Rio de Janeiro was the 2nd most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo (2010 data). There were 5,940,224 people residing in the city of Rio de Janeiro. In 2017 the metropolitan area around Rio de Janeiro had a population of more than 12 million.
Rio de Janeiro is one of the most visited cities in the Southern Hemisphere and is known for its beaches, famous landmarks, carnival.
It is headquarters to Brazilian oil, mining, and telecommunications companies, including two of the country's major corporations—Petrobras and Vale—and Latin America's largest telemedia conglomerate, Grupo Globo. The home of many universities and institutes, it is the second-largest center of research and development in Brazil.
The services sector comprises the largest portion of GDP (65.52%), followed by commerce (23.38%), industrial activities (11.06%) and agriculture (0.04%). Rio is an important financial centre, second only to São Paulo in volume of business. Its securities market, although declining in significance relative to São Paulo, is still of major importance. Owing to the proximity of Rio's port facilities, many of Brazil's export-import companies are headquartered in the city.
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