The Baixada Fluminense (standard ; local pronounce: ) (literally "

Fluminense Fluminense Football Club (), known as Fluminense, is a Brazilian sports club best known for its professional football team that competes in the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A, the first tier of Brazilian football and the Campeonato Carioca, th ...

Lowland") is a region in the

state State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

, in

southeastern Brazil The Southeast Region of Brazil ( pt, Região Sudeste do Brasil; ) is composed of the states of Espírito Santo, Minas Gerais, Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo. It is the richest region of the country, responsible for approximately 60% of the Brazilian ...

. It is located on

Guanabara Bay Guanabara Bay ( pt, Baía de Guanabara, ) is an oceanic bay located in Southeast Brazil in the state of Rio de Janeiro. On its western shore lie the cities of Rio de Janeiro and Duque de Caxias, and on its eastern shore the cities of Niterói a ...

, between

to the south and the Serra dos Órgãos range of hills to the north. Its municipalities are part of the Rio de Janeiro Metropolitan Region. The Baixada Fluminense region's population is about three million, making it the second most populous region in the state, following only the city of Rio de Janeiro. This region should not be confused with the Baixadas Litorâneas, located farther to the east in the same state.

Geography

Baixada Fluminense Stricto sensu (Imagem de Satélite)

The Baixada Fluminense includes the municipalities of Duque de Caxias,

Nova Iguaçu Nova Iguaçu (, locally: or , ''New Iguaçu'') is a municipality in Rio de Janeiro state in Brazil. Location The city is named after the Iguaçu River that runs through it and empties into Guanabara Bay (not to be confused with the Iguaçu R ...

, São João de Meriti, Nilópolis,

Belford Roxo Belford Roxo () is a city in the state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is a part of the metropolitan region of the city of Rio de Janeiro and was created in 1990. Its population was 513,118 in 2020 and its area is 79 km². Belford Roxo is one o ...

, Queimados and

Mesquita Mesquita may refer to: People * Mesquita (surname) * Mesquita Machado (), Portuguese politician Places in Brazil * Mesquita, Minas Gerais, a municipality in Minas Gerais * Mesquita, Rio de Janeiro, a municipality in Rio de Janeiro Sports * Mesqui ...

, all north of the city of Rio de Janeiro. The municipalities of

Magé Magé () is a municipality located in the Brazilian state of Rio de Janeiro. ''Magepe-Mirim'' () was established in 1566 by Portuguese colonists. It is considered to be a calm place, especially compared to nearby Rio. Politics In the October 5th ...

and Guapimirim (to the east),

Japeri Japeri () is a municipality in the state of Rio de Janeiro, southeast region of Brazil. This city was founded on June 30, 1991. Is very known to be located next to the last station of the largest branch of the railroad of Brazil (Central do Br ...

Paracambi Paracambi () is a municipality located in the Brazilian state of Rio de Janeiro. Its population was 52,683 (2020) and its area is 179 km².IBGE /ref> Notable births * Maicon Santos, professional football Football is a family of team s ...

and

Seropédica Seropédica (''Silk Farm'', , , ) is a municipality located in Greater Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 75 km from the state capital of Rio de Janeiro. Its population was 83,092 (2020) and its area is 284 km². Mayor * Lucas Dutra Educ ...

History

;18th century Until the 19th century, the region was known as the Baixada da Guanabara. It experienced some development during the 18th century, when it was an important corridor for transporting

gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile ...

mined in the neighboring state of

Minas Gerais Minas Gerais () is a state in Southeastern Brazil. It ranks as the second most populous, the third by gross domestic product (GDP), and the fourth largest by area in the country. The state's capital and largest city, Belo Horizonte (literall ...

. ;19th century In the 19th century was one of the first regions to develop

coffee Coffee is a drink prepared from roasted coffee beans. Darkly colored, bitter, and slightly acidic, coffee has a stimulating effect on humans, primarily due to its caffeine content. It is the most popular hot drink in the world. Seeds of ...

plantation A plantation is an agricultural estate, generally centered on a plantation house, meant for farming that specializes in cash crops, usually mainly planted with a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. Th ...

s. However, during the reign of

Emperor Pedro II Dom PedroII (2 December 1825 – 5 December 1891), nicknamed "the Magnanimous" ( pt, O Magnânimo), was the second and last monarch of the Empire of Brazil, reigning for over 58 years. He was born in Rio de Janeiro, the seventh child of Em ...

the region suffered serious economic decline due to the creation of

railroad Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a prep ...

s, which led to a sharp decline in the traffic on the region's rivers and roads. ;20th century In the early 20th century the area experienced a large influx of people arriving from other parts of the country, mainly from

Espírito Santo Espírito Santo (, , ; ) is a state in southeastern Brazil. Its capital is Vitória, and its largest city is Serra. With an extensive coastline, the state hosts some of the country's main ports, and its beaches are significant tourist attra ...

and

Northeastern Brazil The Northeast Region of Brazil ( pt, Região Nordeste do Brasil; ) is one of the five official and political regions of the country according to the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics. Of Brazil's twenty-six states, it comprises n ...

, in search of a better quality of life near Rio de Janeiro, which at the time was the capital of Brazil. In the second half of the 20th century, the region acquired a reputation for poverty, crime and inadequate

social services Social services are a range of public services intended to provide support and assistance towards particular groups, which commonly include the disadvantaged. They may be provided by individuals, private and independent organisations, or adminis ...

, which continues to this day.

Favela Favela () is an umbrella name for several types of working-class neighborhoods in Brazil. The term was first used in the Providência neighborhood in the center of Rio de Janeiro in the late 19th century, which was built by soldiers who had ...

s are located here. Large marsh

drainage Drainage is the natural or artificial removal of a surface's water and sub-surface water from an area with excess of water. The internal drainage of most agricultural soils is good enough to prevent severe waterlogging (anaerobic condition ...

projects were undertaken in order to improve sanitary conditions. ;21st century In 2005, 29 people were killed in a

mass shooting There is a lack of consensus on how to define a mass shooting. Most terms define a minimum of three or four victims of gun violence (not including the shooter or in an inner city) in a short period of time, although an Australian study from 20 ...

References

{{Reflist Geography of Rio de Janeiro (state)