01 · Eleven entries
Foundations
Definitions, history, demographics, terminology — the basics, done carefully.
- What is a favelaDefinition, etymology, and why the word matters
- A history of favelasFrom Canudos and Morro da Providência to the present
- Morro da ProvidênciaThe first favela, and what it tells us
- Legal status over timeHow Brazilian law has classified favelas across eras
- Census and demographicsIBGE data, methodology, and what it counts
- Geographic distributionFavelas across Brazil, not just Rio
- The largest favelas in BrazilThe 2022 census top 20, from Rocinha to Manaus
- Favelas in Rio de JaneiroThe city's favelas by zone and by era
- TerminologyFavela, comunidade, aglomerado subnormal, slum
- Common misconceptionsWhat outsiders get wrong, and why
- Favelas around the worldSlums, villas, barrios, bidonvilles: how they compare
02 · Sixteen entries
Major favelas
Profiles of sixteen of Brazil's most-studied communities, written to a single template.
- RocinhaRio's largest favela, on the South Zone hillside
- Complexo do AlemãoA cluster of communities in Rio's North Zone
- Cidade de DeusThe West Zone community made internationally known by cinema
- Complexo da MaréA federation of sixteen communities near Galeão airport
- VidigalThe South Zone favela overlooking Leblon and Ipanema
- Rio das PedrasWest Zone favela and birthplace of Rio's militias
- Santa MartaBotafogo's hillside community and a site of pilot policing
- MangueiraHome of the samba school, beside Maracanã
- JacarezinhoA North Zone community at the center of recent operations
- Complexo da PenhaNorth Zone favela adjacent to Alemão
- HeliópolisSão Paulo's largest favela, in the city's south
- ParaisópolisA São Paulo favela bordered by affluent Morumbi
- Sol NascenteA planned-city periphery community west of Brasília
- Aglomerado da SerraBelo Horizonte's largest favela
- CoqueA central Recife community on the Capibaribe river
- PirambuFortaleza's coastal informal settlement
03 · Eleven entries
Themes
Cross-cutting subjects: housing, infrastructure, economy, security, public services.
- Housing and self-constructionPuxadinho, vertical growth, and building techniques
- InfrastructureWater, electricity, sanitation, and internet access
- The favela economyInformal labor, commerce, and the favela as market
- Public security historyFrom state absence to UPPs to militias
- The drug tradeComando Vermelho, ADA, TCP, PCC, and territorial control
- MilitiasOrigins, distinction from trafficking, current reach
- EducationPublic schools, NGOs, and access to higher education
- HealthSUS access, maternal health, violence as public health
- ReligionCatholic, Evangelical, and Afro-Brazilian traditions
- TransportationMoto-taxis, vans, cable cars, and how people move
- Favela tourismFrom the first Rocinha tours to the ethics debate
04 · Eight entries
Culture
Music, literature, cinema, art, food, and football — what favelas have made.
- Funk cariocaOrigins, proibidão, baile funk, and key artists
- Samba and favelasMangueira, Salgueiro, and the schools' roots
- Hip-hop and rapRacionais MC's, MV Bill, and the contemporary scene
- Visual art and street artFrom local collectives to the Favela Painting project
- LiteratureCarolina Maria de Jesus, Paulo Lins, Ferréz
- CinemaCity of God, Tropa de Elite, and the documentary tradition
- FoodBotecos, regional cuisines, and street food
- Football and favelasPlayers, várzea, and pickup culture
05 · Six entries
Policy and politics
Programs, laws, and political fights that have shaped — or failed to shape — favelas.
- Favela-BairroThe 1990s–2000s urban upgrading program
- UPPPacifying Police Units: history and aftermath
- PAC and favela investmentFederal infrastructure programs in informal settlements
- Minha Casa Minha VidaPublic housing and favela populations
- Removals and forced evictionsFrom Olympic-era displacements to ongoing cases
- Land tenure and regularizationUsucapião, REURB, and titling
06 · Five entries
People
Lives that documented, organized, or otherwise reshaped what favelas mean.
- Carolina Maria de JesusDiarist of Canindé, author of Quarto de Despejo
- Anderson SáAfroReggae and cultural organizing in Vigário Geral
- MV BillCidade de Deus rapper, writer, and activist
- Marielle FrancoMaré-born Rio city councillor, assassinated in 2018
- Eliana Sousa SilvaFounder of Redes da Maré, scholar of the favela
07 · Four entries
Resources
Doorways to primary sources, organizations, reading, and Portuguese terms.