Rio de Janeiro City Guide
- Official name: Rio de Janeiro is the name of both a state and a city in southeastern Brazil . The city was the capital of Brazil (1763-1960) and of the Portuguese Empire (1808-1821).
- Language: Portuguese (official)
- Religión: in 1996 about 76 percent of the population, or about 122 million people, declared Roman Catholicism as their religion, as compared with 89 percent in 1980.
- Currency: Real (R$)
- Climate: Rio has a tropical climate with warm to hot temperatures year-round and generally high humidity. Summer heat can be oppressive, occasionally reaching 40°C ( 104°F ) and higher. However, the cool waters of the local beaches provide an excellent escape, as do high-elevation areas nearby, such as Petrópolis. Precipitation is moderately high, being most heavy in the summer months when thunderstorms are common. The same cool waters enjoyed by local beachgoers prevent tropical cyclones from forming off the coast of Brazil .
Rio de Janeiro Sights and Museums
Beach: Going to a beach in Rio is more than abandoning yourself in the sand and enjoying the sea. It's walking, bicycling, meeting friends, watching the sunset, appreciating the walk around in the walkway, drinking coconut water or a very frozen beer and waiting for the evening.
Corcovado: Watching the city from high up Corcovado , where Christ is, with open arms above Guanabara bay . You can get to the lookout by car or by a tourist little train that climbs up the hill crossing the forest.
Pão de Açúcar: You can get there by a panoramic cable car that offers one of the most beautiful views on the city.
Jardim Botânico and Lagoa : Walking around Jardim Botânico (Botanical Garden), walking under the shadows of alleys of palms, breathing the clean air and the peace of tree-lined streets is one of the most indicated programmes to scape from the heat.
Rio de Janeiro Entertainment
Rio de Janeiro is among the biggest cities in South America , but the city is more widely renowned for the various cultural celebrations that are held there every year. The most popular of these is the Carnival, held two weeks before the traditional Christian fasting of Lent.
Not only people from all over Brazil , but from all parts of the world come to Rio to take part and witness the extravaganza. The Carnival comes with a lot of music, good food, color and of course the Samba dance. The celebration of Carnival ends on "Mardi Gras" Tuesday.
Apart from the Carnival, New Year is also a big deal in Rio and is also one of the other major festivals.
Réveillon: Staying in Copacabana during the réveillon and participating in one of the most beautiful collective parties in Rio . At midnight , the spectacle of fireworks begins, with white dressed people occupying the entire border getting people crazy.
Rio de Janeiro Transports
Rio de Janeiro is 1150 km far from Brasilia and 420 km far from São Paulo . It's has an enormous and modern International Airport , that receives flights from all over Brazil and the world. Galeão airport, next to the city center, operates with domestic flights. It has road terminals with bus departing to cities all over Brazil .
In Rio de Janeiro , buses are the main means of mass transportation (There are nearly 440 municipal bus lines serving over 4 million passengers each day, in addition to intercity lines). They are cheap and frequent, but Rio 's transportation policy has been moving towards trains and subway in order to reduce traffic jams and increase capacity.
Rio de Janeiro has 2 subway lines (Metro Rio) and several commuter rail lines. Future plans include building a third subway line to Niterói and São Gonçalo, including an underground tunnel beneath Guanabara Bay (currently, there is a ferry service there).
In Brazil , most interstate transportation is done by road. Rio de Janeiro has a large terminal for long-distance buses, at Santo Cristo neighborhood. There are also two port facilities for cargo and passenger ships ( Rio de Janeiro and Sepetiba port).
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