Nova Friburgo, city, east-central Rio de Janeiro estado (state), eastern Brazil. It is situated on the Rio Grande in the Serra de Nova Friburgo, 2,776 feet (846 metres) above sea level. Nova Friburgo has textile mills but is best known as a summer mountain resort, built in Swiss Alpine style, and for several stunning waterfalls that are nearby. Nova Friburgo can be reached by railroad and highway from Niterói, to the southwest, and from the city of Rio de Janeiro. In January 2011 flash flooding and mudslides brought on by torrential rain left thousands in the city homeless and killed more than 200 people. Pop. (2010) 182,082.