Rio de Janeiro is the second largest city in Brazil and is known for its beaches, carnival celebrations, and natural landscapes. Some of Rio's most famous landmarks include Christ the Redeemer statue, Sugarloaf Mountain, and Maracanã Stadium. Rio was Brazil's capital for nearly two centuries and will host the 2016 Summer Olympics, marking the first time South America hosts the event.

1. RIO DE JANEIRO
Adrián Pérez

2. RIO DE JANEIRO
•
Rio
de
Janeiro,
commonly
referred
to
simply as Rio, is the
capital city of the State of
Rio de Janeiro, the second
largest city of Brazil, and
the
third
largest
metropolitan
area
and
agglomeration
in
South
America,
boasting
approximately 6.3 million
people within the city
proper, making it the 6th
largest in the Americas,
and 26th in the world. Part
of the city has been
designated as a World
Heritage Site, named "Rio
de
Janeiro:
Carioca
Landscapes between the
Mountain and the Sea",
identified by UNESCO on 1
July 2012 in the category
Cultural Landscape.

3. RIO DE JANEIRO
• The city was the capital of Brazil for nearly two
centuries, from 1763 to 1815 during the Portuguese
colonial era, 1815 to 1821 as the capital of the
United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and Algarves,
and 1822 to 1960 of Brazil as an independent
nation. Rio is nicknamed the Cidade Maravilhosa or
"Marvelous City".

4. RIO DE JANEIRO
• Rio de Janeiro is one of the most visited
cities in the southern hemisphere and is
known for its natural settings, carnival
celebrations,
samba,
Bossa
Nova,
balneario beaches such as Barra da Tijuca,
Copacabana, Ipanema, and Leblon.

5. MONUMENTS
•
Some of the most famous landmarks in addition to the
beaches include the giant statue of Christ the Redeemer
("Cristo Redentor") atop Corcovado mountain, named one
of the New Seven Wonders of the World; Sugarloaf
mountain (Pão de Açúcar) with its cable car; the
Sambódromo, a permanent grandstand-lined parade
avenue which is used during Carnival; and Maracanã
Stadium, one of the world's largest football stadiums.

6. OLYMPIC GAMES
•
The 2016 Summer Olympics and the Paralympics will
take place in Rio de Janeiro, which will mark the first
time a South American or a Portuguese-speaking nation
hosts the event. It will be the third time the Olympics will
be held in a Southern Hemisphere city. Rio's Maracanã
Stadium, which held the final of the 1950 FIFA World Cup,
will host the final match of the 2014 FIFA World Cup. Rio
de Janeiro also hosted the World Youth Day in 2013.

7. BRAZILIAN CARNIVAL
•
•
The Carnival of Brazil is an annual festival held during
the Friday to the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday, which
marks the beginning of Lent, the forty-day period before
Easter.
The Carnival parades in Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo
take place in the Sambodromo, located close to the city
center. In the city of Rio, the parades start at 20:00 or
21:00 (depending on the date) and end around 5:00 in the
morning. The Rio de Janeiro Metro (subway) operates 24
hours during the main parade days.

8. BRAZILIAN CARNIVAL
• Rio de Janeiro has many Carnaval
choices, including the famous samba
school (Escolas de Samba) parades
in the sambadrome exhibition center
and the popular blocos de carnaval,
street revelry, which parade in
almost every corner of the city.

9. CHRIST THE
REDEEMER
• Christ the Redeemer is a
statue of Jesus Christ in Rio de
Janeiro, Brazil; considered the
largest Art Deco statue in the
world. It is 30 metres (98 ft) tall,
not including its 8 metres (26 ft)
pedestal, and its arms stretch 28
metres (92 ft) wide. It weighs
635 tonnes (625 long, 700 short
tons), and is located at the peak
of
the
700-metre
(2,300 ft)
Corcovado
mountain
in
the
Tijuca Forest National Park
overlooking the city.

10. SUGARLOAF
MOUNTAIN
• Sugarloaf Mountain , is a peak situated in Rio de
Janeiro, Brazil, at the mouth of Guanabara Bay on a
peninsula that sticks out into the Atlantic Ocean.
Rising 396 metres (1,299 ft) above the harbor, its
name is said to refer to its resemblance to the
traditional shape of concentrated refined loaf
sugar.