59 Fun Facts About Rio De Janeiro

Rio de Janeiro is the second-largest city in Brazil after which city?

São Paulo, with over 11 million residents, is Brazil's largest city; Rio's roughly 6 million in the city proper and 13 million in its metro area rank second nationally.

Rio de Janeiro's name comes from the date Europeans first sighted Guanabara Bay, in which year?

Portuguese explorers entered Guanabara Bay on 1 January 1502 and, mistaking it for a river mouth, called it the River of January; Amerigo Vespucci is said to have sailed as an observer.

Which European power landed 500 colonists on an island in Guanabara Bay in 1555, before the Portuguese expelled them?

France's Admiral Villegagnon landed 500 colonists who built Fort Coligny on an island in the bay, the start of 'France Antarctique'; Mem de Sá and his nephew finally drove the French out in 1567.

The city was founded on 1 March 1565 by a Portuguese force led by whom?

Estácio de Sá, nephew of Governor General Mem de Sá, founded the city on 1 March 1565 as a base against foreign invaders and their Tamoio allies; he died of an arrow wound in 1567.

Which saint, also the city's patron, does Rio's full founding name honour?

Saint Sebastian is the city's patron: the 1565 settlement was named São Sebastião do Rio de Janeiro for the namesake saint of King Sebastião, and the Metropolitan Cathedral downtown carries the same dedication.

In 1808 the Portuguese royal court moved to Rio, fleeing whose invasion of Portugal?

The court fled Napoleon's invasion of Portugal in late 1807 under General Junot; Rio thus became the only European capital ever located outside Europe, and hundreds of nobles arrived so suddenly that residents were evicted to house them.

Rio stopped being the capital of Brazil in which year, when the seat of government moved to Brasília?

Brasília was inaugurated on 21 April 1960 and took over as capital; the old Federal District became its own state, Guanabara, until the 1975 'Fusion' merged it into Rio de Janeiro state.

Which Brazilian president, elected in 1955, kept his promise to build a new inland capital?

Juscelino Kubitschek, president from 1956 to 1961, made the new capital the centrepiece of his '50 years in 5' promise; Brasília was built at great cost within his term.

Which city was capital of Rio de Janeiro state until the 1975 merger with Guanabara?

The 1975 'Fusion' decree merged the city-state of Guanabara with the surrounding state, and Rio replaced Niterói across the bay as capital.

What are residents of Rio de Janeiro called?

Residents are called Cariocas, a Tupi-derived word; the name also belongs to the local dialect and to the Carioca River, whose springs King João VI protected by decree in 1817.

Which famous Rio beach lies directly west of Ipanema, across the Jardim de Alah canal?

Leblon sits immediately west of Ipanema, the two beaches divided by the Jardim de Alah canal that drains the Rodrigo de Freitas lagoon; it is among the priciest neighbourhoods in Brazil.

The statue of Christ the Redeemer stands on the summit of which mountain?

Corcovado, a 700-metre peak inside Tijuca National Park, carries the statue; its cog railway opened in 1884 and was used to haul the statue's pieces up the mountain.

Which sculptor created Christ the Redeemer?

Paul Landowski sculpted the statue in Paris; engineer Heitor da Silva Costa built it, Albert Caquot handled the concrete design and Romanian sculptor Gheorghe Leonida did the face.

Christ the Redeemer's outer layer is made of which stone?

The core is reinforced concrete; the soapstone was chosen for durability and ease of use, and periodic repairs replace pieces damaged by wind and lightning.

How tall is Christ the Redeemer, excluding its 8-metre pedestal?

The figure stands 30 metres tall on its 8-metre pedestal, with arms spanning 28 metres and a weight of 635 tonnes; it is often called the world's largest Art Deco sculpture.

At the statue's 1931 opening, which inventor was supposed to switch on the floodlights remotely from Rome?

Guglielmo Marconi was to trigger the floodlights by radio from Rome, 9,200 km away, but bad weather spoiled the stunt and the lights were switched on at the site instead.

The original 1920s plan for the Christ statue would have shown Jesus holding what?

Early designs had Christ holding a globe and a cross, but the open-armed pose was chosen as a symbol of peace; Brazilian Catholics funded much of the work.

Sugarloaf Mountain got its name because its shape reminded the Portuguese of what?

During the sugarcane boom, blocks of sugar were packed in conical clay moulds; the name has since become a generic term for peaks of that shape.

How high does Sugarloaf Mountain rise above the harbour?

Sugarloaf rises 396 metres straight from the water's edge; it is a bornhardt, a steep-sided granite and quartz dome, whose 270-plus climbing routes make it one of the world's largest urban climbing areas.

Sugarloaf's cableway, opened in 1912, was the first in Brazil and which number in the world?

Engineer Augusto Ferreira Ramos dreamed it up in 1907; the original coated-wood cars stayed in service for 61 years.

Passengers reaching Sugarloaf's summit change cable cars on which intermediate hill?

