Volta Redonda
Encyclopedia
Volta Redonda is the name of a city in the Rio de Janeiro
state of Brazil
with 182.81 km² of area, located from 350m to 707m from the sea level
(22º31'23" S, 44º06'15" W) and with a population of 259,811 inhabitants (estimated in 2009). The area around the city has nearly 700,000. Its name (which is Portuguese
for Round Turn) is due to the round shape of a curve in the Paraíba do Sul
river around which the city was built.
Situated in Volta Redonda is Companhia Siderurgica Nacional
(CSN), Latin America
's largest steel producer. Today its economy, despite still being based on industry
, is quite diverse, and largely focused on the areas of services and trade. Due to this, Volta Redonda is worldly known as Cidade do Aço (which is Portuguese
for Steel City).
The city motto is with the municipalities Barra Mansa
(north, northwest, west and southwest), Barra do Piraí
(northeast), and Pinheiral
, Piraí
(south and east), and Rio Claro
(south) and is a 130 km of city of Rio de Janeiro
.
Along with the municipalities Barra Mansa and Pinheiral, is a conurbation that over 500,000 inhabitants, according to the IBGE estimates for 2008, and in this state the largest urban spot outside the metropolitan region of Rio de Janeiro.
Economical center of South Fluminense region, Volta Redonda is a strategic area, close to major cities-pole of other regional states, such as Juiz de Fora
(190 kilometers) and Sao Jose dos Campos
(220 kilometers).
river of "Volta Redonda". Big farms were installed in the region and some farm names are the names of some districts nowadays.
Between the years of 1860 and 1870, the navigation through the Paraíba do Sul river had its golden period between the cities of Resende
and Barra do Piraí and at the same time the railroad D. Pedro II was built in Barra do Piraí and Barra Mansa.
With these facts, in 1875, the village of Santo Antonio de Volta Redonda started to have great impulse, but with the freedom of slaves in 1888, the decay of the Vale do Paraíba became visible, destroying the agriculture, that would not recover more satisfactorily.
This situation would be reverted in 1941, when the cycle of industrialization of Volta Redonda began. Chosen as local for installation of the Companhia Siderúrgica Nacional
(CSN) steel mill
in the middle of World War II
, it marked the base of Brazil
ian industrialization. Laborers from diverse regions of the country came to Volta Redonda to work in the mill. When it opened in 1946, it was the first steel mill in South America
.
A heavily subsidized symbol of national pride, the Volta Redonda mill embodied the import substitution
industrial policies that prevailed in Latin American economies from World War II
until the Latin American debt crisis
of the 1980s
. Since its 1993 privatization, however, the mill—now known as the Presidente Vargas Steelworks—has transcended its dirigiste
origins to become one of the world's most efficient steel production facilities - due to this large procution of steel
and minerals, the city is globally nicknamed "Cidade do Aço" (literal Portuguese for "City of [the] Steel").
is the most important football
club of the city, playing its home matches at Estádio Raulino de Oliveira
, which is also located in the city downtown.
Rio de Janeiro (state)
Rio de Janeiro is one of the 27 states of Brazil.Rio de Janeiro has the second largest economy of Brazil behind only São Paulo state.The state of Rio de Janeiro is located within the Brazilian geopolitical region classified as the Southeast...
state of Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
with 182.81 km² of area, located from 350m to 707m from the sea level
Sea level
Mean sea level is a measure of the average height of the ocean's surface ; used as a standard in reckoning land elevation...
(22º31'23" S, 44º06'15" W) and with a population of 259,811 inhabitants (estimated in 2009). The area around the city has nearly 700,000. Its name (which is Portuguese
Portuguese language
Portuguese is a Romance language that arose in the medieval Kingdom of Galicia, nowadays Galicia and Northern Portugal. The southern part of the Kingdom of Galicia became independent as the County of Portugal in 1095...
for Round Turn) is due to the round shape of a curve in the Paraíba do Sul
Paraíba do Sul
thumbThe Paraíba do Sul , or simply termed Paraíba, is a river in the south-east of Brazil. It flows 1,137 kilometres west to northeast from its farthest source at the source of the river Paraitinga to the sea near Campos...
river around which the city was built.
