Rio de Janeiro can be the most famous city in Brazil, but probably not the place that people around the world are more curious about. There’s a simple reason for that: Brazil is also (one of the homes) to the most important forest on the planet: the Amazon Rainforest. A beautiful, mysterious and gigantic place.
As understanding Brazilian geography can be difficult for those living outside of South America, some people even think that the “Wonderful City” of Rio de Janeiro is located in the Amazon Rainforest, which is not true.
Rio de Janeiro is not in the Amazon Rainforest. The “Wonderful City,” as Brazilians call Rio, is the capital of a state with the same name, Rio de Janeiro (Southeast Brazil). Instead of the Amazon, the Atlantic Forest covers Rio de Janeiro.
Rio de Janeiro: General Information
| Region | Southeast |
| State | Rio de Janeiro |
| Biome | Atlantic Forest |
| Population | 6.748 million people |
| Climate Zone | Tropical |
| Time Zone | GMT -3 |
Rio de Janeiro Is Located In The Amazon? (Infographic)
The city of Rio de Janeiro is not located in the Amazon Rainforest (neither is the capital of Brazil, as you can see here). In fact, the “Wonderful City,” as Rio is known, is the capital of the state with the same name, Rio de Janeiro. Similar to New York City and New York state. Instead, both the city and state of Rio are located in the Southeast region of Brazil, as you’ll see in the following section.
Distances From Rio De Janeiro To The Amazon Rainforest
Brazil is the fifth-largest country, a gigantic place with continental dimensions. To give a good example of how big the country is, you can check the following table with some distances between Rio de Janeiro (in the Southeast region) and a few points of interest to visit in the Amazon Rainforest.
| Location | State | Distance | Additional Information |
| Visit Legal Amazon in Mato Grosso | Mato Grosso, Brazil | 1412 miles / 2260 kilometers | Closest location from Rio de Janeiro to the Amazon Rainforest |
| Manaus, the capital of Amazonas | Amazonas, Brazil | 2260 miles / 4283 kilometers | A metropolis in the heart of the Amazon Rainforest |
| Pico da Neblina, in Amazonas | Amazonas, Brazil | 3239 miles / 5183 kilometers | Pico da Neblina is the highest peak (and point) of Brazil |
| Monte Roraima, in the Triple Frontier | Roraima, Brazil | 3231 miles / 5169 kilometers | The real mountain and waterfalls featured at Disney/Pixar animation “UP” |
The Regions Of Brazil
Brazil has five regions: North, Northeast, Midwest, Southeast, and South. The North Region covers seven states, corresponding to more than 45% of the Brazilian territory. In addition, it is where most of the Brazilian Amazon is located.
The Northeast Region covers nine states and corresponds to almost 18% of the Brazilian territory. It has the most beautiful beaches in the country and some parts of the Brazilian Amazon. The Midwest Region encompasses three states and corresponds to about 19% of the Brazilian territory, and is also home to part of the Amazon biome.
The Southeast Region encompasses four states and corresponds to approximately one-tenth of the national territory. It is the region of the country where the city and state of Rio de Janeiro are located (not in the Amazon).
Finally, the South Region covers three states and is the one with the most differences between the country’s other regions. This is especially due to its colonization, mainly carried out by Germans and Italians. It’s where I live, and I particularly think it’s the best place in Brazil! 🙂
The Six Brazilian Biomes
According to the digital encyclopedia Brasil Escola, Brazilian biomes are regions that comprise large ecosystems made up of a biological community with similar characteristics. According to the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE), Brazil has six biomes, including the Amazon:
- Amazon
- Atlantic Forest (Rio de Janeiro is part of the Atlantic Forest)
- Cerrado
- Caatinga
- Pampa
- Pantanal
The Brazilian Amazon (And International Amazon)
Covering a territory of more than 4,196,943 km², the Amazon is the largest biome (or, as some argue, domain) in Brazil and also one of the richest in biodiversity in the world. Although most of its extension is within Brazilian territory, the Amazon rainforest – as it is also known – extends to 8 more countries: Peru, Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Bolivia, Guyana, Suriname, and French Guiana.
For the purposes of social and economic planning in the region, however, the so-called Legal Amazon was instituted in Brazil in 1953 (Law 1806/1953). The Legal Amazon consists of an area of 5,217,423 km² that occupies 61% of the Brazilian territory. Its limits were defined by a sociopolitical bias, not a geographic one, extending beyond the Amazon biome and also encompassing part of the Cerrado and the Pantanal.
Related Questions
Is Rio A Rainforest? Rio de Janeiro is part of the Atlantic Forest biome. The Atlantic Forest is a rainforest (tropical forest) biome that spans the east coast of Brazil. However, it’s important to note that Rio de Janeiro is located in the Southeast region of Brazil, not in the Amazon.
How far is the Amazon Rainforest from Rio? The closest way to the Amazon Rainforest from Rio de Janeiro is by visiting Mato Grosso, a state part of the Legal Amazon and the Amazon biome. This shortest route from Rio to the Amazon takes about 1412 miles (2260 kilometers).
What part of Brazil is the Amazon Rainforest? Most of the Amazon Rainforest in Brazil is located in the North Region. However, the “Brazilian Amazon” is gigantic and covers nine different Brazilian states and three different regions: North, Northeast, and Midwest.
