Água Santa is a neighborhood in the North Zone of

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

. The neighborhood is bordered by

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

, Piedade, Encantado,

Engenho de Dentro Engenho de Dentro is a middle-class and lower-middle-class neighbourhood in the Rio de Janeiro#North Zone, North Zone of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It borders the neighbourhoods of Abolição, Água Santa, Rio de Janeiro, Água Santa, Cachambi, Encan ...

and the Dos Pretos-Forros Ridge. The Ary Franco Prison is located in the neighborhood.

History

The neighborhood derives its name from the 1888 discovery of a mineral spring in the area by freed slave Domingos Camões. Camões began bottling the water in wine bottles and selling them door to door. Gradually, the area became known as Água Santa (Holy water). In 1914, the bottling company Aguas Santa Cruz Ltd. was founded in the Água Santa district. In 1974, the Ary Franco Prison was opened in the neighborhood.

Pagode Pagode () is a Brazilian style of music that originated in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, as a subgenre of Samba. Pagode originally meant a celebration with food, music, dance, and party. In 1978, singer Beth Carvalho was introduced to this music, like ...

singer Belo was imprisoned in this jail after being convicted of drug trafficking.

Demographics

The population of Água Santa was 7,243 in 2000. By 2010, the population had increased to 8,756 inhabitants, an increase of 20.88%. According to the 2000

Human Development Index The Human Development Index (HDI) is a statistical composite index of life expectancy, Education Index, education (mean years of schooling completed and expected years of schooling upon entering the education system), and per capita income i ...

, the adult literacy rate is 97.48%. According to the 2000 Human Development Index, life expectancy at birth is 76 years. The neighborhood has undergone the process of favelization. According to the

Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics The Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (; IBGE) is the agency responsible for official collection of statistical, geographic, cartographic, geodetic and environmental information in Brazil. IBGE performs a decennial national cen ...

, ten areas of the neighborhood are designated as

favelas Favela () is an hyponymy and hypernymy, umbrella name for several types of impoverished neighborhoods in Brazil. The term, which means slum or ghetto, was first used in the Morro da Providência, Slum of Providência in the center of Rio de J ...

Schools

The neighborhood is served by the municipal public school network. Brigadeiro Faria Lima Municipal School is located on Violeta Street next to the Ary Franco Prison. In the neighboring area of Piedade, there are also public schools: Virgilio de Melo Franco, Engenheiro Clovis Daudt and Republica de El Salvador on Almeida Nogueira Street.

Events

The Feast of St. Anthony is held every June in Água Santa in honor of the patron saint. The feast is celebrated with traditional food tastings and a procession through the streets of the neighborhood. Neighbourhoods in Rio de Janeiro (city) {{RiodeJaneiro-geo-stub