History of the Favelas
Rio's favelas originated with the occupation of the Santo Antônio and Providência hills ("morros"), in the central area of the city. In 1897, soldiers that returned from the Canudos war - a military campaign in the Northeastern Region of Brazil - received permission to temporarily settle on these sites. Morro da Providência received the name of "Morro da Favela" ("favela hill") in reference to a bush abundant in the semi-arid Canudos area. In 1904 there were 100 shacks. By 1933 the number had grown to 1,500. In 1910, the Morro de Santo Antônio had 1,314 shacks.

By the 1920s, the favelas had spread to other hills of the city: Morro dos Telégrafos, Mangueira, Morro de São Carlos, Vila Rica (Copacabana Neighborhood), Pasmado (Botafogo) and Babilônia (Leme). This expansion even reached the suburbs of the city.

The growth of the favelas was driven by the lack of a government policy to address the housing problems of the poorest members of society. The urban reforms of the early part of the century almost eliminated tenement houses ("cortiços") of the center of the city, which housed approximately 100,000 people in 1890.

The poor population, which also grew with the migration from the rural areas to the city, intensified the settlement of the hills, where there was vacant land near their workplaces. The same process took place in areas near primary transportation lines that connected the Center to the North Zone of the city where industries were located: railroads and, later, wide avenues. By the 1920s one of the main suburban favelas had emerged near the Madureira Railroad Station.