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Rio de Janeiro history
Rio de Janeiro - Brazil
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When
on 1st of January 1502 Portuguese navigators sailed into the
bay today known as Guanabara, they thought they had discovered the delta
of a huge river and named it “river January” – Rio de Janeiro. The
city itself was founded on 1st of March 1565 by Estácio de Sá
as “São Sebstião do Rio de Janeiro”, in honor of the king of
Portugal, Don Sebastião. From 1763 until the founding of Brasilia,
today’s national capital, in 1960, under Kubitschek and architect
Niemeyer and Costa, Rio de Janeiro was the capital of Brazil. In 1808,
following napoleon’s invasion of Portugal, the royal family moved to Rio
de Janeiro. It was there that Prince Regent Don João VI was crowned king
of the United Kingdom of Brazil. Portugal and Algarve in 1815, an
historical event for the greatest significance to the development of the
Brazilian nation. From the 17th to the 19th century,
the export of sugar, gold and coffee brought about an economic boom of the
city. Today the federal state of Rio de Janeiro is, after Sao Paulo, the
second strongest industrial state of Brazil, the leading cultural city and
an very important tourism center.
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