Rio de Janeiro (city) - geography.

Rio de Janeiro (city) - geography. I INTRODUCTION Rio de Janeiro (city), city in southeastern Brazil, on the Atlantic Ocean, and the capital of the state of Rio de Janeiro. Its name is Portuguese for "river of January." This refers to its location near the entrance to Guanabara Bay, which appeared to be a large river estuary to early 16th-century explorers, and to the date it was discovered--January 1, 1502. Rio is the second most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo, and ranks second only to São Paulo in industrial production. Rio also boasts one of the busiest ports and airports in the nation. Internationally, it is still the nation's best-known city, and it was the site of the United Nations Environmental Conference in 1992. The city's inhabitants are called cariocas and are characterized within Brazil as fun-loving, sensual, and easygoing. Rio's climate is tropical and rainfall is common, averaging 1,170 mm (46 in) per year. Temperatures during the humid summer months--December to March--can top 35° C (95° F), but typically drop to between 20° C and 30° C (68° F and 86° F) during the rest of the year. Sea breezes moderate temperatures throughout the year. II RIO AND ITS METROPOLITAN AREA In Brazil Rio is known as the Marvelous City, a name which reflects the city's stunning natural setting between the mountains and the sea. Rio is located on the western side of Guanabara Bay on a flat, narrow coastal plain adjacent to the foothills of the Brazilian Highlands. As the city has expanded, it has occupied the spurs of these coastal mountains, often with the homes of the poor. The municipality of Rio, the city proper, occupies a comparatively small area, about 1,170 sq km (about 450 sq mi). The metropolitan region outside the city is vast, however. It includes 13 other municipalities, making the total metropolitan region about 6,500 sq km (about 2,500 sq mi). This urbanized area even spans Guanabara Bay, to include the suburban areas of Niterói, Neves, and São Gonçalo located on its eastern shores. These suburbs are connected by the Rio-Niterói Bridge, a 14 km (9 mi) span constructed in 1974. The local topography has been reengineered considerably to expand the city and facilitate transportation within it. The site of the city's original founding, a low hill known as Morro do Castelo, was leveled in the early years of the 20th century to expand the central business district. In the 20th century, San Antonio Hill was removed, a number of tunnels were constructed to facilitate traffic, and several large landfill projects have extended the city into Guanabara Bay and widened its beaches. The city of Rio can be thought of as being divided into three principal areas: the traditional historical core at the eastern base of the Serra da Carioca, a small coastal mountain range running east to west; the northern zone situated to the northwest of the core; and the southern zone located to the south and southwest of the core. The Serra da Carioca provides a natural physical boundary between the northern and southern zones. The commercial area of the city is compact, centering on Avenida Rio Branco and Avenida Presidente Vargas. The city's subway system follows these two avenues through the downtown area. The center includes many tall office buildings, and on weekdays its streets are clogged with motor vehicles and pedestrians. Most government offices, banks, financial institutions, major airline offices, and commercial buildings are located in the city's core. Museums, colonial churches, and notable public buildings are also located in this area. The metropolitan area's industrial districts and extensive lower-income suburbs, like the municipalities of Nova Iguaçu, São João Meriti, and Duque de Caxias, are found in the city's northern zone. The city's southern zone is largely the home of Rio's upper classes. Traditionally these wealthy residents have lived in the coastal neighborhoods of Copacabana, Ipanema, Leblon, and Gávea. While these areas are still popular upscale locations, Barra da Tijuca, further west along the coast, has perhaps become Rio's most fashionable neighborhood. Squatter settlements, known in Brazil as favelas, cover the steep slopes of many of the hills throughout the city, often in close proximity to wealthy residential neighborhoods. Rocinha, the city's largest favela with 150,000 to 300,000 residents, sits in the southern zone adjacent to the wealthy neighborhood of Gávea. Urban transportation in Rio is dominated by buses, which account for nearly 70 percent of all passenger trips, while automobiles and taxis represent slightly less than 20 percent of such trips. Suburban trains, the subway, and ferries account for a limited proportion of passenger trips--about 7 percent, 3 percent, and 2 percent respectively. III POPULATION The municipality of Rio, the city proper, had a population of 6,093,472 in 2007. The vast metropolitan region, however, was home to a population of 11.2 million (2003). Although population growth had been rapid during most of the 20th century, it slowed significantly between 1980 and 1990; during this period, the metropolitan region posted the lowest annual population growth rate, only 0.7 percent, since modern census taking began. That growth has been uneven, with the municipality of Rio posting only a 0.4 percent annual gain, while outlying suburban municipalities have averaged about 1.5 percent annually. Rio's ethnic makeup mirrors its history, which has included people of African, European, and Native American