The city of Rio de Janeiro is one of the cities of the country of Brazil. It has the status of being the second most important city of the country, and comes only after Sao Paulo. The name, Rio de Janeiro, comes from a phrase in the Portuguese language, which when translated into English, means River of January. The city has the status of being the capital of the state having the same name. in the period between the years 1763 and 1960, Rio de Janeiro was the capital of the country, and remained so for around two centuries. This lasted while Rio de Janeiro was an independent city from the year 1822 to the year 1960, and when it was a Portuguese colony from the year 1763 to the year 1822. the name which is commonly used to refer to the city of Rio de Janeiro is Rio. One of the nicknames of Rio de Janeiro is A Cidade Maravilhosa, which when translated into English comes to The Marvelous City.

Some of the reasons why Rio de Janeiro is so famous are the carnival celebrations which are held here, samba and other different kinds of music played in the city, the fantastic natural setting of the city, and the beaches which are lined with hotels for tourists which are decorated with mosaics of cream and black swirl patterns known by the local people as pedra potuguesa, hotels such as Ipanema and Copacabana. The huge statue of Jesus which is known as Christ the Redeemer, or Cristo Redentor is one of the several famous landmarks located in Rio de Janeiro. This statue has been built on top of the Corcovado Mountain. The statue has now been included in the newly announced Seven Wonders of the World. Other major landmarks include the Sugarloaf Mountain, the Maracana Stadium, and the Sambodromo.