Rio de Janeiro is a huge urban area in Brazil, but people there must go around with caution. There are many dangerous slums located around the city, ongoing drug warfare, corruption and criminals who target visitors in tourist areas.
Rio de Janeiro is a major city in Brazil with a huge tourism industry, but it also is plagued by astounding crime rates. There are many incidents of homicide, particularly in poor areas that are controlled by the city’s drug dealers. About 30 victims are murdered in Rio de Janeiro per week. Many of these incidents have to do with stray bullets, muggings and narcoterrorism. There is ongoing urban warfare in this city between police and drug traffickers, and over 1,000 people are killed this way each year.
Many of the problems of Rio de Janeiro have to do with the widening gap between the rich and the poor segments of society. There is a huge impoverished part of the city, and about 20% of Rio’s population live in its sprawling shanty towns and slums, known as favelas. Many of the hillsides are crowded with these favelas, and these are dangerous areas to navigate without proper guidance.
The police in Rio de Janeiro are known to be corrupt, part of the reason being they are not paid very well. It is recommended not to interact with officers, as they are known to threaten for bribery. Sometimes innocent people are framed for being involved with the drug economy, so they have to bribe the police to get out of it.
Though the city has beautiful and famous beaches, it is recommended to avoid them at night, as they are infested with drug dealers, and this could lead to more dangerous situations. Many of the drug trafficking is tied in with Rio’s powerful mafia, and this is not something anyone should be involved with; police also use zero tolerance with drugs, and will use brutal and violent tactics if they catch anyone.
Apart from drug-related violence, there are also many incidents of robbery. It is dangerous to go to ATMs at night, as people risk being abducted and robbed. Beatings and rape occasionally occur in these situations as well. Though less serious, pickpocketing is also an issue in Rio de Janiero, especially in the airport or in tourist-frequented areas.
to live in Brazil must have a lot of courage!
this is a heartbreaker. rio is such a beautiful city. what they need is a good, thourough purging. by force
Have been to Rio De Janeiro and it is a beautiful city and i loved it and it is my favourite city i have been to, it has huge problems with crime violence drugs and poverty but it is still a wonderful and great city with alot of good, when i went there i felt safe and never felt like i was in danger, it is a pretty safe city to visit depending on where abouts you go, the resort areas are safe and are well guarded by lots of police and security officers, the bad areas are mostly the favelas and surrounding areas near the favelas, it’s also best to stay in the resorts and don’t go out at night and it’s best to get guided tours that way you will be safe, would definitely love to go back there again someday and would love to visit other cities in Brazil to.
I have been to Rio twice, and never saw any crime.
I am not saying there is none, on the contrary…I am pretty sure in the slums it occurs every day, however as I stayed mostly in the South Side (Ipanema, Leblon, Copacabana) with some incursion into the Downtown area, I didnt see any crime nor did I felt threatened…
Also, I think this rank is kind of biased, because how can you possible compare Mogadishu ( Somalia), Baghdad ( Iraq) or Grozny (Chechnya in Russia) with Rio???
Rio is a tourist destination that receives close to 2 million tourists a year, with hundreds of hotels, museums, convention centers, etc. and a infra-strutucture designed for tourism.
When was the last time you heard someone going on vacations to Mogadishu?
So I don’t see the the scientific method of this rank.
Being from Brazil i can first hand tell you it’s a beautiful country. Gorgeous beaches, sexy women, friendly people and just totally different then anywhere else in the world. I’ve never experienced any crimes while there and I’m 20 years old. I would advise anyone going there to play it smart. Just as you wouldn’t flash your cash in detroit, don’t do it in rio or anywhere else
You all have said some nice things about Rio and yes it is quite a nice place with many wonderful things to see and do, but the truth is also that Rio is a very dangerous city with a homicide raid at 28 to every 100,000 and that’s not putting into account theft, mugging and carjacking that has gone through the roof and is getting worst by the day. I have family their and when you get into the subject of crime and Rio in general they seem to feel that there is no hope. Also one person said that you are safe in the tourist areas well that’s not all true many muggings happen in those areas as well. Also leave your jewelry at home.
Rio is one of the most beautiful cities in the world. Prior to moving to Rio, I lived in Paris and London for about 15 years each. To be honest I feel more unsafe in Paris than I do in Rio. I think the above article is very badly written and misses the point.
Yes Rio can be dangerous in the same way as London can be. Don’t go and buy drugs in a favela, don’t walk around with an expensive camera around your neck, don’t flash large amounts of cash and you will be fine.
I was born in Rio and yes its a very dangerous city
rio is a underfull city depends where do u go to and fo what , but of course are realy dangerous in some gettos
Im going down in april 2012 to see Bob Dylan ..Im hoping to have a great time and expect no hassles..(I live in San Francisco)
Much safer than about 8 years ago, huge decrease in murders. What I find hypocritical is that they’ve only done this because of the world cup and olympics, it’s the rich Colombian mentality again! They only want to show you the good side because they won two major sporting events.
Meanwhile, outside of the Rio and São Paulo areas, murders are ballooning almost everywhere else across Brazil.
I would like to travel to Brizal, Rio de Janeiro. What other nice area to check out the beautiful women and night spots around Brizal?