Rio de Janiero is a gorgeous city, but most people only know the Copacabana and Ipanema side of Rio. Go Beyond the Map, and discover the favelas of Rio.

Go Beyond the Beaches

With Rio de Janeiro hosting the Olympics, the city is under a microscope (good and bad). But what we are seeing in the news and on TV isn’t the only side of Rio. Beyond the Map is a Google web documentary that goes past the beaches, and takes viewers inside the city’s informal settlements, the favelas. With the help of a local Afro-Brazilian Affroreggae, Google has been trying to map the favelas. A favela is a slum in Brazil, and these settlements house one in five residents of Rio. If you were to look on Google Maps, favelas shows up as blank space. These favelas also get a bad rap, some deserved but there is more to it. While discovering a different part of Rio, hear all the stories, look around, walk the streets and listen to the music always playing in the neighborhoods. Rio de Janeiro is more than gorgeous beaches, go Beyond the Map and discover a new side of Brazil.