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Rio de Janeiro: Encyclopedia BETAFree Encyclopedia |
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This article is about the Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro. For the state with the same name, see Rio de Janeiro (state). Rio de Janeiro pron. IPA []) is the name of both a state and a city in south-eastern Brazil. It is a former capital of Brazil (1763-1960) and of the Portuguese Empire (1808-1821). Commonly known as just Rio (particularly in English and by its inhabitants), the city is famous for its spectacular natural setting, the Carnival celebrations, samba and other music, hotel-lined tourist beaches, such as Copacabana, Ipanema, and Leblon, pavements decorated with black and cream swirl pattern mosaics, and the easy-going lifestyle of its inhabitants. Some of the most famous local landmarks besides the beaches are the giant statue of Jesus, known as Christ the Redeemer ('Cristo Redentor') atop Corcovado mountain; Sugar Loaf mountain with its cable car; the Sambódromo, a giant permanent parade stand used during Carnival; and Maracanã stadium, one of the world's largest. Rio also boasts the world's largest forest inside an urban area, 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 (). The population of the City of Rio de Janeiro is about 6,094,183[3] (2005 IBGE estimate), occupying an area of 1182.3 km² (456.5 mi²)[4]. The larger metropolitan area population is estimated at 11-12 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 (2006) is Cesar Maia. The official song of Rio is "Cidade Maravilhosa." History
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 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 contentions with some the colonists. The actual city was founded in 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. 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.
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 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.
Rio was maintained as Brazilian capital in 1889, when the military overthrew 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, or Bremen 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. City districts
CentroCentro (or Downtown in American English) is the historic centre of the city. Sites of interest include the so-called 'Paço Imperial', built during colonial times to serve as residence to the Portuguese governors of Brazil; many historic churches, such as the Candelária; the modern-style cathedral, the Municipal Theatre and several museums. Centro remains the heart of the city's business community. The "Bondinho", a tram (trolley car), leaves from a city centre station, crosses a former Roman-style aqueduct " the 'Arcos da Lapa', built in 1750 and converted to a tram viaduct in 1896 - and rambles through the hilly streets of the Santa Teresa neighbourhood nearby.South Zone
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 firework 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, lies the district of Urca and the Sugarloaf Mountain ('Pão de Açúcar'), whose name describes the famous hump rising out of the sea.
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. The Catholic University in Rio (Pontifícia Universidade Catôlica-Rio, or PUC-Rio) sits right at the edge of the forest linking city with forest. 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. North Zone
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 its main building fashioned like a Moorish castle, and the beautiful 'Quinta da Boa Vista', the old imperial palace (Paço), which is now the National Museum. 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 Governador Island are also located in the Northern part of Rio. West ZoneThe West Zone is the region furthest from the centre of Rio de Janeiro. It includes Barra da Tijuca, Jacarepaguá, Recreio dos Bandeirantes, Vargem Grande, Campo Grande, Santa Cruz and Bangu. 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. Barra da Tijuca now has a tiny, but growing movement for separating Barra from the city of Rio and making Barra a new city. Beyond the neighbourhoods of Barra da Tijuca and Jacarepaguá another district, which has exhibited good economic growth, is that of Campo Grande. Some sports competitions in the Pan-American Games of 2007 will be held in the Miécimo da Silva Sports Centre, nicknamed the 'Algodão' (Cotton) Gymnasium, and others in the Ítalo del Cima Stadium, in Campo Grande. ClimateRio has a typically tropical climate with warm to hot temperatures year-round and generally high humidity. Summer heat can be oppressive, occasionally reaching 40°C (104°F) and higher. However, the cool waters of the local beaches provide an excellent escape, as do high-elevation areas nearby, such as Petrópolis. Precipitation is moderately high, being most heavy in the summer months when thunderstorms are common. The same cool waters enjoyed by local beachgoers prevent tropical cyclones from forming off the coast of Brazil.
