The Baixada Fluminense (standard ; local pronounce: ) (literally " Fluminense Lowland") is a region in the

state State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

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 ...

, in

southeastern Brazil The Southeast Region of Brazil ( ) is composed of the states of Espírito Santo, Minas Gerais, Rio de Janeiro (state), Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo State, São Paulo. It is the richest region of the country, responsible for approximately 53% of t ...

. It is located on Guanabara Bay, between

to the south and the

Serra dos Órgãos The Serra dos Órgãos ("Organ Range") is a mountain range in the state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It contains the Serra dos Órgãos National Park. Location The Serra dos Órgãos is the name of the region of the Serra do Mar in the central ...

range of hills to the north. Its municipalities are part of the Rio de Janeiro Metropolitan Region. The Baixada Fluminense region's population is about three million, making it the second most populous region in the state, following only the city of Rio de Janeiro. This region should not be confused with the Baixadas Litorâneas, located farther to the east in the same state.

Geography

The Baixada Fluminense includes the municipalities of Duque de Caxias, Nova Iguaçu, São João de Meriti, Nilópolis, Belford Roxo, Queimados and Mesquita, all north of the city of Rio de Janeiro. The municipalities of Magé and Guapimirim (to the east), Japeri, Paracambi and Seropédica.

History

;18th century Until the 19th century, the region was known as the Baixada da Guanabara. It experienced some development during the 18th century, when it was an important corridor for transporting

gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

mined in the neighboring state of

Minas Gerais Minas Gerais () is one of the 27 federative units of Brazil, being the fourth largest state by area and the second largest in number of inhabitants with a population of 20,539,989 according to the 2022 Brazilian census, 2022 census. Located in ...

. ;19th century In the 19th century was one of the first regions to develop

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 ...

plantation Plantations are farms specializing in cash crops, usually mainly planting a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. Plantations, centered on a plantation house, grow crops including cotton, cannabis, tob ...

s. However, during the reign of Emperor Pedro II the region suffered serious economic decline due to the creation of

railroad Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

s, which led to a sharp decline in the traffic on the region's rivers and roads. ;20th century In the early 20th century the area experienced a large influx of people arriving from other parts of the country, mainly from Espírito Santo,

and Northeastern Brazil, in search of a better quality of life near Rio de Janeiro, which at the time was the capital of Brazil. In the second half of the 20th century, the region acquired a reputation for poverty, crime and inadequate

social services Social services are a range of public services intended to provide support and assistance towards particular groups, which commonly include the disadvantaged. Also available amachine-converted HTML They may be provided by individuals, private and i ...

, which continues to this day. Favelas are located here. Large marsh

drainage Drainage is the natural or artificial removal of a surface's water and sub-surface water from an area with excess water. The internal drainage of most agricultural soils can prevent severe waterlogging (anaerobic conditions that harm root gro ...

projects were undertaken in order to improve sanitary conditions. ;21st century In 2005, 29 people were killed in a

mass shooting A mass shooting is a violent crime in which one or more attackers use a firearm to Gun violence, kill or injure multiple individuals in rapid succession. There is no widely accepted specific definition, and different organizations tracking su ...

led by military police force.

References

{{Reflist Geography of Rio de Janeiro (state)