Situated in Volta Redonda is Companhia Siderurgica Nacional
Companhia Siderúrgica Nacional
Companhia Siderúrgica Nacional is the second major steel-maker company in Brazil. Its main plant is located in the city of Volta Redonda, in the state of Rio de Janeiro...
(CSN), Latin America
Latin America
Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...
's largest steel producer. Today its economy, despite still being based on industry
Industry
Industry refers to the production of an economic good or service within an economy.-Industrial sectors:There are four key industrial economic sectors: the primary sector, largely raw material extraction industries such as mining and farming; the secondary sector, involving refining, construction,...
, is quite diverse, and largely focused on the areas of services and trade. Due to this, Volta Redonda is worldly known as Cidade do Aço (which is Portuguese
Portuguese language
Portuguese is a Romance language that arose in the medieval Kingdom of Galicia, nowadays Galicia and Northern Portugal. The southern part of the Kingdom of Galicia became independent as the County of Portugal in 1095...
for Steel City).
The city motto is with the municipalities Barra Mansa
Barra Mansa
Barra Mansa is a municipality located in the Brazilian state of Rio de Janeiro. Its population was 175,328 and its area is 547 km²....
(north, northwest, west and southwest), Barra do Piraí
Barra do Piraí
Barra do Piraí is a Brazilian city of the state of Rio de Janeiro. Its population was 94,332 and its area is 578 km². The area is 582,1 km². It is 127 km far away from Rio de Janeiro.-References:...
(northeast), and Pinheiral
Pinheiral
Pinheiral is a municipality located in the Brazilian state of Rio de Janeiro. Its population was 22,476 and its area is 77 km²....
, Piraí
Piraí
Piraí is a municipality located in the Brazilian state of Rio de Janeiro. Its population was 24,021 and its area is 505 km²....
(south and east), and Rio Claro
Rio Claro, Rio de Janeiro
Rio Claro is a municipality located in the Brazilian state of Rio de Janeiro. Its population was 17,834 and its area is 841 km²....
(south) and is a 130 km of city of Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro , commonly referred to simply as Rio, is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America, boasting approximately 6.3 million people within the city proper, making it the 6th...
.
Along with the municipalities Barra Mansa and Pinheiral, is a conurbation that over 500,000 inhabitants, according to the IBGE estimates for 2008, and in this state the largest urban spot outside the metropolitan region of Rio de Janeiro.
Economical center of South Fluminense region, Volta Redonda is a strategic area, close to major cities-pole of other regional states, such as Juiz de Fora
Juiz de Fora
-Industry, Trade, and Culture:Juiz de Fora is the second most important industrial center in the state of Minas Gerais, despite being the fourth largest in terms of population. It was once the state's largest city, position which was held up until the beginning of the 20th century...
(190 kilometers) and Sao Jose dos Campos
São José dos Campos
São José dos Campos is a municipality and a major city in the state of São Paulo, Brazil and one of the most important industrial and research centers in Latin America. It is located in the Paraíba Valley, between the two most active production and consumption regions in the country, São Paulo ...
(220 kilometers).
History
In 1744, the first tamers named the curious curve of the Paraíba do SulParaíba do Sul
thumbThe Paraíba do Sul , or simply termed Paraíba, is a river in the south-east of Brazil. It flows 1,137 kilometres west to northeast from its farthest source at the source of the river Paraitinga to the sea near Campos...
river of "Volta Redonda". Big farms were installed in the region and some farm names are the names of some districts nowadays.