The first car climbs to Morro da Urca, a 220-metre hill, and the second continues to the summit; each leg takes about three minutes.

To which country did Brazil lose the deciding 1950 World Cup match before a record Maracanã crowd?

Uruguay beat Brazil 2–1 on 16 July 1950 before a crowd of around 200,000; Brazil had needed only a draw, and the defeat is remembered as the Maracanaço.

The Maracanã is officially named after Mário Filho, who was what by profession?

Mário Filho was a sports journalist, brother of playwright Nelson Rodrigues, who championed the stadium's construction in his newspapers; the popular name comes from the nearby Maracanã River.

The word 'Maracanã' comes from a Tupi term for what kind of animal?

Maracanã is Tupi for a parrot, a type of small macaw once common in the area; the Maracanã River, named for the birds, rises in the western hills and reaches Guanabara Bay through a concrete canal.

The 2014 World Cup final at the Maracanã saw Germany beat which team 1–0?

Germany beat Argentina 1–0 after extra time, Mario Götze scoring in the 113th minute; the Maracanã hosted seven matches that tournament and the Olympic opening and closing ceremonies two years later.

Rio de Janeiro hosted the Summer Olympics in which year, the first South American city to do so?

Rio won the 2016 Games in the 2009 IOC vote over Chicago, Tokyo and Madrid, becoming the first South American host; the city had first bid for the 1936 Games without success.

Rio's first-ever Olympic bid, for the 1936 Games, lost out to which city?

Berlin won the 1931 vote for the 1936 Games, with Rio among the also-rans; later attempts for 2004 and 2012 did not even make the candidate shortlist before the bid that finally succeeded.

Which circuit hosted the Formula One Brazilian Grand Prix in 1978 and from 1981 to 1989?

Jacarepaguá, later named for Nelson Piquet, hosted the race in 1978 and from 1981 to 1989; after Formula One returned permanently to Interlagos in 1990, the track staged MotoGP and Champ Car events.

Which beach sport was invented on Copacabana in 1965 after beach football was banned there?

Footvolley was born on Copacabana in 1965 when beach football was banned, so players volleyed the football over a net using only feet, chest and head; frescobol, a paddle game, is Rio's other homegrown favourite.

What did a Scottish textile worker have his wife bring from home for Brazil's first football match in 1894?

Thomas Donohoe's five-a-side game among British workers came six months before Charles Miller's better-known match elsewhere in Brazil.

The 1960s standard 'The Girl from Ipanema' was composed by Antônio Carlos Jobim and which lyricist?

Vinicius de Moraes wrote the Portuguese lyrics to Jobim's 1962 melody; recordings by Astrud and João Gilberto, Frank Sinatra and Ella Fitzgerald turned the beach neighbourhood into a global name.

Which music genre, whose signature song is 'The Girl from Ipanema', was born in Rio?

Bossa nova emerged in Rio's Zona Sul in the late 1950s with João Gilberto and Jobim; funk carioca, another Rio invention, grew out of American black pop into a distinct electronic style in the 1990s.

In the Tupi language, the name Ipanema is usually translated as meaning what?

Ipanema is usually glossed as Tupi for 'bad water' or 'worthless water'; the name came from a river near Sorocaba, homeland of the Baron of Ipanema, who laid out the neighbourhood in the 1890s.

Copacabana is named for a chapel with a replica statue of Our Lady of Copacabana, patron saint of which country?

The chapel housed a copy of the Virgin of Copacabana, Bolivia's patron saint from the shrine on Lake Titicaca; before the mid-18th century the district was called Sacopenapã, Tupi for 'the way of the socós', a kind of heron.

Which landscape architect designed the wave pattern of the Copacabana promenade?

Roberto Burle Marx redesigned the four-kilometre Portuguese-pavement mosaic in 1970, turning the waves to run parallel to the sea; the original 1930s mosaic copied a traditional Portuguese pavement design.

Roughly how many people gather on Copacabana Beach every 31 December for the New Year celebration?

Around 2.5 million people pack Copacabana for Réveillon, Rio's New Year's Eve party, making it one of the largest such gatherings anywhere, with fireworks launched from barges offshore.

What colour do most revellers wear on Copacabana Beach on New Year's Eve?

Revellers wear white for luck and peace, a custom tied to Afro-Brazilian offerings to the sea goddess Iemanjá; spraying chilled champagne at midnight is also considered lucky.

Which architect designed the Sambadrome, the parade avenue where samba schools compete each Carnival?

Oscar Niemeyer designed the Sambadrome, completed in 1984 after his return from exile; beneath its concrete stands the complex houses classrooms used as a public school outside Carnival.

Rio Carnival is held every year immediately before which Christian season?

Carnival ends on Shrove Tuesday, the day before Ash Wednesday opens Lent; Rio's is billed as the world's biggest, with some two million people a day in the streets.

