Rio.

Rio, is the second largest city in Brazil, the sixth largest city in the Americas and the world's thirty-fifth largest city by population. The metropolis is anchor to the Rio de Janeiro metropolitan area, ranked as the second most populous metropolitan area in Brazil, the sixth most populous in the Americas and the eighteenth largest in the world. Rio de Janeiro is the capital of the state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil's third most populous state. Part of the city has been designated as a World Heritage Site, named "Rio de Janeiro: Carioca Landscapes between the Mountain and the Sea", identified by UNESCO on 1 July 2012 in the category Cultural Landscape.

Rio de Janeiro represents the second largest GDP in the country (and 30th largest in the world in 2008),estimated at about R$343 billion (IBGE/2008) (nearly US$201 billion), and is headquarters to two of Brazil's major companies—Petrobras and Vale, and major oil companies and telephony in Brazil, besides the largest conglomerate of media and communications companies in Latin America, the Globo Organizations. The home of many universities and institutes, it is the second largest center of research and development in Brazil, accounting for 17% of national scientific production—according to 2005 data.

Rio de Janeiro is one of the most visited cities in the Southern Hemisphere and is known for its natural settings, carnival celebrations, samba, bossa nova, balneario beaches such as Barra da Tijuca, Copacabana, Ipanema, and Leblon. Some of the most famous landmarks in addition to the beaches include the giant statue of Christ the Redeemer atop Corcovado mountain, named one of the New Seven Wonders of the World; Sugarloaf mountain with its cable car; the Sambódromo, a permanent grandstand-lined parade avenue which is used during Carnival; and Maracanã Stadium, one of the world's largest football stadiums.

Rio de Janeiro will host the 2016 Summer Olympics and the 2016 Summer Paralympics. This will be the first time a South American and Portuguese-speaking nation hosts the event. It will be the third time the Olympics will be held in a Southern Hemisphere city.On 12 August 2012, at the 2012 Summer Olympics closing ceremony, Mayor Eduardo Paes received the Olympic Flag, via Jacques Rogge, from London Mayor Boris Johnson. Rio's Maracanã Stadium held the finals of the 1950 and 2014 FIFA World Cup, the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup and the XV Pan American Games both opening and closing ceremonies. Rio de Janeiro also hosted the World Youth Day in 2013


Rio de Janeiro is Brazil's primary tourist attraction and resort. It receives the most visitors per year of any city in South America with 2.82 million international tourists a year. The city sports world-class hotels, approximately 80 kilometres of beaches, and the famous Corcovado and Sugarloaf mountains. While the city has in past had a thriving tourism sector, the industry entered a decline in the last quarter of the 20th century. Annual international airport arrivals dropped from 621,000 to 378,000 and average hotel occupancy dropped to 50% between 1985 and 1993. The fact that Brasília replaced Rio de Janeiro as the Brazilian capital in 1960 and that São Paulo replaced Rio as the country's commercial, financial and cultural main center during the midi-20th century, has also been cited as a leading cause of the decline. Rio de Janeiro's government has since undertaken to modernise the city's economy, reduce its chronic social inequalities, and improve its commercial standing as part of an initiative for the regeneration of the tourism industry. The city is an important global LGBT destination, 1 million LGBT tourists visit the city of Rio de Janeiro each year. The Rua Farme de Amoedo is located in Ipanema, a famous neighborhood in the South Zone of Rio de Janeiro. The street and the nearby beach, famous tourist spots, are remarkable for their popularity in the LGBT community.

Rio de Janeiro is the most awarded destination by World Travel Awards in the South American category of "best destination".