origin. Nearly two-thirds of the population is of African descent, although this group reflects the widespread racial mixing and intermarriage that have characterized Brazilian society. While racial tolerance and acceptance are often heralded as characteristics of Brazilian society, whites typically enjoy more privileged social and economic positions than people of African or native descent. IV EDUCATION AND CULTURE Although Rio is not Brazil's largest city, nor its capital, its historical role as the nation's preeminent urban center makes it the single most important city in the country in terms of education, culture, and the arts. The city is well endowed with both public and private universities. Public universities include the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (1920), the State University of Rio de Janeiro (1961), and the University of Rio de Janeiro (1969). Cándido Mendes University Conglomerate (1981), Gama Filho University (1972), Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro (1941), and University Santa Úrsula (1938) are all private universities. Rio contains the National Library, housed in an impressive neoclassical building, and the National Archive. Another important part of the city's cultural offerings are its museums, including the National Museum, the Museum of Modern Art, the National Fine Arts Museum, the National Historical Museum, the Museum of the Indian, and the Carmen Miranda Museum. The Municipal Theater, built in 1905 and modeled on the Paris Opera House, is in the core of the city and is home to Rio's ballet troupe and opera company. Architecture is an important component in the city's landscape. Religious architecture includes the Convent of San Antonio, which was built in 1608 and is thought to be the oldest religious structure in the city; the Monastery of St. Bento with an impressive Baroque-style chapel; Our Lady of Carmo Church where both Brazil's emperors were coronated; and Our Lady of Candelária Church, thought by some to be the city's most beautiful church. Another building of interest is the Imperial Palace, located several blocks west of Santos Dumont Airport. Originally constructed as Brazil's colonial governor's capitol in 1743, it was converted to the royal palace during the city's period as an imperial capital. It has recently been restored and now houses a cultural center. Other impressive 19th-century palaces include Itamaraty and Catete, both located in the city center. The latter was occupied by the country's presidents between 1896 and 1954 and now houses the Museum of the Republic. The state legislature meets in the Palácio Tiradentes, formerly the home of the federal assembly when Rio was the nation's capital. The city's architecture from the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries stands in dramatic contrast with its ultramodern Petrobras building, headquarters of the state petroleum company, and the avant-garde Metropolitan Cathedral. The city's most famous landmarks are Pão de Açúcar (404 m/1,325 ft), which is situated on a peninsula jutting into Guanabara Bay and is known as Sugar Loaf Mountain in English, and the massive (40 m/131 ft) Christ the Redeemer statue, which overlooks the city from the top of Corcovado Mountain (704 m/2,310 ft) in the Serra da Carioca coastal range. V RECREATION Recreational activities abound in Rio. Extensive sandy beaches along the Atlantic Ocean in the southern margins of the city are used heavily by both residents and tourists. Tijuca National Park is outside the urbanized area, atop the Serra da Carioca range, and contains remnants of the tropical rain forest that once covered the entire region. Urban parks include Quinta da Boa Vista Park (site of the National Museum, which focuses on natural history), the Botanical Gardens, Lage Park, and Flamengo Park. These parks provide opportunities for a range of recreational activities--including hiking, climbing, hang gliding, jogging, walking, and cycling--for both residents and tourists. Maracanã Stadium, which holds more than 100,000 spectators, is located just outside Quinta da Boa Vista Park. Rio's milestone social event and preeminent tourist attraction each year is Carnival, a major festival held in late February or early March, just prior to the beginning of the Christian season of Lent. During the weeks that precede Carnival, the city receives thousands of tourists. Events include spontaneous street dancing behind popular bandas (marching bands comprised of brass and percussion instruments), formal Carnival balls for nearly every income level, and several days of Sambadrome parades where the best samba schools compete in marathon musical and dance presentations along a specially designed street where thousands of spectators gather to watch the event unfold. VI ECONOMY Rio ranks second nationally in industrial production and is a major financial and service center. The city's industries produce processed foods, chemicals, petroleum products, pharmaceuticals, metal products, ships, textiles, clothing, and furniture. The service sector dominates the economy, however, and includes banking and the second most active stock market in Brazil, the Bolsa da Valores do Brasil. Tourism and entertainment are other key aspects of the city's economic life and the city is the nation's top tourist attraction for both Brazilians and foreigners. Revenue from tourism began declining sharply in the late 1980s and early 1990s, due in part to a global recession and the Persian Gulf War (1991), but also because of political turmoil and rampant