| Competition: | Campeonato Carioca |
| Season: | 1996 |
| Winners: | Flamengo |
| Continentalcup1: | Copa do Brasil |
| Continentalcup1 Qualifiers: | Flamengo Fluminense Botafogo Vasco da Gama |
| Continentalcup2: | Série C |
| League Topscorer: | Romário (Flamengo) - 26 goals |
| Biggest Home Win: | Botafogo 7-1 Barreira (March 31, 1996) |
| Biggest Away Win: | América 0-7 Botafogo (May 11, 1996) |
| Highest Scoring: | Olaria 5-4 Itaperuna (June 23, 1996) |
| Matches: | 132 |
| Total Goals: | 344 |
| Prevseason: | 1995 |
| Nextseason: | 1997 |
The 1996 edition of the Campeonato Carioca kicked off on March 10, 1996, and ended on June 30, 1996. It is the official tournament organized by FFERJ (Federação de Futebol do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, or Rio de Janeiro State Football Federation. Only clubs based in the Rio de Janeiro State are allowed to play. Twelve teams contested this edition. Flamengo won the title for the 24th time. no teams were relegated.[1] [2]
The tournament would be divided in three stages:
As a commemoration of the 90th anniversary of the first championship, a separate championship involving only the teams from the city of Rio de Janeiro was played.
The regulation stipulated that the two bottom teams in the aggregate table would dispute a playoff against the top two teams of the Second Level.[3]