Petrópolis, also known as The Imperial City, is a municipality in the Southeast Region of Brazil. It is located in the state of Rio de Janeiro, 68 km northeast of the city of Rio de Janeiro. According to the 2010 National Brazilian Census, Petrópolis municipality had 295,917 inhabitants that year, up from 286,537 inhabitants at the last census. Besides being the largest and most populous city in the Fluminense Mountain Region, the city also has the largest GDP and HDI in the region.
The town's name ("city of Peter") honors Pedro II, the last Emperor of Brazil, who is entombed there at the Cathedral of Saint Peter of Alcantara. The city was the summer residence of the Brazilian Emperors and aristocrats in the 19th century, and was the official capital of the state of Rio de Janeiro during the First Brazilian Republic, between 1894 and 1902.
There are projects to annex Petrópolis again to the Metropolitan Region of Rio de Janeiro, because it is linked to the capital by political and economic ties, and contains one of the state's highest HDIs.