The very first Rio masquerade ball, in 1840, featured which dances rather than samba?

The 1840 ball danced to polka and waltz in the European fashion of the day; samba and batucada rhythms only took over in the early 20th century, brought by Afro-Brazilians and Pardos.

Which entrepreneur conceived the Rock in Rio festival, first held in 1985?

Advertising executive Roberto Medina created Rock in Rio; its January 1985 debut ran ten days on a purpose-built site in the West Zone and drew about 1.5 million people.

The tiled Escadaria Selarón in Lapa was created by an artist born in which country?

Chilean-born painter Jorge Selarón began tiling the steps outside his Lapa house in 1990 in the green, yellow and blue of the Brazilian flag; neighbours mocked him at first.

How many steps make up the Escadaria Selarón?

The 215 steps climb 125 metres and carry more than 2,000 tiles from over 60 countries, some 300 of them hand-painted by Selarón with his recurring pregnant African woman.

Rio's Tijuca forest was replanted in the 19th century because clearing it for which crop had hurt the water supply?

Coffee plantations had stripped the hills and dried up springs, so from 1861 Major Archer and six enslaved workers replanted more than 100,000 trees; Tijuca became a national park in 1961.

Which downtown tenements, demolished in Rio's early-1900s urban reforms, pushed residents onto the hillsides?

Cortiços were the crowded downtown tenements; their demolition pushed displaced residents onto the hills, while Pereira Passos's reforms also gave the city the Avenida Central and its Theatro Municipal.

The 1904 Vaccine Revolt broke out against the compulsory public-health campaign of which physician?

Cruz's men also forced their way into homes to kill mosquitoes and rats; the popular uprising against him is a landmark of the Old Republic.

Which Rio-born author of Dom Casmurro is regarded as Brazil's greatest literary figure?

Machado de Assis, born in Rio in 1839, wrote Dom Casmurro (1899); his Posthumous Memoirs of Brás Cubas (1881) is considered the founding work of Brazilian Realism.

Rio's Theatro Municipal, opened in 1909, was modelled on which famous European building?

The Theatro Municipal was modelled on the Palais Garnier in Paris, down to its eclectic facade and grand staircase; Eliseu Visconti painted the auditorium ceiling and stage curtain.

Which James Bond film is partly set in Rio, including a fight on the Sugarloaf cable car?

Moonraker (1979) sends Bond to Rio, where he battles Jaws atop the Sugarloaf cable car; other Rio films include Black Orpheus, Central Station, City of God and Elite Squad.

Rio's Metropolitan Cathedral, inaugurated in 1979, has what unusual shape?

Edgar Fonseca designed the cathedral as a cone 75 metres high and 106 metres across outside; its interior holds up to 20,000 worshippers beneath four stained-glass windows that climb to the ceiling.

Which oil giant, one of Brazil's two largest corporations, is headquartered in Rio?

Petrobras, the state-controlled oil company, has its headquarters in the city centre; mining giant Vale and the Grupo Globo media conglomerate are also based in the city.

In 1992 Rio hosted which landmark United Nations conference?

The 1992 UN Conference on Environment and Development, better known as the Earth Summit, produced Agenda 21 and the climate convention; Rio+20 followed in 2012.

Rio has the largest Portuguese population outside which city?

Only Lisbon itself has more Portuguese residents; in 1920 nearly 40 percent of all Portuguese living in Brazil were in Rio, where they made up 72 percent of the capital's foreigners.

Which World Heritage site in Rio was the landing place for hundreds of thousands of enslaved Africans?

Valongo Wharf, unearthed in 2011 and listed by UNESCO in 2017, received around 900,000 enslaved Africans after 1811; by 1840 the enslaved population of Rio had reached 220,000.

Which forest in Rio's West Zone is larger than Tijuca and contains the city's highest peak?

Floresta da Pedra Branca, protected as a state park, covers some 12,500 hectares in the West Zone, about three times Tijuca, and holds the city's highest point, Pico da Pedra Branca at 1,024 metres.

In what year did Rio's Santa Teresa Tram, Latin America's oldest electric tramway, go electric?

Electric service began in 1896, making it the oldest electric tramway in Latin America; the narrow gauge was chosen so the cars could run atop the Carioca Aqueduct, and the line was declared a national monument in 1985.

Roughly how long is the Rio-Niterói Bridge across Guanabara Bay?

Opened in 1974, the bridge runs 13 km (13.29 km) across the bay and carries about 150,000 vehicles a day; its central span rises 72 metres so ships can reach the port.

Roughly what share of Rio's population lives in its favelas?

The 2010 census counted about 21 percent of the city's residents, some 1.4 million people, living in favelas, many on steep hillsides beside wealthy districts.

Rio's Biblioteca Nacional holds collections totalling more than how many items?

The Biblioteca Nacional's collections exceed 9 million items, making it the largest library in Latin America and among the largest in the world; it grew from the royal library brought by the Portuguese court in 1808.