Rio de Janeiro Information
Rio de Janeiro is the second largest city in Brazil and the most visited holiday destination in the country with an annual visitor rate of over 3 million international tourists every year. The short nickname for the city is simply known as “Rio“and one of the biggest tourist drawcard is the world famous Rio de Janeiro Carnival held ever year mid February to early March.
The city of Rio is entrenched in history and the first European settlers come to the area were the Portuguese back in 1502. Today Rio still has the largest Portuguese population in the world outside of Lisbon in Portugal with over 51% of the population being direct descendants of original Portuguese immigrants.
A famous landmark to Rio is the Corcovado Mountain that in Portuguese language means “Hunchback”. A granite mountain resembling the hump of a camel it also features the iconic statute of Cristo Rendentor “Christ the Redeemer”. The statute draws in crowds of more than 300,000 visitors per year most of which are from the Catholic faith and others who come to just marvel in the picturesque viewing platform over the city of Rio. Another scenic attraction is the riding the cablecar to Sugarloaf Mountain.
The overall part of the city is broken down into four zones with the Centro being the central business district, the West and South zones spreading along the coastal strip and the North zone containing the shanty towns known as “Favelas”. Most who visit on holiday choose to stay in the West and South zones with one of the most prime spots to stay being near Copacabana Beach.
Two popular upcoming attractions apart from the Carnival is the 2014 FIFA Wold Cup and the 2016 Olympics that will be held in Rio de Janeiro. With Brazil loving their football and passionately supporting Ronaldo, one of the world’s greatest football players, Brazil may actually win the tournament.
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