Brazil Eco Adventure Tours
Rainforest - Hiking & Trekking - Wildlife

Rio de Janeiro

 Rio de Janeiro   Rio de Janeiro   Rio de Janeiro 
In six days God created the world, the seventh day Rio de Janeiro , the people say referring to one of today's most beautiful cities on earth. Whereas São Paulo is business oriented and a little conservative, Rio de Janeiro stands for landscape, beaches and parties. For the inhabitants of Rio de Janeiro, the Cariocas, during the whole year everything is related to body culture and beach life.

Rio de Janeiro (S 22° 54′ / W 43° 14′) is located at the southwestern part of the Guanabara bay and obtained its name from the Portuguese sailor Goncalo Coelho who landed there on January 1st of 1502 considering the bay mistakenly as the mouth of a big river.
 
Although the bay was almost equal in size and almost secure as the bay of "Todos los Santos" in Salvador, the Portuguese initially were not able to benefit from this advantage and had to leave the bay to the French. Only in 1567 the Portuguese achieved to expulse the French and to found the city of São Sebastiao de Rio de Janeiro.

As a trading center for sugar, precious stones and coffee Rio de Janeiro developed to Brazil's most important city and became capital of the Brazilian empire in 1834. Only with the economical growth of São Paulo state which because of its climate and its fertile red soil was an excellent place for the cultivation of coffee, Rio de Janeiro mid of the 20th century declined to the second place. Rio de Janeiro's historical heritage encompasses today nearly 3,600 protected buildings.
 
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