Social conditionsMain article: Favela
A unique aspect of Rio's favelas is their very close proximity to the city's wealthiest districts. 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. CultureMusicRio was eternalized in the song "Garota de Ipanema" (The Girl from Ipanema) composed by Antonio Carlos Jobim and recognized worldwide and recorded by Astrud 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.Carnival
* Cordão do Bola Preta: Parades in the centre of the city. It is one of the most traditional carnivals. In 2006, it gathered 200,000 people in one day. * 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. * Simpatia é Quase Amor: One of the most popular parades in Ipanema. Translates as 'Friendliness is almost love'. Banda de Ipanema: The most traditional in Ipanema. It attracts families as well as gays and drag queens. FunkFunk carioca is a very popular music genre in Rio. It grew during the last 20 years mainly among the low income population while recently becoming mainstream friendly. In Rio, funk music are made by simple people of communities, without artistic requirements: it's an expression of the way of life of these people. This music, like the original funk beat is very requested for dance in parties and clubs where thousands of people join together on weekends to celebrate the funk carioca way of life.Cultural Events in Rio de JaneiroRio de Janeiro is among the biggest cities in South America, but the city is more widely renowned for the various cultural celebrations that are held there every year. The most popular of these is the Carnival, held two weeks before the traditional Christian fasting of Lent.Not only people from all over Brazil, but from all parts of the world come to Rio to take part and witness the extravaganza. The Carnival comes with a lot of music, good food, color and of course the Samba dance. The celebration of Carnival ends on "Mardi Gras". Apart from the Carnival, New Year is also a big deal in Rio and is also one of the other major festivals. Cultural Events in Rio de Janeiro Sports
More notable sports events in Rio includes 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 was disputed on the beaches from 1985-2001. The city is building a new stadium near the Maracanã, to hold 45,000 people. It will be named after Brazilian ex-FIFA president João Havelange. Rio de Janeiro was also a candidate for the 2012 Summer Olympics. Copacabana beach will be the site of the triathlon and beach volleyball with yachting competitions held in Guanabara Bay.
Other popular sports are beach football, beach volleyball, surfing, kitesurfing, hang gliding, motor racing, jiu-jitsu, recreational sailing, and sport rowing. The peculiarly Brazilian dance/sport/martial art Capoeira is also popular. 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, due to 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$ 100.00. In the Summer, between December and March, it's recommended to book in advance. 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. Airports
*Galeão - Antônio Carlos Jobim International Airport - used for all the international flights and some long-haul domestic flights; *Santos Dumont Regional Airport " The first, and formerly the International Airport. It is considered one of the best set airports in whole world, due to its location between Sugar Loaf, Corcovado, the Aterro do Flamengo and the Guanabara Bay. Today it is used by the São Paulo " Rio de Janeiro Air Shuttle Service and some flights inside the Rio de Janeiro state, especially between the city and the oil-producer cities in the north. *Aeroporto de Jacarepaguá " in the Barra da Tijuca district. It is currently used by Aeroclube do Brasil (Brasil Flying Club) with small aircraft but is planned to be used for the Rio de Janeiro - São Paulo Air Shuttle Service since it is just inside Barra, the city's fastest-growing district. *Campo dos Afonsos " military airport, where the Brazilian Air Force presents its aerobatic shows. *Santa Cruz Air Base " military airport. Famous Cariocas'Cariocas', as residents of Rio de Janeiro are popularly called in Brazil, have made extensive contributions to Brazil's history, culture, music, literature, education, science, technology etc. " particularly when Rio de Janeiro was the federal capital and a great hub of Brazilian growth and innovation in all these areas. Some important Cariocas, who were born in Rio, are:*Adolfo Lutz, physician and scientist *Adriano Leite Ribeiro, football player *Bruno Barreto, film director *Carlos Chagas Filho, physician and scientist *Carlos Lacerda, politician, governor of Rio *Carolina Solberg, beach volleyball player *Cazuza, composer and singer *Chico Buarque, composer, singer and writer *Bruno Campos, actor *Fernanda Montenegro, actress *Fernando Henrique Cardoso, sociologist, twice president of Brazil *Garrincha, former football player *Heitor Villa-Lobos, classic composer and regent *Ismael Silva, composer