Rio de Janeiro

Sister cities

• Kyiv

History

The region of Rio was inhabited by the Tupi, Puri, Botocudo and Maxakalí peoples. Europeans first encountered Guanabara Bay on 1 January 1502 (hence Rio de Janeiro, "January River"), during a Portuguese expedition under explorer Gaspar de Lemos, captain of a ship in Pedro Álvares Cabral's fleet, or under Gonçalo Coelho. Allegedly the Florentine explorer Amerigo Vespucci participated as an observer at the invitation of King Manuel I in the same expedition. In 1555, one of the islands of Guanabara Bay, now called Villegagnon Island, was occupied by 500 French colonists under the French admiral Nicolas Durand de Villegaignon. Consequently, Villegagnon built Fort Coligny on the island when attempting to establish the France Antarctique colony. Eventually this French settlement became too much of a threat to the established Portuguese colony and in 1560 the order was made to get rid of them. A years-long military aggression was then initiated by the new Governor General of Brazil Mem de Sá, and later continued by his nephew Estácio de Sá. On 20 January 1567, a final defeat was imposed on the French forces and they were decisively expelled from Brazil for good. The city of Rio de Janeiro proper was founded on 1 March 1565 by the Portuguese, led by Estácio de Sá, including . It was named São Sebastião do Rio de Janeiro, in honor of St. Sebastian, the saint who was the namesake and patron of the Portuguese then-monarch Sebastião. Rio de Janeiro was the name of Guanabara Bay. 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. In the late 17th century, Bandeirantes discovered gold and diamonds in the neighboring captaincy of Minas Gerais, thus Rio de…

Geography

Rio de Janeiro is near the west end of a strip (from Cabo Frio to just east of Ilha Grande) of Brazil's Atlantic coast close to the Tropic of Capricorn where the shoreline is oriented east and west; the city thus faces largely south. It was founded at the entrance to an inlet, Guanabara Bay (Baía de Guanabara), which is marked by a point of land called Sugar Loaf (Pão de Açúcar) – a "calling card" of the city. The population of the city of Rio de Janeiro, occupying an area of , is about 6,000,000. The population of the greater metropolitan area is estimated at 11–13.5 million. Residents of the city are known as cariocas. The official song of Rio is "Cidade Maravilhosa", by composer André Filho. The city has parks and ecological reserves such as the Tijuca National Park, the world's first urban forest and UNESCO Environmental Heritage and Biosphere Reserve; Pedra Branca State Park, which houses the highest point of Rio de Janeiro, the peak of Pedra Branca; the Quinta da Boa Vista complex; the Botanical Garden; Rio's Zoo; Parque Lage; and the Passeio Público, the first public park in the Americas. In addition the Flamengo Park is the largest landfill in the city, extending from the center to the south zone, and containing museums and monuments, in addition to much vegetation. Since 1961, the Tijuca National Park (Parque Nacional 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 located in the West Zone of Rio de Janeiro. Due to the high concentration of industries in the metropolitan region, the city has faced serious problems of environmental pollution. The Guanabara Bay has lost…

Most-observed species

• Great Kiskadee

  Pitangus sulphuratus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  13,093
• Palm Tanager

  Thraupis palmarum (Wied-Neuwied, 1821) · Aves
  10,864
• Bananaquit

  Coereba flaveola (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  10,443
• Black Vulture

  Coragyps atratus (Bechstein, 1793) · Aves
  10,370
• Southern House Wren

  Troglodytes musculus J.F.Naumann, 1823 · Aves
  9,318
• Magnificent Frigatebird

  Fregata magnificens Mathews, 1914 · Aves
  8,967
• Rock Pigeon

  Columba livia J.F.Gmelin, 1789 · Aves
  8,300
• Tropical Kingbird

  Tyrannus melancholicus Vieillot, 1819 · Aves
  8,022