Jacarepaguá (), with a land area of , is a neighborhood situated in the West Zone 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 ...

, Brazil. In 2010, it had a population of 157,326. The name comes from the indigenous name of the location, "shallow pond of caymans", yakaré (cayman, C. yacare) + upá (pond) + guá (shallow), by the time of the Portuguese colonization. Jacarepaguá is located in the West Zone of Rio in the Baixada de Jacarepaguá, between Maciço da Tijuca and the Serra da Pedra Branca. The upper middle class

Barra da Tijuca Barra da Tijuca () (usually known as Barra) is an upper-class neighborhood or bairro in the West Zone of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, located in the western portion of the city on the Atlantic Ocean. Barra is well known for its beaches, its many lake ...

separates the suburb from the sea. Jacarepaguá is divided into the following sub-areas (''sub-bairros''), which nowadays are already considered different neighborhoods: * Anil * Curicica * Cidade de Deus *

Freguesia ''Freguesia'' (), usually translated as "parish" or "civil parish", is the third-level administrative subdivision of Portugal, as defined by the 1976 Constitution. It is also the designation for local government jurisdictions in the former Por ...

* Gardênia Azul * Pechincha * Praça Seca * Rio das Pedras * Tanque * Taquara * Vila Valqueire The suburb is known for large open areas where events and shows, such as the last

Rock in Rio ''Rock in Rio'' is a recurring music festival originating in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It later branched into other locations such as Lisbon, Madrid and Las Vegas. Nine incarnations of the festival have been held in Rio de Janeiro, in 1985, 1991, ...

, take place. The bairro contains the Camorim center of the

Pedra Branca State Park The Pedra Branca State Park ( pt, Parque Estadual da Pedra Branca) is a state park in the state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is one of the largest urban nature parks in the world. It protects an area of Atlantic Forest in the west of the city of R ...

, created in 1974. It is one of the greenest areas of Rio, with plenty of nature in some of the sub-areas, especially in Vargem Grande and Vargem Pequena. It holds a samba school called ''Unidos de Jacarepaguá'', churches like Nossa Senhora do Loreto, many shopping centers like ''Rio Shopping,'' ''Quality Shopping,'' and ''Center Shopping,'' and schools such as ''Garriga de Menezes'', ''Pentágono'' and ''Primus,'' and several clubs, like ''Olímpico'' and ''Bandeirantes.'' In the mid-20th century, the area was home to the composer and mandolin player known as

Jacob do Bandolim Jacob do Bandolim born Jacob Pick Bittencourt (February 14, 1918 – August 13, 1969) was a Brazilian composer and musician. Born to a Brazilian-Jewish mother and a gentile father in Rio de Janeiro, his stage name means "Mandolin Jacob", after th ...

. It is also home to the Autódromo de Jacarepaguá, which hosted the

Formula One Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...

Brazilian Grand Prix between 1978 and 1989. It also hosted the Rio de Janeiro motorcycle Grand Prix between 1995 and 2004. Recently, works have been done to build an

Olympic Village An Olympic Village is an accommodation center built for the Olympic Games, usually within an Olympic Park or elsewhere in a host city. Olympic Villages are built to house all participating athletes, as well as officials and athletic trainers. Afte ...

in an area disputed by Jacarepaguá (or JPA) and

, a neighborhood nearby. Regardless of who "owns" the area, the ''

Carioca Carioca ( or ) is a demonym used to refer to anything related to the City of Rio de Janeiro, in Brazil. The original meaning of the term is controversial, maybe from Tupi language "''kari' oka''", meaning "white house" as the whitewashed stone ...

s'' that live close to it were very excited about the Pan-American Games that were held there in 2007. It's also the biggest center of TV recording studios in Latin America, where RecNov ( Record's studio), Projac Globo's studio—the biggest one in Latin America—are located.

Band Band or BAND may refer to: Places *Bánd, a village in Hungary *Band, Iran, a village in Urmia County, West Azerbaijan Province, Iran * Band, Mureș, a commune in Romania *Band-e Majid Khan, a village in Bukan County, West Azerbaijan Province, I ...

's studio, Polo de Cinema e Video studio are also there, and the Mexican broadcaster

Televisa Grupo Televisa is a Mexican multimedia mass media company. A major Latin American mass media corporation, it often presents itself as the largest producer of Spanish-language content. In April 2021, Televisa and Univision Communications announce ...

will soon open a branch there. Jacarepaguá is a middle-class neighborhood, but one of Rio's largest slums, Cidade de Deus, and others like Favela Covanca, Barão, Inácio do Amaral, etc. are located nearby.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jacarepagua, Rio de Janeiro Neighbourhoods in Rio de Janeiro (city)