crime in the city. The annual number of foreign travelers visiting Rio dropped from a high of 750,000 in 1988 to 425,000 in 1990. Local authorities responded by creating a special police unit in 1992 to patrol those areas most frequented by tourists, especially the Copacabana neighborhood--home to many of the city's hotels, tourist facilities, and attractive beaches. Rio is well connected to the rest of Brazil by land, sea, and air. It is linked to all key points in the nation by an extensive highway system. Most freight moves by truck and a wide range of buses provide direct service to all major Brazilian cities. Two airports serve the city: Santos Dumont Airport, a downtown facility for local shuttle flights between Rio and São Paulo, and Galeão Airport, a major national and international airport located on Governor's Island in Guanabara Bay. The volume of cargo moved through Rio's port ranks second in the nation. Only the port of Santos, which serves as the port for São Paulo, exceeds its volume. VII GOVERNMENT Rio's metropolitan region includes the 14 independent municipal governments which make up the urban area. Municipalities are the foundation of democratic government in Brazil, as laid out in the 1988 constitution. They are governed by elected mayors and municipal councils and have responsibility for primary education, basic health services, solid-waste collection and disposal, and municipal upkeep, including streets and parks. Municipal funding sources include taxes on property and services, as well as revenue from state and federal sources. There is no metropolitan planning or development authority, although in the 1980s the state-instituted Metropolitan Development Foundation attempted to fulfill such a role. It has since been disbanded. VIII CONTEMPORARY ISSUES Although Rio may be Brazil's most beautiful city, it is also one of its most troubled. The favelas which blanket the slopes of surrounding hillsides house approximately 20 percent of the city's residents and are often dangerous, unsanitary, and lacking in basic services such as water, sewerage, and, to a lesser extent, electricity. Many of the city's poor have no jobs, no access to schools, and only limited access to medical care. However, literacy rates for Rio are high, nearly 90 percent, and a system of public hospitals and clinics provides at least some medical care to the city's poorest residents. Police corruption is widespread. Environmental pollution is a problem throughout the metropolitan region, and the waters of Guanabara Bay are considered too polluted for safe bathing. Rio experienced serious crime problems in the early 1990s, when powerful criminal gangs took over entire favela neighborhoods. The murders of homeless children in 1993 by corrupt police officers acting on behalf of commercial interests drew international attention to Rio's social and criminal problems. With a murder rate of 61 per 100,000 people in 1994, Rio was one of the world's most violent cities. This was more than twice the rate of 28 per 100,000 for São Paulo. IX HISTORY Portuguese explorers arrived at Guanabara Bay in 1502 and in 1555 French colonists established a Calvinist settlement. Native Americans from the Tupí family occupied the area at the time of European contact. The French were expelled in 1567 by the Portuguese, who maintained a small colony based on subsistence agriculture, fishing, and the export of brazilwood and sugarcane until the beginning of the 18th century. In 1704 the completion of a road from Rio to the gold mines of Minas Gerais made the city a major center of transportation, commerce, and wealth. Rio was captured by the French in 1710 and the Portuguese paid a substantial ransom for its return. The city's fortunes rose in 1763 when the capital of colonial Brazil was moved to Rio from Salvador, a port city in northeastern Brazil known at the time as Bahia. After Napoleon Bonaparte's armies captured Lisbon, Portugal, in 1808, Rio became the seat of Portugal's exiled royal family. In the decade that followed, the city grew dramatically and took on a decidedly European flavor. In 1822 it became the capital of the independent Brazilian Empire. With the overthrow of the monarchy in 1889, Rio was made the capital of the Brazilian republic. Beginning in the late 1800s and continuing well into the middle of the 1900s, coffee cultivation expanded widely in the mountainous terrain surrounding Rio, fueling a commercial boom that enriched the city and its residents. By 1900 Rio's population had grown to about 800,000. The global economic depression of the 1930s and World War II (1939-1945) drastically reduced the flow of manufactured goods into Brazil, encouraging the development of national industries; many of these were based in Rio. After World War II, Rio prospered from increasing commerce and international trade. During this period Rio attracted large numbers of migrants who came from small towns and rural areas of Brazil seeking jobs and better living conditions. In 1960 the capital of the nation was transferred to Brasília, deep in the country's interior. This marked a dramatic change for Rio, resulting in a loss of political status and prestige. In addition, large amounts of federal aid--as well as related investment and jobs--were shifted to the new capital, undermining Rio's economic dominance. Nevertheless, the city's population continued to mushroom until the 1980s, when growth tapered off. Contributed By: Robert B. Kent Microsoft ® Encarta ® 2009. © 1993-2008 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.