Rio Comprido is a neighborhood located in the center (

Centro Centro may refer to: Places Brazil *Centro, Santa Maria, a neighborhood in Santa Maria, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil * Centro, Porto Alegre, a neighborhood of Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil * Centro (Duque de Caxias), a neighborhood of Du ...

) 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 ...

city, in

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 borders the

Catumbi Catumbi is a neighborhood in Rio de Janeiro, 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 a ...

, Estácio,

Praça da Bandeira Praça da Bandeira 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-popul ...

and

Tijuca Tijuca () (meaning marsh or swamp in the Tupi language, from ''ty'' ("water") and ''îuk'' ("rotten")) is a neighbourhood of the Rio de Janeiro#North Zone, Northern Zone of the city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It comprises the region of Saens P ...

neighborhoods.

Etymology

The name Rio Comprido comes from the river passing through it. This river is currently canalized and completely degraded, and empties into

Guanabara Bay Guanabara Bay (, , ) is an oceanic bay in Southeast Brazil in the state of Rio de Janeiro (state), Rio de Janeiro. On its western shore lie the cities of Rio de Janeiro (city), Rio de Janeiro and Duque de Caxias, Rio de Janeiro, Duque de Caxias, a ...

. The name ''Rio Comprido'' means Long River.

History

In the 17th century the Rio Comprido valley produced

sugarcane Sugarcane or sugar cane is a species of tall, Perennial plant, perennial grass (in the genus ''Saccharum'', tribe Andropogoneae) that is used for sugar Sugar industry, production. The plants are 2–6 m (6–20 ft) tall with stout, jointed, fib ...

, flowed off by a warehouse in embarkations which conducted it to the bay. In the 19th century, the sugar farming was replaced by

coffee Coffee is a beverage brewed from roasted, ground coffee beans. Darkly colored, bitter, and slightly acidic, coffee has a stimulating effect on humans, primarily due to its caffeine content, but decaffeinated coffee is also commercially a ...

farming. The neighborhood was settled by Englishmen, and was known until the beginning of the 20th century as ''Chácara dos Ingleses'' (Englishmen Small Ranch). When the Paulo de Frontin viaduct was opened, it created access to the Rebouças tunnel and to the city's southern zone, turning Rio Comprido into a passageway neighborhood, currently surrounded by lower income communities, such as ''Turano'', ''Fogueteiro'', ''Querosene'', ''Fallet'', ''Coroa'', ''São Carlos'' and ''Mineira'', which suffer from violence and social exclusion.

References

{{Rio de Janeiro city neighbourhoods Rio Comprido