and culture. Major Brazilian companies as Petrobras and Vale have Rio de Janeiro as headquarter.
In addition, the largest conglomerate of media and communications in South America (Globo Organizations) has its office at Rio. Thus culture production of the city is enormous. Globo acts as producer of famous Brazilian movies and soup operas. The music industry of Rio is also very big and diverse: it goes from samba, bossa nova and pagoda to funk and pop music.
Showing its capacity of hosting any kind of event, in 2016 Rio de Janeiro is going to host de Summer Olympics and some matches of 2014 FIFA World Cup are going to happen in Rio too, at Maracanã stadium. In 2007 Rio also hosted the Pan American. Rio de Janeiro International Film Festival is the largest film festival in South America and happens every year. The Book Biennial, an event that gathers thousands of literary titles, is one of Brazil’s major cultural samples and happens in RioCentro, the largest convention center in Latin America. Fashion Rio and Anima Mundi are also some examples of the biggest events that Rio hosts every year.
Rio is the second biggest metropolitan area of Brazil and the third of Souht America. It has the second largest GPD of Brazil (behind only São Paulo) and Human Development Index of 0,843.
The mixed population, due to lots of immigrants, is estimated in 6.323.037 people. 95% of the population is alphabetic and there is a large public basic education. One of the best universities of Brazil is located at Rio, the UFRJ (Federal University of Rio de Janeiro).
The city is divided in districts, each of them has its own characteristics. Downtown (Centro), South Zone (Zona Sul), North Zone (Zona Norte), West Zone (Zona Oeste) and Barra da Tijuca are the divisions of the city. Most tourism destinations are at South Zone, as Cristo Redentor (Christ, the Redeemer), Pão de Açúcar (Sugarloaf Mountain), Copacabana and Ipanema.
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