Looking north from Copacabana
Looking north from the front deck of Sofitel Rio Palace along Copacabana beach to Sugar Loaf Mountain, at the right center of the photo. When the Portuguese first came to the area in January 1502, they mistook Baia de Guanabara (Guanabara Bay) for a river (rio), which is how the city got its name: January River, or Rio de Janeiro. It was established as the city of Sao Sebastiano do Rio de Janairo around 1560, and served as the capital of Brazil from 1763 until the city of Brasilia was opened in 1960. 8th International Conference in Nursing Informatics, Rio de Janeiro, June 2003 20030619 1/400 sec at f / 8.0 Canon PowerShot S300 © Kathleen G. Charters