The State of Guanabara (, ) was a state of Brazil from 1960 to 1975, which included the city of Rio de Janeiro. It was named after Guanabara Bay to the east of the state. It was created from the territory of the old Federal District when the federal capital moved from Rio de Janeiro to Brasília and a new Federal District was erected around the new capital. In 1975 the State of Guanabara was merged with the surrounding State of Rio de Janeiro, within which its territory became the Municipality of Rio de Janeiro.
History
In 1834, the city of Rio de Janeiro was elevated to Imperial capital of the Empire of Brazil, and was included in the Neutral Municipality (). The surrounding Province of Rio de Janeiro (which did not include the city) had its capital city in Niterói. When Brazil became a republic in 1889, the city of Rio de Janeiro remained the national capital, and the territory of the Neutral Municipality became the Federal District (), while the surrounding homonymous province became a state, still with Niterói as its capital.
In 1960 the Fourth Brazilian Republic moved the national capital to Brasília and a new Federal District was created for it. The old Federal District became a state, named Guanabara.