Map of Rio de Janeiro

History

European presence in Rio de Janeiro dates back to 1502. Rio de Janeiro originated from parts of the captainships of de Tomé and São Vicente. Between 1555 and 1567, the territory was occupied by the French, who intended to install a colony, France Antarctique. Aiming to prevent the occupation of the Frenchmen, in March 1565, the city of Rio de Janeiro was established by Estácio de Sá.

In the 17th century, cattle raising and sugar cane cultivation stimulated the city's progress, which was definitively assured when the port started to export gold extracted from Minas Gerais in the 18th century. In 1763, Rio de Janeiro became the capital of Colonial Brazil.

Geography

The state is part of the Mata Atlântica biome and is made up of two distinct morphological areas: a coastal plain, known as baixada, and a plateau, which are disposed in parallel fashion from the shoreline on the Atlantic Ocean inland towards Minas Gerais.

The coastline extends 635 kilometers and is formed by the bays of Guanabara, Sepetiba, and Ilha Grande.

There are prominent slopes near the ocean, featuring also diverse environments, such as restinga vegetation, bays, lagoons and tropical forests.

Most of the state however consists of highlands, often higher than 1000 m, formed by several mountain chains like the Serra do Mar which separates Rio from the state of São Paulo.

Economy

Much of the economy of the state of Rio de Janeiro is based on the provision of services, with a significant share of industry and little influence on the agricultural sector, which represents only 0.4% of the product gross domestic state.

In the past, sugar cane and later, coffee had a considerable impact on the economy of Rio de Janeiro. The area around Campos dos Goytacazes was most affected by the fall of sugar cane: at the beginning of the 20th century, Campos had 27 mills in operation and, throughout the century, it was one of the largest producers in the world. In Brazil, however, as of 2020, only two sugar mills were operating in the city.

Demographics

According to the IBGE of 2022, there were 16,055,174 people residing in the state. The population density was 36,697 inhabitants per square kilometre (95,040/sq mi).The last PNAD (National Household Survey) census revealed the following numbers: 6,739,901 White people (42.0%), 6,682,740 Pardo (Multiracial) people (41.6%), 2,594,253 Black people (16.2%), 21,837 Asian people (0.1%), 15,904 Amerindian people (0.1%).

People of Portuguese ancestry predominate in most of the state. The Brazilian census of 1920 showed that 39,74% of the Portuguese who lived in Brazil lived in Rio de Janeiro. Including all of the Rio de Janeiro, the proportion raised to 46,30% of the Portuguese who lived in Brazil.