Distance from Chicago to Rio de Janeiro
The great-circle distance between Chicago, United States and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil is 8,529 km (5,300 mi · 4,605 nmi) — the shortest possible route over the Earth's surface, the path aircraft approximately follow.
The numbers
- Great-circle distance
- 8,529 km · 5,300 mi · 4,605 nmi
- Initial bearing Chicago → Rio de Janeiro
- 138° (SE)
- Initial bearing Rio de Janeiro → Chicago
- 328° (NNW)
- Nonstop flight (rough estimate)
- ≈ 10 h 42 min
- Time zones
- Chicago UTC-05:00 · Rio de Janeiro UTC-03:00 (+2 h)
- Sunrise gap today
- 177 min — the sun rises later in Chicago
Flight time is a cruise-speed approximation (no routing/wind); driving distance depends on roads and is typically 20–40% longer than great-circle.
The two cities
- Chicago
- 41.8500, -87.6500
- Sunrise / sunset today
- 11:40 UTC / 23:48 UTC
- Rio de Janeiro
- -22.9064, -43.1822
- Sunrise / sunset today
- 08:42 UTC / 20:50 UTC
Open in the distance calculator Find the halfway point
Distances here are straight-line (great-circle). Road routes typically run 1.2–1.4× longer — here's why, with the visual.