colonial period
On January 20, 1502, the Portuguese explorers arrived in an expedition led by the Portuguese explorer Gaspar de Lemos, to the Guanabara Bay. The European presence in the area began after the year 1519 when Fernando de Magallanes docked his ships.
The first permanent European settlement in the area occurs in the year 1555, when the French naval officer Nicolas Durand de Villegaignon arrived with 2 ships and 600 soldiers and settlers. The colony was called France Antarctica.
The city was founded on March 1, 1565, by the Portuguese soldier Estácio de Sá, with the name of São Sebastião do Rio de Janeiro (Saint Sebastian of the January River). For centuries the settlement was called São Sebastião. From this base, the French settlement was invaded, which were expelled in the year 1567.
At the end of the 16th century, Rio was a strategic location for ships going between Brazil, the colonies in Africa and Europe. Fortresses were built. Sugar cane was the main industry in the area.
Until the early 17th century, it was invaded by French pirates and buccaneers.
Rio became a useful port after 1720, when the Portuguese found gold and diamonds in nearby Minas Gerais.
In the year 1763, the Portuguese colonial administration in America moved to Rio, this being the capital of the Kingdom of Portugal (the only European capital outside of Europe).
imperial period
When Prince Pedro I proclaimed Brazil's independence in 1822, he decided to keep Rio de Janeiro as the capital of his new empire.
The city was the economic and political center of the country. It was the main scene of the abolitionist and republican movements in the second half of the 19th century.
republican period
The city had serious social problems due to rapid and disorderly growth. With the decline of slavery, the city had begun to receive large numbers of European immigrants and former slaves, attracted by the opportunities that opened up there for wage labor. Between 1872 and 1890, it went from having 274,000 to 522,000 inhabitants.
The current occupation of the South Zone was carried out with the opening of the Antiguo tunnel, allowing the connection between Botafogo and Copacabana.
See more about the history of Río de Janeiro
