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Cosmopolitan city, Brazil's capital for almost 200 years, Rio de Janeiro is one of the most main culture centers on the country, with a lot of cinemas, theaters, museums, rooms of concert, show houses, art galleries and libraries. Big gastronomical zone, the restaurants on the city offer a lot of options, from international cookery to typical dishes from all Brazilian regions. Very few cities in the world are able to concentrate, in a very cool way, all the little icons that makes life a party: beach, sun, samba, frozen beer, tasteful food, football, beautiful people, streets with light curves that lead to little tropical forests.

Beaches
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
Another postal card on Rio de Janeiro is a hill in the entrance of Guanabara bay. You can get there by a panoramic cable car that offers one of the most beautiful views on the city. Floresta da Tijuca (Tijuca's Forest) Very near to South Zone, it's a very exuberant tropical forest, with waterfalls and cascades, within urban area.

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. Walking or bicycling, around the Lagoa Rodrigo de Freitas' (Rodrigo de Freitas' lake) border, magnificent water mirror enclosed by mountains, that offers an equipped leisure space and kiosks where you can eat and drink very well.

Carnival
To visit the city in the Carnival period and to watch to so called "the biggest show in the planet", the parade of the samba schools in the "Sambódromo". It's a spectacle with colors, music and unforgettable and involving rhythm.

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.

Tijuca Forest
this is the world's largest urban forest. Hundreds of species of plants and wildlife, found only in the Atlantic Rainforest covering some 3,200 hectares. The Tijuca Forest was reforested in the middle of the 19 Century after years of intense deforesting and planting (specially coffee plantations). The replanting was a pioneer initiative in all Latin America. Just a short drive from the financial center downtown, the North Zone and Rio's smart beach districts, its attractions include the Cascatinha Waterfallll, the Mayrink Chapel, the Excelsior Lookout Point, the Paul and Virginia Grotto, Fairy Lake and, all favorite destinations for weekend family outings.

Sports
Rio de Janeiro will host the 2007 Pan-American Games. More notable sports events in Rio includes the MotoGP Brazilian Grand Prix and the World Beach volleyball finals. The city is building a new stadium near the Maracanã, to hold 45,000 people. It will be named after Brazilian ex-FIFA president João Havelange. Rio de Janeiro was also a candidate for the 2012 Summer Olympics. Copacabana beach will be the site of the triathlon and beach volleyball with yachting competitions held in Guanabara Bay.

Geographical Profile
Rio de Janeiro The city of BRAZIL is situated at 22°54'23" latitude south and 43°10121" longitude west, in the municipality of the same name;The municipality of Rio de Janeiro is 1,255,3km² in area, including the islands and continental waters. It measures 70km from east to west and 44km from north to south. The municipality is divided into 32 Administrative Regions with 159 districts. it is the capital of the State of Rio de Janeiro and part of the Southeastern Region of Brazil. To the north it borders on several municipalities of the State of Rio de Janeiro. To the south lies the Atlantic Ocean, to the east Guanabara Bay (Baía de Guanabara) and to the west Sepetiba Bay (Baía de Sepetiba).mountains and sea, forests and beaches, stone walls rising abruptly from extended lowlands, all forming the landscape of rare beauty thsat has made Rio famous all over the world as the Wonderful City.