Carioca

Carioca is a Portuguese adjective or demonym that is used to refer to the native inhabitants of the city of Rio de Janeiro – capital of the homonym state (RJ), in Brazil. The original word, "kara'i oka," comes from the indigenous Amerindian language of the Tupi people, meaning "white man's house." It is said that the first Portuguese dwellings in Rio de Janeiro were placed along a limpid stream, which soon got the Portuguese name carioca.

The demonym meaning for the state of Rio de Janeiro is fluminense, taken from the Latin word flumen, meaning "river". So, for instance, someone from Niterói is both fluminense and niteroiense, while someone from Rio de Janeiro is fluminense, and also carioca.

Rio de Janeiro is an ethnically diverse city by the standards of Western global cities. The last PNAD (National Research for Sample of Domiciles) census numbers for the Rio de Janeiro (state) are: 8,576,000 White people (53.6%), 5,376,000 Pardo people (33.6%), 1,920,000 Black people (12%) and 128,000 Asian or Amerindian people (0.8%). The last PNAD census for Rio de Janeiro (city) is: 3,193,588 White people (50.5%), 2,244,997 Pardo people (35.5%), 809,463 Black people (12,8%) and 75,887 Asian or Amerindian people (1.2%).

Like other Brazilians, cariocas speak primarily Portuguese. The carioca accent and sociolect (also simply called "carioca," see below) are the most famous of Brazil, in part because Rede Globo, the second largest television network in the world, is headquartered in Rio de Janeiro. Thus, a lot of Portuguese TV programs, from news and documentary to entertainment (such as the novelas), feature carioca acting and speaking talent.