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Rio De Janeiro's 20th Century History
Home » Brazil » Rio De Janeiro - Overview and History » Rio De Janeiro's 20th Century HistoryThe city was mainly limited to the area now known as the historic Centro business district on the mouth of Guanabara Bay. In the early part of the 20th century, the city’s center of business began to shift south and west to the so-called South Zone. The first tunnel was built under the mountains located between Botafogo and the neighborhood known as Copacabana. The fame of the 1930s Americas luxury hotel, the Copacabana Palace Hotel and the beach’s natural beauty helped Rio gain the reputation it still hold today as a beach party town. But this reputation has been tarnished in recent years by violence resulting from the narcotics trade.
In 1955, Juscelino Kubitschek was elected president and promised to build a new capital. Though many thought it was just a campaign speech, Kubitschek did manage to build Brasilia by 1960, though at a great cost. On April 21, 1960, the capital of Brazil was officially moved from Rio de Janeiro to Brasilia.
Today Rio de Janeiro is the second largest city in Brazil and is still a major cultural capital. Rio de Janeiro has a majestic beauty with built-up areas nestled between a splendid bay and incredible beaches on one side and a rapidly rising mountain range, sheltered by a lavish tropical forest. This unique landscape makes Rio de Janeiro one of the most beautiful cities in the world.
Rio’s cultural life is intense and varies. No time is the city’s festive reputation better displayed than during the annual carnival that enlivens the city for three days and nights with music, singing, parties, balls and street parades of brilliantly colored costumed dancers performing the samba.
Rio de Janeiro is a service industry center, a key financial center and the producers of food items, building materials, electrical equipment, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, beverages and textiles. But Rio’s primary economical income is from the pursuit of leisure. With it’s world famous beaches, such as Copacabana and Ipanema, its wonderful climate which is a blend of summer and springtime, its beautiful bay, Rio de Janeiro is a city that lives in and for the sun.
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