The Portuguese arrived in 1502, the French in 1555. The Tupinambá, a native people, had been here forever, around the shores of the perfect series of coves and beaches they called Guanabara, or Bosom of the Sea. The Portuguese named it Rio de Janeiro—“The River of January”—because “rio” in ancient Portuguese meant “body of water” and because January it was. The land was marsh, swamp and sandpit; yellow fever and malaria abounded, but the location was strategic, an ideal southern outpost on the S...
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