Demographics of Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro City is home to more than 6 million people, accounting for about 35% of the population of Rio de Janeiro State. Portuguese remains the most widely spoken language and Rio de Janeiro is the second city in the Portuguese speaking world.
History of Rio de Janeiro
When Rio de Janeiro, which had formerly been the capital of the Empire of Brazil, became capital of the First Brazilian Republic in 1889, it was already a considerable community. At the time of the 1890 census, it had more than 520,000 inhabitants on 61 square miles (158 square km), ranking it as the largest city in Brazil and one of the larger cities in the world. The 1891 constitution designated it the Federal District.