Unexpected Discovery of the City Hosting the 2016 Olympics

Rio - the city hosting the 2016 Olympics in Brazil is taking place the most exciting sports competitions on the planet. Beautiful seaside city is famous for colorful street festivals.

Key Facts About Brazil

In January 1052, Portuguese explorers found this land and named it "Rio De Janeiro" (River of January) and the name is known today.

In Portuguese, Rio De Janeiro is also known as "Cidade Maravilhosa" - (Marvelous City - means "Magical city").

Rio is known by locals as "Carioca" from "Karri ola" - the home of white people. But some other comments suggest that "Carioca" comes from "Acari" - possibly the name of a fish or in the European language meaning a type of armor.

Go to Rio you will be impressed by the colorful murals throughout the street. It is considered a "paradise" for graffiti artists and enthusiasts.

Why Brazil Matters

173,850 spectators went to the Maracana Stadium in Rio to follow the 1950 World Cup final between Uruguay and Brazil. This is the most popular football game in history. At the end of that match, Brazil lost to Uruguay with a score of 1-2.

This is also the place where the world's largest concert takes place. In 1994, Rod Stewart held a concert with 3.5 million audiences watching at Copacabana beach.

In 1711, after discovering huge gold reserves in Rio, France sought to capture and ransom the city heads (mainly Portuguese). To retain the territory, the heads of the city of Rio had to pay the ransom: 612,000 gold cruzado and 100 canes of sugar.

The largest Carnaval festival on the planet takes place in 5 days, with about 587 parties, 4.9 million participants are held annually in Brazil. This festival brings about 570 million Euro for the Brazilian economy.

From 1815 to 1822, Rio was the capital of Portugal.

Many people mistake the city of Rio as Brazil's capital. In fact, the city of Brasilia is the capital of Brazil.