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Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Rio de Janeiro, on the Atlantic coast of southeastern Brazil, is one of Latin America's megacities. It is the second largest urban agglomeration in Brazil after metropolitan São Paulo. The municipality of Rio de Janeiro, measuring 1,182 square kilometers (km 2 ) is the state capital of Rio de Janeiro State (43,696 km 2 ). The estimated municipal population in 2008 was about 7.8 million inhabitants in a state of about 15 million people. About 11.8 million people occupy an area of 5,645 km 2 in the 20 municipalities of the Rio de Janeiro metropolitan region. As a megacity in one of the world's largest emerging economies, Rio faces tremendous challenges in forging a path toward achieving sustainable development. Estácio de Sá founded São Sebastião do Rio de Janeiro for the Portuguese crown in 1565, ending a short-lived occupation by French forces. The administrative capital city ...