The Cidade de Deus (, ''City of God'') is a West Zone neighborhood of the city of

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 ...

. It is also known as CDD among its inhabitants. The neighborhood was founded in 1960, planned and executed by the government of

Guanabara State The State of Guanabara ( pt, Estado da Guanabara, ) was a state within the Fourth Brazilian Republic from 1960 to 1964, and the Federative Republic of Brazil from 1964 to 1975. It included the city of Rio de Janeiro. The state was established in ...

as part of the policy to systematically remove slums (''

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'') from the center of Rio de Janeiro and resettle their inhabitants in the

suburb A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area, which may include commercial and mixed-use, that is primarily a residential area. A suburb can exist either as part of a larger city/urban area or as a separate ...

s. It is used as backdrop in the 2002 film '' City of God''. In 2009, it was occupied by a

Pacifying Police Unit The Pacifying Police Unit ( pt, Unidade de Polícia Pacificadora, also translated as Police Pacification Unit), abbreviated UPP, is a law enforcement and social services program pioneered in the state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, which aims to recl ...

Basic statistics

* Area (2003): 1.2058 km² (0.4656 mi²; 298 acres) * Population (2000): 38,016 * Residences (2000): 10,866 * Administrative region: XXXIV - Cidade de Deus

In literature and film

Known in English as '' City of God'', ''Cidade de Deus'' is the eponymous name of a 1997 semi-autobiographical novel by

Paulo Lins Paulo is a Portuguese, Spanish, Swiss, and Italian masculine given name equivalent to English Paul. Notable people with the name include: * Paulo Jr. *Paulo Jr. (footballer) * Paulo Almeida, Brazilian footballer * Paulo André Cren Benini (born ...

, about three young men and their lives of petty crime during the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s in the favela where Lins grew up. An English translation by Alison Entrekin was published in 2006. The novel was filmed by Fernando Meirelles (director of ''

The Constant Gardener ''The Constant Gardener'' is a 2001 novel by British author John le Carré. The novel tells the story of Justin Quayle, a British diplomat whose activist wife is murdered. Believing there is something behind the murder, he seeks to uncover the t ...

'' and ''

Blindness Visual impairment, also known as vision impairment, is a medical definition primarily measured based on an individual's better eye visual acuity; in the absence of treatment such as correctable eyewear, assistive devices, and medical treatment� ...

'') in 2002 under the same title '' City of God'', with most of the cast from real-life

favelas 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 ...

and in some cases, from Cidade de Deus itself. After filming, the producers set up help groups promising to help those involved to build more promising futures. In 2004, the film received four Academy Award nominations for cinematography, for director Meirelles, for editing and for adapted screenplay by Mantovani. In 2005, ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...

'' chose it as one of the 100 greatest films of all time. The tagline "If you run, the beast catches; if you stay, the beast eats", is analogous to the English aphorism "Damned if you do, damned if you don't".

Local currency

In 2011, a local currency called CDD was created for use exclusively in the Cidade de Deus, to encourage inhabitants to spend more locally, thus boosting the local economy. The currency is subsidized. Its value is indexed to about 20% higher than the national currency, the

Brazilian real The Brazilian real (plural, pl. '; currency symbol, sign: R$; ISO 4217, code: BRL) is the official currency of Brazil. It is subdivided into 100 centavos. The Central Bank of Brazil is the central bank and the issuing authority. The real repl ...

References

External links

Cidade de Deus Web Portal (in Portuguese)

Cidade de Deus on Google Maps

- slideshow by ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

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''City of God'' movie
official website {{Rio de Janeiro city neighbourhoods Favelas Neighbourhoods in Rio de Janeiro (city) Populated places established in 1960 1960 establishments in Brazil