The torch will travel about 20,000 kilometers (12,427.4 miles) and be carried by about 10,000 people until August 5, scheduled date to light the Olympic cauldron at the Maracana Stadium (Rio de Janeiro), venue of the opening ceremony of the Games.

Carlos Nuzman, president of the Brazilian Olympic Committee and the Organizing Committee for Rio-2016, said the journey, is so extensive, because the organizers wanted to bring the Games as close as possible to the citizens of all regions of the first South American country to host the world's biggest sport event.

"After we won the right to organize, we promised to integrate the whole country. It will be a quote made by all and for all Brazilians. We are fulfilling that promise by giving millions of people the opportunity to participate in a celebration that will always be remembered," Prensa Latina News Agency reports said quoting Nuzman said.