São João de Meriti (, ) is a Brazilian

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality ...

in the

state State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * '' Our ...

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of the same name, Brazil's List of Brazilian states by population, third-most populous state, and the List of largest citi ...

. Its historical name is São João do Rio Meriti. Its population was 472,906 inhabitants in 2020. It's located in the region of

Baixada Fluminense The Baixada Fluminense (standard ; local pronounce: ) (literally " Fluminense Lowland") is a region in the state of Rio de Janeiro, in southeastern Brazil. It is located on Guanabara Bay, between Rio de Janeiro to the south and the Serra dos Órg ...

, having 34.996 km² (13.451 square miles). The

city A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be de ...

is known as "Americas' Anthill", because its

population density Population density (in agriculture: Stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical ...

is one of the highest in the

continent A continent is any of several large landmasses. Generally identified by convention rather than any strict criteria, up to seven geographical regions are commonly regarded as continents. Ordered from largest in area to smallest, these seven ...

(13,185/km² or 34,815/sq mi).

History

The place we know today as ''São João de Meriti'', cut by the rivers Sarapuí, Meriti and Pavuna, was known before as ''Freguesia de Meriti''. In the 17th and 18th centuries, Meriti had many farms and chapels, being an important producer of

corn Maize ( ; ''Zea mays'' subsp. ''mays'', from es, maíz after tnq, mahiz), also known as corn ( North American and Australian English), is a cereal grain first domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 10,000 years ago. ...

cassava ''Manihot esculenta'', commonly called cassava (), manioc, or yuca (among numerous regional names), is a woody shrub of the spurge family, Euphorbiaceae, native to South America. Although a perennial plant, cassava is extensively cultivated a ...

beans A bean is the seed of several plants in the family Fabaceae, which are used as vegetables for human or animal food. They can be cooked in many different ways, including boiling, frying, and baking, and are used in many traditional dishes t ...

and sugar. In 1833, the São João de Meriti village incorporated the Maxabomba village, now City of Nova Iguaçú. In 1947, São João de Meriti was elevated to the status of municipality. It is considered a

commuter town A commuter town is a populated area that is primarily residential rather than commercial or industrial. Routine travel from home to work and back is called commuting, which is where the term comes from. A commuter town may be called by many ...

. It has some commercial centers such as its downtown, Vilar dos Teles (ex-capital of jeans),

Coelho da Rocha Coelho () is a Portuguese surname meaning "rabbit". Notable people with the surname include: * Arnaldo Cézar Coelho, Brazilian football referee * Bento Coelho da Silveira (ca. 1630-1708), Portuguese painter * Carlos Coelho, Portuguese politician ...

, São Mateus and Shopping Grande Rio mall. Many poor districts surround these commercial centers and others don't even have proper sanitation, like Jardim Paraíso, close to Vilar dos Teles. Some districts like Vila Rosali are populated by

middle class The middle class refers to a class of people in the middle of a social hierarchy, often defined by occupation, income, education, or social status. The term has historically been associated with modernity, capitalism and political debate. Co ...

. Recently, the city has become an important cultural centre, being home to IPAHB and SESC. São João de Meriti is the hometown of the writer Lasana Lukata, volleyball player

André Nascimento André Luiz da Silva Nascimento (born 4 March 1979) is a former Brazilian volleyball player who won a gold medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics and a silver medal at the 2008 Summer Olympics. He was born in São João de Meriti São João de ...

, actor Paulinho Gogó and the young André Mercury, nationally known for his performance on the Brazilian

reality show Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring unfamiliar people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 19 ...

Ídolos, when he sang his own song ''Casa da Colina'' (House on the Hill, in English), probably inspired by the homonym film. Meriti was also the hometown of João Cândido, the Black Admiral, one of the most prominent fighters in the defense of black people's rights. The footballer

Bira Bira may refer to: Places Greece *Boura (Achaea) (alternatively spelled Bira or Bura), an ancient city of Achaea, Greece India * Bira, North 24 Parganas, a census town in West Bengal, India ** Bira railway station Lebanon *Bireh, Akkar * Al-Bireh ...

was born here as well.

Territorial organization

São João de Meriti is administratively divided into 21 ''bairros'' (neighborhoods) and 3 ''distritos'' (districts).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sao Joao de Meriti Municipalities in Rio de Janeiro (state)