Rio de Janeiro

:This article is about the city called Rio de Janeiro. For the state with the same name, see Rio de Janeiro (state).

Favelas

Main article: Favela

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Rio is a city of contrasts, and though much of the city clearly ranks alongside the world's most modern metropolises, a significant percentage of the city's 13 million inhabitants do still live in areas of poorer quality housing. The worst of these poorer areas are the slums and shanty towns known as favelas, often crowded onto the hillsides where sturdy buildings are difficult to build, and accidents, mainly from heavy rainfall, are frequent. The favelas are troubled by widespread drug related crime and gang warfare and other poverty-related social issues. A unique aspect of Rio's favelas is their incredible proximity to the city's wealthiest districts. Upper-class neighborhoods like Ipanema and Copacabana are squeezed in between the beach and the hills, the latter of which are covered with slum housing. It is worth noting that it is common for an apartment in a wealthy district to face the ocean and beach from the front and to face poor slums from the back. The American School of Rio, the most expensive private school in the city, is located literally within a stone's throw of Rocinha, South America's largest slum, with an estimated population of 200,000; the school's basketball courts and classrooms are visible from the slum.

Related Topics:
Slum - Shanty town - Favela - Drug - Gang - Ipanema - Copacabana - Rocinha - South America's

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