Rio de Janeiro: Orientation

With its island-studded harbor and sweeping expanse of Atlantic Ocean beaches backed by rugged mountains, Rio de Janeiro enjoys a natural setting of unsurpassed grandeur.

The municipal boundaries of Rio de Janeiro enclose an area of 524 square miles (1,357 sq km), consisting of mountain masses and plains. Although the plains predominate, they contain extensive shallow lagoons that further restrict the space available for urbanization.

The mountain ridges originally were covered by tropical evergreen forest. Since the Portuguese colonization, the forest has been devastated, but several restoration projects have been undertaken. The 63-square-mile (163-sq-km) Tijuca National Forest is the best example. Replanted in a former coffee-growing area, it contains valuable timber trees. The statue of Cristo Redentor (Christ the Redeemer), with his outstretched arms, gazes down on the Bahia da Guanabara and the landmark Pão de Açúcar (Sugar Loaf). His left arm points toward the zona norte, and his right toward the zona suI suburbs of Copacabana, Ipanema, Leblon and beyond.

Rio de Janeiro is a tale of two cities. The upper and middle classes reside in the zona suI, the lower class, in the zona norte. Favelas cover steep hillsides on both sides of town - Rocinha, Brazil's largest favela with between 150,000 and 300,000 residents, is in Gávea, one of Rio's richest neighborhoods. Most industry is in the zona norte, as is most of the pollution. The ocean beaches are in the zona suI.

Unless they work in the zona norte, residents of the zona suI rarely go to the other side of Rio de Janeiro. The same holds true for travelers, unless they head north to the Maracanã football stadium or the Quinta da Boa Vista, with the national museum, or the international airport on the Ilha do Governador.

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