Rio de Janeiro (state)
Rio de Janeiro (Portuguese pronunciation: [ˈʁi.u dʒi ʒɐˈne(j)ɾu] ⓘ, [ˈʁi.u dʒɐˈ-])[a] is one of the 27 federative units of Brazil. It has the second largest economy of Brazil, with the largest being that of the state of São Paulo.[5] The state, which has 8.2% of the Brazilian population, is responsible for 9.2% of the Brazilian GDP.[6][7][8][9]
The state of Rio de Janeiro is located within the Brazilian geopolitical region classified as the Southeast (assigned by IBGE). Rio de Janeiro shares borders with all the other states in the same Southeast macroregion: Minas Gerais (N and NW), Espírito Santo (NE) and São Paulo (SW). It is bounded on the east and south by the South Atlantic Ocean. Rio de Janeiro has an area of 43,653 km2 (16,855 sq mi). Its capital is the city of Rio de Janeiro, which was the capital of the Portuguese Colony of Brazil from 1763 to 1815, of the following United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves from 1815 to 1822, and of later independent Brazil as a kingdom and republic from 1822 to 1960.
The state's 22 largest cities are Rio de Janeiro, São Gonçalo, Duque de Caxias, Nova Iguaçu, Niterói, Campos dos Goytacazes, Belford Roxo, São João de Meriti, Petrópolis, Volta Redonda, Magé, Macaé, Itaboraí, Cabo Frio, Armação dos Búzios, Angra dos Reis, Nova Friburgo, Barra Mansa, Barra do Piraí, Teresópolis, Mesquita and Nilópolis.
Rio de Janeiro is the smallest state by area in the Southeast macroregion and one of the smallest in Brazil. It is, however, the third most populous Brazilian state, with a population of over 16 million people at the 2022 Census (making it the most densely populated state in Brazil), and it has the third longest coastline in the country (after those of the states of Bahia and Maranhão).
In the Brazilian flag, the state is represented by Mimosa, the beta star in the Southern Cross (β Cru).
Demonym[edit]
The original demonym for the State of Rio de Janeiro is fluminense, from Latin flumen, fluminis, meaning "river". While carioca (from Old Tupi) is an older term, first attested in 1502, fluminense was sanctioned in 1783, twenty years after the city had become the capital of the Brazilian colonies, as the official demonym of the Royal Captaincy of Rio de Janeiro and subsequently of the Province of Rio de Janeiro. From 1783 through the Imperial Regime, carioca remained an unofficial term which other Brazilians used for the inhabitants of the city as well as the province. During the first years of the Brazilian Republic, carioca came to be the name given to those who lived in the city's slums or a pejorative used to refer to the bureaucratic elite of the Federal District. Only when the city lost its status as Federal District (to Brasília) and became the State of Guanabara in 1960 did carioca become an official demonym along with guanabarino. In 1975, Guanabara State was incorporated into Rio de Janeiro State, becoming the present City of Rio de Janeiro. Carioca became the demonym of the city, while fluminense continues to be used for the state as a whole.
Flag of the Captaincy of Rio de Janeiro - Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves (1565 – 1821)
Flag of the Province of Rio de Janeiro (1821 – 1889)
Flag of the State of Rio de Janeiro (1889–present)
An eagle, symbol of Brazil's royal family, appears on the state flag with the rock formation Dedo de Deus ("The Finger of God") near Teresópolis in the background. The outer part of the coat of arms represents the state's agricultural richness, sugarcane (left) and coffee (right).
![Nova Friburgo, known as "Rio's Switzerland"[79]](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0b/Nova_Friburgo.JPG/240px-Nova_Friburgo.JPG)
God's Finger peak, a symbol of the state
