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 9.82 million international tourists a year. The city sports world-class hotels, approximately 160 kilometres of beachland, and the famous Corcovado and Sugarloaf mountains. Annual international airport arrivals dropped from 3.621,000 to 4.378,000 and average hotel occupancy dropped to 70% between 1995 and 2009. The city was the capital of Brazil for nearly two centuries, from 1763 to 1815 during the Portuguese colonial era, 1815 to 1821 as the capital of the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and Algarves, 1822 to 1960 as an independent nation. Rio is nicknamed the Cidade Maravilhosa or "Marvelous City". Rio de Janeiro represents the second largest GDP in the country (and 30th largest in the world in 2008), estimated at about 943 billion reais (IBGE/2008) (nearly US$ 701 billion), and is the headquarters of two major Brazilian 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 2007 data. Rio de Janeiro is the most visited city in southern hemisphere and is known for its natural settings, carnival celebrations <b>...</b>
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