Volta Redonda () is the name of a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

in the

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 ...

state of

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

with an area of 182.81 km², located from 350m to 707m above the

sea level Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical datuma standardise ...

(22°31'23" S, 44°06'15" W) and with a population of 273,988 inhabitants (estimated in 2020). The area around the city has nearly 700,000 km². Its name (which is

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

for ''Round Turn'') is due to the round shape of a curve in the Paraíba do Sul river around which the city was built. Situated in Volta Redonda is Companhia Siderúrgica Nacional (CSN),

's second largest steel producer. Today its economy, despite still being based on

industry Industry may refer to: Economics * Industry (economics), a generally categorized branch of economic activity * Industry (manufacturing), a specific branch of economic activity, typically in factories with machinery * The wider industrial sector ...

, is quite diverse, and largely focused on the areas of services and trade. Due to this, Volta Redonda is worldly known as ''Cidade do Aço'' (which is

for ''Steel City''). The city borders with the municipalities of

Barra Mansa Barra Mansa is a Brazilian municipality located in the south of the state of Rio de Janeiro. It is in the microregion of the Paraíba Valley, within the mesoregion of the South Fluminense. It is located at latitude 22º32'39 "south, longitude 44 ...

(north, northwest, west and southwest), Barra do Piraí (northeast), Pinheiral, Piraí (south and east), and Rio Claro (south) and is 130 km from the city of

. Along with the municipalities of Barra Mansa and Pinheiral, it is a conurbation of over 500,000 inhabitants, according to the IBGE estimates for 2008, and the state's largest urban spot outside the metropolitan region of Rio de Janeiro. Economical center of the South Fluminense region, Volta Redonda is a strategic area, close to major hub cities in other regional states, such as

Juiz de Fora Juiz de Fora (, '' Outsider Judge''), also known as J.F., is a city in the southeastern Brazilian state of Minas Gerais, approximately from the state border with Rio de Janeiro. According to 2020 estimates the current population is about 57 ...

(190 kilometers) and Sao Jose dos Campos (220 kilometers).

History

In 1744, the first explorers named the curious curve of the Paraíba do Sul river "Volta Redonda". Big farms were installed in the region and nowadays some farm names are the names of some districts. Between the years of 1860 and 1870, the navigation through the Paraíba do Sul river had its golden period between the cities of Resende and Barra do Piraí and at the same time the railroad D. Pedro II was built in Barra do Piraí and Barra Mansa. With this, in 1875, the village of Santo Antonio de Volta Redonda started to have great impulse, but with the freedom of slaves in 1888, the decay of the

Vale do Paraíba A vale is a type of valley. Vale may also refer to: Places Georgia * Vale, Georgia, a town in the Samtskhe-Javakheti region Norway * Våle, a historic municipality Portugal * Vale (Santa Maria da Feira), a former civil parish in the municip ...

became visible, destroying the agriculture, which would never recover in a very satisfactory way. This situation would be reversed in 1941, when the cycle of industrialization of Volta Redonda began. Chosen as site for installing the Companhia Siderúrgica Nacional (CSN) steel mill in the middle of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, it marked the base of

ian industrialization. Laborers from diverse regions of the country came to Volta Redonda to work in the mill. When it opened in 1946, it was the first steel mill in

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the sout ...

. A heavily subsidized symbol of national pride, the Volta Redonda mill embodied the

import substitution Import substitution industrialization (ISI) is a trade and economic policy that advocates replacing foreign imports with domestic production.''A Comprehensive Dictionary of Economics'' p.88, ed. Nelson Brian 2009. It is based on the premise tha ...

industrial policies that prevailed in Latin American economies from

until the Latin American debt crisis in the 1980s. Since its 1993 privatization, however, the mill — now known as the Presidente Vargas Steelworks — has transcended its '' dirigiste'' origins to become one of the world's most efficient steel production facilities - due to this large production of steel and minerals, the city is globally nicknamed "Cidade do Aço" (literal Portuguese for "City of Steel").

Politics and government

Volta Redonda's

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well ...

() is currently Antônio Francisco Neto of the Democrats, elected in

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global social and economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, worldwide lockdowns and the largest economic recession since the Great Depression in t ...

to serve a four-year term. The 21-member council () was elected at the same time.

Education

In the second half of the 20th century, the city received the boost of technological and higher educational development when in 1961 the Industrial Engineering and Metallurgical Volta Redonda of

Fluminense Federal University The Fluminense Federal University ( Portuguese: ''Universidade Federal Fluminense'', UFF, named after the state's demonym) is a public higher education institution located mainly in Niterói and in other cities of Rio de Janeiro state. It was f ...

who later brought more courses the city with the Institute of Exact Sciences and Institute Humanities and Social Sciences, or also higher education institutions University Center or Geraldo Di Biase - UGB, University Centre of Barra Mansa - UBM and University Center of Volta Redonda - UniFOA was created. In the 2000s, the

Federal Institute of Rio de Janeiro The Federal Institute of Rio de Janeiro (Portuguese: ''Instituto Federal do Rio de Janeiro'', IFRJ), or in full: Federal Institute of Education, Science and Technology of Rio de Janeiro (Portuguese: ''Instituto Federal de Educação, Ciência e T ...

was launched with technological and industrial emphasis.

Sports

Volta Redonda Futebol Clube Volta Redonda Futebol Clube, commonly referred to as Volta Redonda, is a Brazil, Brazilian professional club based in Volta Redonda, Rio de Janeiro (state), Rio de Janeiro founded on 9 February 1976. It competes in the Campeonato Brasileiro Sér ...

is the most important football club of the city, playing its home matches at

Estádio Raulino de Oliveira Estádio Municipal General Sylvio Raulino de Oliveira, also known as Raulino de Oliveira, and as Estádio da Cidadania, is a football (soccer), football stadium. It was inaugurated on 14 March 1976 in Volta Redonda, Rio de Janeiro (state), Rio de J ...

, which is also located in the city downtown.

References

External links

Official site of the ''Prefeitura'' (mayor and city hall)Official site of ''Câmara Municipal'' (council)
{{Authority control 1954 establishments in Brazil Populated places established in 1954 Municipalities in Rio de Janeiro (state)