and singer *Ivo Pitanguy, plastic surgeon *Isabel Clark, snowboarder *Jacob do Bandolim, mandolin virtuoso *Jaguar, cartoonist *Jô Soares, television entertainer and writer *João Gilberto, composer and musician, one of the creators of Bossa Nova *Machado de Assis, writer *Madame Satã, famous outlaw *Marisa Monte, singer *Millôr Fernandes, cartoonist and playwright *Milton Nascimento, singer and composer *Noel Rosa, composer and singer *Oscar Niemeyer, architect *Paulinho da Viola, one of the top names in Samba *Paulo Coelho, writer *Emperor D. Pedro II *Pixinguinha, one of the fathers of Chorinho and a musical genius. *Baden Powell, composer and musician (guitar) *Rodrigo Santoro, actor *Romário, football player *Ronaldo, football player *Sérgio Vieira de Mello, diplomat *Silvio Santos, entrepreneur, media mogul and television entertainer *Tom Jobim, composer and musician, one of the creators of Bossa Nova *Vinícius de Moraes, writer, poet, musician and diplomat *Walter Salles, film director *Zico, former football player, former Japanese national football team's coach. Important Colleges* Public Colleges**Centro Federal de Educação Tecnológica Celso Suckow da Fonseca (CEFET) - Federal Center of Technology Education Celso Suckow da Fonseca **Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (UERJ) " State University of Rio de Janeiro **Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ) " Federal University of Rio de Janeiro **Universidade Federal Fluminense (UFF) " "Fluminense" Federal University (Fluminense, in Portuguese, is someone who is born in the state of Rio de Janeiro) **Universidade Federal do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (UniRio) " Federal University of the State of Rio de Janeiro **Instituto Militar de Engenharia (IME) " Military Institute of Engineering **Instituto Nacional de Matemática Pura e Aplicada (IMPA) " National institute of Pure and Applied Mathematics * Private Colleges **Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro (PUC-Rio) " Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro **Instituto Metodista Bennett **Universidade Cândido Mendes (UCAM) **Universidade da Cidade (UniverCidade) **Fundação Getúlio Vargas (FGV) " Getúlio Vargas Foundation **Instituto Brasileiro de Mercado de Capitais (IBMEC) " Brazilian Institute of Capital Markets *Public & Private Schools **D Pedro II **Centro Federal de Educação Tecnológica Celso Suckow da Fonseca (CEFET) - Federal Center of Technology Education Celso Suckow da Fonseca ** Escola Americana do Rio de Janeiro (EARJ) **São Bento - Saint Benedict School **Santo Ignácio **Santo Agostinho - Saint Augustin School **Liceu Molière - Lyceé Molère **Liceu Franco-Brasileiro **Colégio de Aplicação da U.F.R.J. **CEFETEQ-"Federal School of Chemistry" **Military School of Rio de Janeiro **The British School-Rio de Janeiro Parks and Squares*Arpoador Park*Flamengo Park *Morro Dois Irmãos Park *Jardim Botânico " Botanic Gardens MiscellaneousIn 1992 the city hosted the UNCED Earth Summit on Sustainable development.Rio has also been used as a backdrop for many films, such as Notorious (1946), Black Orpheus (1959), 007 Moonraker (1979), Blame It on Rio (1984), Bossa Nova (2000), and City of God (2002). The film The Brazilian Job, a sequel for The Italian Job (2004) is being filmed in the city. In The Simpsons episode "Blame it on Lisa", the family visited Rio de Janeiro, only to encounter a myriad of ludicrously exaggerated problems. The episode angered several tourist officials and they threatened to sue the producers of the show. Featured/recreated in the video game Driver 2, for the PlayStation The Harbour of Rio de Janeiro was declared one of the Seven Wonders of the Natural World by CNN. Rio de Janeiro was also mentioned in the both version of The Producers as being the place the Max Bialystock and Leo Bloom would escape to after their sure-fire-flop musical. In the 2005 version, they sing a song about Rio entitled "You'll Find Your Happiness in Rio". See also* List of Mayors of Rio de JaneiroSister cities* Barcelona* Atlanta, Georgia - Sister Cities International * Istanbul * Niterói * Cabo Frio * Teresópolis External linksOfficial* Official homepage (Portuguese)*Rio De Janeiro Webcams *Riotur Education*PUC-Rio - the Pontifical University of Rio de Janeiro*COPPE/UFRJ - the largest post-graduate and research centre of Engineering in Latin America (part of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro-UFRJ) *UERJ - University of Rio de Janeiro State *UNIRIO - Another federal university located in Rio de Janeiro *[5] - Escola Americana do Rio de Janeiro [American School of Rio de Janeiro] Photos*Images of Rio" Hundreds of images from the 1920s to the present*visual impressions of "a cidade maravilhosa" *Rio photos - an unforgettable impact Tourism** Comprehensive Travel Guide to Rio de Janeiro and other destinations in Brazil.
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