10 facts you probably didn't know about Rio de Janeiro

  The Olympics in Rio de Janeiro are being watched all over the world, millions of us are keeping an eye on the performance of various athletes, but how much are we paying attention to the city itself? Rio is a place of tradition, folklore, and culture, where one of the modern wonders of the world exists. Today we share a little about its secrets, which are also reasons to visit the Brazilian city. 1. A misleading name Rio de Janeiro means River of January in Portuguese. The curious thing is that the explorer Gaspar de Lemos who named the city thought he was sailing down a river when he came up with the name, when in fact he was navigating a lagoon. 2. Samba is from the people Most of the samba schools that exist in Rio are located within the favelas. This is because more than a quarter of the city's population lives in them. Ended the evening yesterday with some Samba. It was necessary to get the last adrenaline out of the body😂😂😂 After yesterday's victory we needed Samba to relax a bit😂😂😂 #allforrio #rio #rio2016 #samba #fartpå #danmarktilol A photo published by Jesper Nøddesbo (@jespernoeddesbo) on August 14, 2016 at 5:02 PDT 3. Christ the Redeemer Most of us know about the Christ the Redeemer statue, one of the seven wonders of the modern world and the most important tourist attraction in Rio de Janeiro. What some may not know is that it stands more than 30 meters tall and is the largest Art Deco sculpture in the world. We're redeemed!! 😝✌️ #Rio2016 🇧🇷 ⚡ #WorldWonder ⚡️ ⚡️️ #Brasil2016 #CristoRedentor #Botafogo #Landscape #JogosOlimpicos #Brazil #christtheredeemer #Cristodeconcorvado #pãodeaçúcar #JuegosOlimpicos #Brasil #instamood #landscape #landmark #instagood #cristocorcovado #riodejaneiro #jogosolimpicos2016 #instatravel #Traveller #picoftheday #instadaily #adventure #UmMondoNovo #MaravillaDelMundo #WonderOfWorld #MomumentoDoConcorvado #OlympicGames ⚡️ A photo published by Hector Kaleb (@hectorkaleb) on August 13, 2016 at 1:42 PDT 4. The bluest sky A television researcher visited 20 different countries in 2006, including New Zealand and Australia, looking for the clearest sky. It turned out that of them all, the sky in Rio de Janeiro was the bluest. Good morning Rio 🌴☀️ #riode janeiro #brazil #ipanema @mmpny @bmm84 @alexandremessiass A photo published by Camillegoyard (@camgoyard) on May 26, 2016 at 5:59 PDT 5. The big party According to the Guinness Records, the Rio carnival is the largest in the world, attracting more than half a million visitors to its city to dance a bit of samba and drink a couple of caipirinhas. Salgueiro, in the subtlety of your verses All the charm of the universe And the divine creation mysteries of the immensity..🎵🎶 #salgueiro #academicosdosalgueiro #academiadosamba #nemmelhornempior #apenasumaescoladiferente #vermelhoebranco #gaia #sutileza #versos #encanto #universo #criação #misterios #imensidao #carnaval #carnavalbrasil #carnival #carnivalbrazil A photo published by O Sambista (@osambista) on June 4, 2016 at 1:59 PDT 6. A huge lagoon Every time you look at a photo of Rio, the water surrounding the mountains and the city belongs to Guanabara Bay. As big as it looks, you wouldn't expect it to have more than a hundred scattered islands. #rio2016 #rio #riodejaneiro #brasil #bahia #guanabara #bahiaguanabara #sudamerica #olimpiadas2016 #olimpicgames #southamerica #cristoredentor #cristoredentore #corcovado #tijuca A photo published by Mauricio Garay (@mauri_fotografia) on August 14, 2016 at 7:20 PDT 7. Fast transport A recent study stated that cariocas are the people who get on and off a bus the fastest, taking around 1.8 seconds, while, for example, a Londoner does it in about 3 seconds. 8. Pure green Rio is home to the largest urban forest in the world. The Tijuca Forest measures a staggering 33 square kilometers. #riodejaneiro #rio #rio2016 #brasil #mountains #brazil #traveling #travelgram #hiking #view #viewfromabove #tijuca #tijucanationalpark #cordovado #southamerica #wonderful_places #beautyshot #olympicgames A photo published by Twiggy Fox (@twiggy_fox) on August 15, 2016 at 12:18 PDT 9. A name for the white man The residents of Rio are known as cariocas, but in reality, that word was created by the indigenous people of the region and began to be used to describe the city that the white men were building as the house of the white man. 10. Home away from home For a brief moment, Rio was the first European capital outside of Europe. When Napoleon planned to invade Portugal in 1807, King Dom João VI decided not only to move to Brazil but to take all his cabinet members with him to continue ruling from America and specifically from Rio. Recipes For those of us who cannot be at the Olympics, a taste of Rio: Caipirinha Brigadeiro (chocolate dessert) Cheese bread Feijoada