Rio de Janeiro

Rio de Janeiro, a maritime state of Brazil, lying between Espírito Santo, Minas Gerais, and São Paulo. Area, 26,627 sq. m.; pop. without the city (1888) 1,164,468. The coast is low and swampy, the interior mountainous and healthy; the chief ranges are the Serras dos Orgãos (5750 feet) and da Mantiqueira in the extreme west (8900). The principal river is the Parahyba. There are still considerable forests, though they have been greatly thinned. Coffee is the chief agricultural product, and after that sugar and cotton. Sugar-houses, distilleries, breweries, and manufactories of cottons, hats, and cigars are numerous. The state contains iron, kaolin, marble, &c. The capital is Niteróhy (Niteroy), opposite the city of Rio; with São Domingo and Praia Grande it has 20,000 inhabitants. The German colonies in the state have a pop. of over 15,000.