Between the years of 1860 and 1870, the navigation through the Paraíba do Sul river had its golden period between the cities of Resende
Resende, Rio de Janeiro
Resende is a municipality located in the Brazilian state of Rio de Janeiro. Its population was 119,801 and its area is 1,144 km².Resendense refers to people or things from Resende, RJ. Its territory boundaries to the state of São Paulo and Minas Gerais...
and Barra do Piraí and at the same time the railroad D. Pedro II was built in Barra do Piraí and Barra Mansa.
With these facts, in 1875, the village of Santo Antonio de Volta Redonda started to have great impulse, but with the freedom of slaves in 1888, the decay of the Vale do Paraíba became visible, destroying the agriculture, that would not recover more satisfactorily.
This situation would be reverted in 1941, when the cycle of industrialization of Volta Redonda began. Chosen as local for installation of the Companhia Siderúrgica Nacional
Companhia Siderúrgica Nacional
Companhia Siderúrgica Nacional is the second major steel-maker company in Brazil. Its main plant is located in the city of Volta Redonda, in the state of Rio de Janeiro...
(CSN) steel mill
Steel mill
A steel mill or steelworks is an industrial plant for the manufacture of steel.Steel is an alloy of iron and carbon. It is produced in a two-stage process. First, iron ore is reduced or smelted with coke and limestone in a blast furnace, producing molten iron which is either cast into pig iron or...
in the middle of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, it marked the base of Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
ian industrialization. Laborers from diverse regions of the country came to Volta Redonda to work in the mill. When it opened in 1946, it was the first steel mill in South America
South America
South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...
.
A heavily subsidized symbol of national pride, the Volta Redonda mill embodied the import substitution
Import substitution
Import substitution industrialization or "Import-substituting Industrialization" is a trade and economic policy that advocates replacing imports with domestic production. It is based on the premise that a country should attempt to reduce its foreign dependency through the local production of...
industrial policies that prevailed in Latin American economies from World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
until the Latin American debt crisis
Latin American debt crisis
The Latin American debt crisis was a financial crisis that occurred in the early 1980s , often known as the "lost decade", when Latin American countries reached a point where their foreign debt exceeded their earning power and they were not able to repay it.-Origins:In the 1960s and 1970s many...
of the 1980s
1980s
File:1980s decade montage.png|thumb|400px|From left, clockwise: The first Space Shuttle, Columbia, lifted off in 1981; American President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev eased tensions between the two superpowers, leading to the end of the Cold War; The Fall of the Berlin Wall in...
. Since its 1993 privatization, however, the mill—now known as the Presidente Vargas Steelworks—has transcended its dirigiste
Dirigisme
Dirigisme is an economy in which the government exerts strong directive influence. While the term has occasionally been applied to centrally planned economies, where the state effectively controls both production and allocation of resources , it originally had neither of these meanings when...
origins to become one of the world's most efficient steel production facilities - due to this large procution of steel
Steel
Steel is an alloy that consists mostly of iron and has a carbon content between 0.2% and 2.1% by weight, depending on the grade. Carbon is the most common alloying material for iron, but various other alloying elements are used, such as manganese, chromium, vanadium, and tungsten...
and minerals, the city is globally nicknamed "Cidade do Aço" (literal Portuguese for "City of [the] Steel").
Sports
Volta Redonda Futebol ClubeVolta Redonda Futebol Clube
Volta Redonda Futebol Clube, Volta Redonda or simply by its nickname Voltaço, as they are usually called, is a Brazilian football team from Volta Redonda in Rio de Janeiro, founded on February 9, 1976....
is the most important football
Football (soccer)
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...
club of the city, playing its home matches at Estádio Raulino de Oliveira
Estádio Raulino de Oliveira
The Estádio Raulino de Oliveira, also known as Estádio da Cidadania, and Estádio General Raulino de Oliveira is a football stadium inaugurated on March 14, 1976 in Volta Redonda, Rio de Janeiro, with a maximum capacity of 21,000 people. The stadium is owned by the City Hall of Volta Redonda city,...
, which is also located in the city downtown.