Making History: Rio de Janeiro

摘要

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil's second largest city, is renowned as much for its astonishing topography as fur its exuberant cultural life. Spread over some 1,200 square kilometers along Ciuanabara Bay and the Atlantic Ocean, it encompasses extensive beaches and the mountainous Tijuca National Park, a restored rainforest that is among the largest urban parks in the world. More than six million people live in the city, about 1.2 million (20%) in its nearly 600 favelas, the oldest of which dates to the late 19th century. Favelas range from 500 to 70,000 people. Many are ruled by drug lords, making them off-limits to police. Some are on the urban peripheries; others occupy prime sites near the city's landmarks-a number have even colonized the national park and overlook the ocean at Copacabana and Ipanema. Like many cities, Rio experienced rapid informal development in the post-World-War-Two era, but population growth has now stabilized. Migration from other areas has slowed, and growth in the favelas is roughly proportional to overall population growth.