Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Rio de Janeiro, often referred to simply as Rio, is a Brazilian municipality, capital of the homonymous state, located in the Southeast of the country. The largest international tourist destination in Brazil, Latin America and the entire Southern Hemisphere, the capital of Rio de Janeiro is the best known Brazilian city abroad, functioning as a "mirror", or "portrait" nationally, whether positive ly or negatively. It is the second largest metropolis in Brazil, after São Paulo, and the sixth largest in America. It has the epithet of The Wonderful City and the one that is born in it is called carioca. Part of the city has been designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. It is one of the main economic, cultural and financial centers of the country, being internationally known for several cultural and landscape icons, such as sugar loaf, corcovado hill with the statue of Christ the Redeemer, the beaches of the neighborhoods of Copacabana, Ipanema and Barra da Tijuca, maracanã stadium, the bohemian neighborhood of Lapa, the forests of Tijuca and Pedra Branca, the island of Paquetá, The New Year's Eve of Copacabana, the Rio carnival, Bossa Nova and samba. It was the capital of Brazil, from colonial Portuguese until 1960, when the government's office was transferred to the newly built Brasilia. Welcome to this wonderful city, considered one of the most beautiful in the world.