Goaná-Pará

Rio de Janeiro occupies the western shore of Guanabara Bay, a deep harbour framed by steep granite mountains and the Atlantic Forest. Its sheltered waters made it a centre of navigation and commerce, while the narrow entrance gave the bay great strategic value. Indigenous peoples lived around Guanabara long before Europeans competed to establish themselves on its shores.

In the sixteenth century French settlers and their Tamoio allies contested the region with the Portuguese. Estácio de Sá founded São Sebastião do Rio de Janeiro in 1565; Portuguese forces, aided by the Temiminó leader Arariboia and his people, defeated the French in 1567. As gold mining expanded in Minas Gerais, roads linked the interior to the port, and in 1763 Rio replaced Salvador as the seat of the colonial government.

The arrival of the Portuguese royal court in 1808 transformed the city into the seat of a transatlantic empire. New government institutions appeared, including the royal treasury and courts, and the port opened to friendly nations. The arrival of the court brought officials and their households across the Atlantic, changing the city’s streets and administration as its population grew. Rio remained the capital after Brazilian independence in 1822. The labour and lives of enslaved Africans and their descendants were central to its growth as a port and city.