Most Interesting Facts About Rio de Janeiro
You are aware of Rio as the host city for the 2016 Summer Olympics, the capital of samba and carnival, and the paradise of gorgeous people and beaches. However, how much do you actually know about the second-most populous municipality in Brazil (after, of course, the financial hub So Paulo)? See the following list of 30 Interesting facts about Rio de Janeiro.
Rio de Janeiro is not, as is commonly believed, the capital of Brazil.
Nor is it the largest of The Brazilian cities! The most populated city is So Paulo, while the nation’s capital is Brasilia.
The symbol of the city is the statue of Christ the Redeemer,
included in the list of the New 7 Wonders of the World.
Rio de Janeiro simply means “Rio de Janeiro” when translated from Portuguese.
In fact, the city lies on the banks of a long narrow bay, not a river, but the discoverer Gaspar di Lemos mistook it for a river. He discovered this area in January, which is why he gave it that name.
Rio de Janeiro is famous not only for its annual carnival, but also for its favelas,
which are called favelas here. Each favela is a separate area and in total there are several thousand of them.
The filming of the film about the life of the Brazilian favelas “Cidade de Deus”
occurred in Rio de Janeiro’s favelas. Later, the director admitted that if he had known in advance how dangerous it would be, he would have completely abandoned that idea.
When founded, the city was called São Sebastião Rio de Janeiro
and was simply a fortified fort.
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The capital of the autonomous Brazilian Empire for 67 years in the 19th century was there.
About 12.5 million people live in Rio,
along with the suburbs, i.e. the same number as Moscow.
Many sites here are included in the UNESCO World Heritage List.
They are the structures of the historic center, the statue of Christ the Redeemer, the Sugar Loaf and the famous Copacabana beach.
Rio de Janeiro’s streets are dangerous at night.
and in the light too. Locals try to dress deliberately badly so as not to attract the attention of street criminals.
When Brazil was a Portuguese colony, Rio de Janeiro was the capital
of Portuguese possessions in the New World for almost two centuries.
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During the Napoleonic Wars, the Portuguese royal family fled here,
and Rio de Janeiro became the capital of Portugal for 12 years. This is the only case in world history where the capital of one European country was located on another continent.
The local beach of Copacabana has repeatedly hosted shows by several celebrities
such as Mick Jagger, Elton John and Lenny Kravitz.
In the whole history of weather observations,
the temperature here has never dropped below +6 C°.
Rio de Janeiro covers an area of 1265 km².
This is slightly smaller than the Area of St. Petersburg (about 1440 km²).Guanabara Bay, on whose bank is Rio de Janeiro
By law, drivers here cannot stop at a red light from 10:00 pm to 5:00 am.
Because it is dangerous to stop at a desert crossing at night – they can steal.
According to a study, on a clear day,
the sky of Rio de Janeiro has a richer blue color than anywhere else on Earth.
The level of criminogenic danger here
is evidenced by the fact that in 2018 the authorities were forced to introduce a regular army into the city because the police simply could not cope with the crime.
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Rio de Janeiro Carnival is the largest in the world,
each time about 2 million people participate. It also ranks first in the number of foreign guests.
The largest urban forest in the world is located here.
Almost all of Rio’s walls and care are painted with graffiti.
Interestingly, in most cases, they are professionally created paintings, not some vulgar inscriptions.
The residents of Rio de Janeiro call themselves “carioca”.
Although in the rest of the country Brazilians remember themselves as “Brazilians”.
There are more than 100 islands in the Gulf of Guanabara,
on whose edge the city is located.
Sometimes off the coast of Rio you can see icebergs floating in the distance,
which the currents of the Atlantic Ocean bring here from Antarctica. But at such high latitudes, icebergs melt very quickly.
It is impossible to find a single person here who is not interested in football.
And more than half of the city’s population plays football regularly.
The city authorities are trying to instill in the citizens the love of bicycles,
they even put almost 80 km of bike paths. But bicycles are still unpopular here because they often steal, and it’s just not safe to ride a bike.
It is in Rio de Janeiro that is located the oldest tram line
in operation in all of South America. He has been working since 1896.
30-35% of all goods entering this continent pass through the local port.
Several independent researchers have repeatedly called Rio de Janeiro
the most dangerous city in the world among those in which there is no hostility.
There is a subway here.
It consists of three lines about 58 km long and has 41 stations.