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 (cayman, C. yacare) + upá (pond) + guá (shallow), by the time of the Portuguese colonization. Jacarepaguá is located in the West Zone of Rio de Janeiro 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-middle class neighborhood or bairro in the Rio de Janeiro#West Zone, West Zone of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, located in the western portion of the city on the Atlantic Ocean. Barra is well known ...

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 (), 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 Portuguese over ...

* Gardênia Azul * Pechincha * Praça Seca * Rio das Pedras * Tanque *

Taquara Taquara is a municipality in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. Taquara is located 72 kilometers (44 miles) from Porto Alegre Porto Alegre (, ; , ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Brazilian Federative units of Brazil, state of Rio ...

* Vila Valqueire The suburb is known for large open areas where events and shows, such as the last Rock in Rio, take place. The bairro contains the Camorim center of the

Pedra Branca State Park The Pedra Branca State Park () 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 Rio de Janeiro that includes the h ...

, 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. It was home to the Autódromo de Jacarepaguá, a motorsports racetrack which hosted the

Formula One Formula One (F1) is the highest class of worldwide racing for open-wheel single-seater formula Auto racing, racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The FIA Formula One World Championship has been one ...

Brazilian Grand Prix between 1978 and 1989 and 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 a residential complex built or reassigned for the Olympic Games in or nearby the List of Olympic Games host cities, host city for the purpose of accommodating all of the delegations. Olympic Villages are usually located clos ...

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 residents of the City of Rio de Janeiro, in Brazil and their culture. Like other Brazilians, ''Cariocas'' speak Portuguese. The ''carioca'' accent and sociolect (also simply called "''carioca''", ...

s'' who live close to it were 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's studio, Polo de Cinema e Video studio are also there, and the Mexican broadcaster

Televisa Grupo Televisa, S.A.B., simply known as Televisa, is a Mexican telecommunications and broadcasting company. A major Latin American mass media corporation, it often presents itself as the largest producer of Spanish-language content. In April ...

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)