Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the second largest city in Brazil and the sixth largest one in the Americas. The metropolis is anchor to the Rio de Janeiro Metropolitan Area, ranked as the second most populous in Brazil, after São Paulo. Rio de Janeiro is the capital of the state of Rio de Janeiro, which is Brazil’s third most populous state. Part of the city has been designated as a World Heritage Site, and it is home to some world-renowned touristic attractions, such as the Christ the Redeemer Statue on Corcovado mountain (which is one of the New Seven Wonders of the World), and the cable cars in the Sugar Loaf Mountain, as well as famous beaches such as Ipanema and Copacabana.
Rio de Janeiro has the second largest GPD in the country and it is the headquarters to two of Brazil’s major companies – Petrobrás and Vale. It is also home to 99 higher education institutions, including the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro and the Rio de Janeiro State University, two of Brazil’s top educational institutions. For these reasons, Rio is the second largest center of research and development in Brazil.
There are 32 EducationUSA offices in Brazil, two in Rio: EducationUSA PUC-Rio and EducationUSA IBEU Copacabana. According to the Open Doors Data, Brazil is ranked 8th in leading place of origin for students coming to the United States, with approximately 20.000 students enrolled in U.S. Higher Education Institutions during the academic year of 2015/2016. Of this number, 36% are pursuing undergraduate degrees, while 22% are graduate students. Last year, Brazilian students contributed with US$820 million dollars towards the U.S. economy.
One of the most visited cities in all Latin America, Rio is also famous for the bossa nova, samba, Carnaval and Maracanã Stadium, one of the biggest sporting arenas in the world and the stadium that held the closing game for the 2014 Soccer World Cup.