Brazil
Brazil is 35 times larger than the UK.
By GDP the Brazilian economy is the world’s 6th largest.
1.3 billion litres of cachaça, the spirit that is the base of a caipirinha, are produced each year. Only 1% of this production is exported.
Carnival is a moveable feast that should end on Ash Wednesday.
Tom Jobim’s The Girl from Ipanema is one of the world’s most recorded and performed songs.
Rio de Janeiro
Charles Darwin said: “Rio is more magnificent than anything any European has ever seen in his country of origin.”
The first Europeans to visit Rio arrived on 1 January 1502.
Rio has the oldest operating electric tramway in the world called the Santa Teresa Tram or bondinho.
A person from Rio is known as a Carioca.
Rio is the most visited city in the Southern Hemisphere.
The average annual minimum temperature in Rio is 21 °C (70 °F), the average annual maximum temperature is 27 °C (81 °F)
From 1815 to 1821 Rio was the capital not only of Brazil, but also of Portugal.
Corcovado, the mountain on which the statue of Christ sits, rises 2,316 feet (706 metres) above Rio. Over double the height of the Shard in London, Europe’s tallest building.
Rio has over 56 miles of beaches.
Copacabana Beach was the site of the world’s largest rock concert when the Rolling Stones gave a free concert on the beach for over 1.5 million fans in February 2006.
The director of the animated feature Rio, Carlos Saldanha, is from Rio. He also directed the first three Ice Age movies.
Brazilian Sporting Facts
Rio was the first South American city to host the Olympics, and only the third city in the southern hemisphere.
Brazil has won most of its Olympic medals in volleyball and sailing.
The Maracanã Stadium was originally built for the 1950 World Cup and at the time could hold crowds of up to 200,000.
The Maracanã Stadium is the 6th stadium to host both a World Cup final and the opening/closing ceremonies of the Olympics.
The 2014 World Cup was the first time two consecutive World Cups were staged outside of Europe and the first time two consecutive World Cups were staged in the Southern Hemisphere.
Brazil has won the World Cup five times and is the only country to play in the final stages of every World Cup.
Brazil the Guide 