discovered by the portuguese, in 1502, the bay was originally mistook for the mouth of a river, which is what gave the city the name of rio de janeiro, as 'rio' mean river, and 'janeiro' means january, the month of the discovery.

home to some of the most famous sites of the region, guanabara bay connects rio de janeiro to neighboring city, niterói via its landmark 13 kilometers long bridge rio - niterói, which is one of the highlights of the bay.

there are a number of islands dotted around guanabara bay, with the two most prominent being the ilha do governador and ilha de paquetá.