Exploration of Rio de Janeiro

Date: January 1, 1502 • Location: Niterói, Brazil

The present-day location of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, is first explored by the Portuguese under their commissioned Florentine explorer, Amerigo Vespucci. Vespucci begins his suspicion that there is a whole continent between Europe and Asia.

Rio de Janeiro, also known simply as Rio, is the capital and largest city of the state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the second-largest city in Brazil after São Paulo, and the largest by number of international tourists. It has a population of 6 million in the city proper, and 13 million in its metropolitan area as of 2025. It is also the sixth-most-populous city in the Americas.