Rio de Janeiro (state)

Rio de Janeiro , state (1996 pop. 13,316,455), 16,568 sq mi (42,911 sq km), SE Brazil, on the Atlantic Ocean. The capital is Rio de Janeiro .

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Cidade de São Sebastião do Rio de Janeiro A state formed in 1975 and named after the city which was founded in 1565 and called the ‘City of St Sebastian of Rio de Janeiro’; Sebastian for the 3rd‐century saint and also for Sebastian (1554–78), King of Portugal (1557–78), who died during an anti‐Muslim crusade in Morocco. The city was named after the bay which was called Rio de Janeiro ‘River of January’ by Portuguese explorers who thought that the bay they had sailed into on 1 January 1502 was actually the mouth of a river. The city became the Portuguese colonial capital in 1763, of the united kingdom of Portugal and Brazil in 1816, and of Brazil when independence was achieved in 1822; it remained so until 1960 when the capital was transferred to Brasília. The city is commonly referred to as Rio.