Rio de Janeiro is located in the Americas.
Rio de Janeiro ( [ ˈriːoʊ_di_ʒəˈnɛəroʊ , _ - deɪ_ʒə - , _ - də_dʒə - ] [ ˈʁi.u d ( ʒi ) ʒɐˈnejɾu ] ; River of January ) , or simply Rio , is the second-most populous municipality in Brazil and the sixth-most populous in the Americas . The metropolis is anchor to the Rio de Janeiro metropolitan area , the second-most populous metropolitan area in Brazil and sixth-most populous in the Americas .