Santa Cruz, Rio de Janeiro
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Coordinates: 22°55′13″S 43°41′6″W / 22.92028°S 43.685°W
Santa Cruz is an extensive, populous, mostly low-income neighborhood in the West Side of Rio de Janeiro, the most distant of the central area of the city, at about 60 km (37 mi) from downtown Rio. Traversed by the Central do Brasil suburban railway, it has a quite diversified landscape, with rural, commercial, residential and industrial areas. Santa Cruz is over 444 years old, having originated from a farm founded in 1567.
[edit] The borough
It is the seat of the nineteenth Administrative Region (RA), also including the surrounding neighborhood of Paciência. The nineteenth-RA, in turn, is subject to Subprefecture of the West.
Since the installation of Itaguaí Port, is a rapidly developing city. It has 444 years of history, it being important preserved monuments. But it is a place of contrasts. It is one of the most populous districts, and at the same time, due to its vast land area, one of the least densely populated, has an industrial district, but its landscape still rules many rural areas.
The opening of nearby Itaguaí harbor has spurred some growth. It is, however, a neighborhood of contrasts. It is one of Rio's most populous neighborhoods (191,836 inhabitants in the 2000 census), but due to its vast area (125 km2), at the same time it is one of the least densely populated. Santa Cruz has strong industry, but also many rural areas and one of lowest HDIs of the city.
It has large shopping areas including a shopping mall, several bank branches, schools, Dom Pedro II State Hospital (planned to be a reference hospital for treatment of burns), two large military facilities (Santa Cruz Air Force Base and the Engineering School Battalion), and a state-run theme park for children and teenagers. Casa da Moeda do Brasil, the Brazilian mint, where all Brazilian coins, banknotes, stamps, passports and other secure official documents are made, is also located in Santa Cruz.
New industrial enterprises are being built in the area, most notably Companhia Siderúrgica do Atlântico (CSA), a new steel mill with its own private docks on Sepetiba Bay, planned to be South America's largest steel works.
Like most low-income communities, Santa Cruz has many problems regarding public transportation, sanitation and environmental degradation. The large distance to downtown Rio de Janeiro makes commutes very long and tiresome.
[edit] Gallery
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Ponte dos Jesuítas (Jesuits' Bridge)
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Nossa Senhora da Conceição Church is the second largest temple in Rio de Janeiro
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Santa Cruz AFB Hangar's South Door. This one of the world's last standing hangars built for zeppelins.
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Princess Isabel's Palace
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Thyssenkrupp's Steel mill
[edit] See also
