Portuguese explorers landed on the site on 1 January 1502. The city was founded by the Portuguese in 1567 as São Sebastião de Rio de Janeiro (although the site was occupied by the French as early as 1555 under Nicolas de Villecagnon). The name commemorates the arrival of the Portuguese, but there is in fact no river.

Some colonial churches, including the Candelaria cathedral (1639), and buildings survive; there are modern boulevards, including Avenida Rio Branco and Avenida Presidente Vargas. The The neighbourhoods of Rio de Janeiro include the middle-class residential beach resorts of Copacabana, Ipanema, and Leblon; more recent urban sprawl has resulted in the new suburbs of São Conrado, Barra da Tijuca and Itanhanga to the south. Tourists are attracted by the renowned annual carnival. One-third of the population lives in shanty towns, with an income of less than US$70 a month per person. Rocinha is the largest squatter settlement in South America and is located on the south side of the city in the neighbourhood of São Conrado.

Most of the colonial buildings have been destroyed following a programme of massive urban renovation which was begun in 1903 by the Rio Prefect, Francisco Pereira Passos. The renovations were inspired by similar urban renovations instigated by Georges-Eugène Haussmann in Paris and created grand avenues and public buildings.

Tourism, though still a major industry, has declined in recent years due to violence in the city as well as pollution along the city's beaches.

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Rio de Janeiro, Brazil