Historical-Toponymic Analysis of the 1823 Carta Geographica of the Rio de Janeiro Province
ISBN 978-85-88783-11-9
Authors
1Menezes, P.M.L.; 2Fernandes, M.C.; 3Santos, K.S.; 4Sardella, A.B.
1Federal University of Rio de Janeiro
2Federal University of Rio de Janeiro
3Federal University of Rio de Janeiro
4Federal University of Rio de Janeiro
Abstract
The Carta Geographica of the Province of Rio de Janeiro, copied and published by the Real Archivo Militar de Lisboa (Lisbon Royal Military Archive), in 1823, is a cartographic document that has certain characteristics that can be listed as ranging from curious to incentives to research. This paper is intended to analyze the information in such document as a historical map, highlighting its cartographic qualities, relating to: map projection, scale, cartographic quality and accuracy, whether internal or external, as well as the study of the toponymy in three main aspects: settlements nuclei, hydrographic and orographic elements. The used methodology to map evaluation is the one used by the Cartography Laboratory, GeoCart, of the Geography Department, of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ). Initially, its structure of coherence with the historic context of the time was checked, considering the boundaries of the Province, right after Brazil’s independence. The pertinent information was surveyed, to put the cartographic structure into context, based on the adopted map projection, coordinates system and orientation. The cartographic quality was appraised based on the scale and on the comparison between distances and angles between known points. Finally, the existing toponymy was extracted, broken down into the described categories, in a quantitative and qualitative way. A comparative check was done, taking in account the existent toponymy already researched in previous periods (1777, 1732), verifying their posi-tioning and changes, as well as if toponymy additions occurred. A curious aspect of this map is the existence of a toponym indicating the “Mar do Brasil” (“Sea of Brazil”), the only known name of its kind, referring to the Ocean in front of the State.