Maré is a neighborhood and ''

favela Favela () is an umbrella name for several types of impoverished neighborhoods in Brazil. The term, which means slum or ghetto, was first used in the Slum of Providência in the center of Rio de Janeiro in the late 19th century, which was b ...

'' (low-income informal 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 ...

. It is a grouping of several favelas, suburbs with houses, and housing complexes. With approximately 130,000 residents (2006 estimate), it is one of the largest slum complexes in Rio de Janeiro, a consequence of the low indicators of social development that characterize the region. In 2014 it was featured in a

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

Documentary series ''Welcome to Rio'' which highlighted issues with gangs and its pacification.

Pacification efforts

On March 30, 2014, ahead of the

2014 FIFA World Cup The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for list of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil fr ...

, Maré was occupied by various Brazilian security forces in an attempt to pacify the region. The raid began before dawn and involved over 1,000 police and other forces, including the Special Police Operations Battalion (BOPE), Shock Police Battalion, several other police units, and the

Brazilian Marine Corps The Brazilian Marine Corps (, CFN; or 'Corps of Naval Riflemen') is the Brazilian Navy's naval infantry component. It relies on the fleet and Brazilian Naval Aviation, Naval Aviation and fields its own artillery, amphibious and land armor, COMA ...

References

Neighbourhoods in Rio de Janeiro (city) Favelas {{RiodeJaneiro-geo-stub