Piraquê River

Pedra de Guaratiba is a neighborhood in the West Zone of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Pedra de Guaratiba is in the administrative region of Guaratiba. It has a population of 9488 people within a territory of 363,69 hectares. It is a residential zone bordering the Bay of Sepetiba. The Bay of Sepetiba is an area of commercial fishing. The town contains an Area of Environmental Protection (Forest of Casqueiro) in which the flora and fauna is of the Tropical Alanatic Forest (Mata Alantica). The population has grown in recent years principally after the work carried out on the beach and waterfront. Several shows occur in the town including New Year and Carnival, organised by the local district council. The town also includes several renowned restaurants including Cândido's, Amendoeira and 476 famous for its sea food. The town also is the site of the Church of Our Lady of Desterro constructed in 1626 and the 3rd oldest church in Rio de Janeiro. The town was to be the site of the Popes World Youth Day Field of Faith Mass but after extensive work and considerable cost it was moved at the last moment to Copacabana beach due to the heavy rains in Pedra de Guaratiba.

Guaratiba Biological and Archeological Reserve is a State biological reserve located in the western zone of Rio de Janeiro city, in the State of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It protects an important area of mangroves and wetlands in the east of Guaratiba Bay.

The Cabuçu River is a river situated in South Eastern Brazil within the state of Rio de Janeiro.

Guaratiba is a large neighborhood in the West Zone of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on the east side of Sepetiba Bay. Its population density is among the lowest in the city. It contains the 3,360 hectares (8,300 acres) Guaratiba Biological Reserve, a strictly protected conservation unit holding a remnant of mangroves. The region expanded in 2008 due to real estate investment, anticipating easier access via the Grota Funda tunnel (pt) which was scheduled to be finished that year.

Cosmos is a neighborhood in the West Zone of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Inhoaíba is a neighborhood in the West Zone of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Paciência is a neighborhood in the West Zone of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. After the inauguration in 1878 of the Campo Grande station of the Brazilian Central Railway made it easier to reach the center of the city quickly, the area, including the nearby neighbourhood of Paciência, began to develop rapidly; later Paciência got its own station. The neighbourhood is also near Santa Cruz and Sepetiba. There are around 85.000 inhabitants. There are 25 elementary and high schools.

Grumari is a neighborhood in the West Zone of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Grumari is a municipal park and is the city's only neighborhood with no residents. Grumari has beaches that have not changed in hundreds of years. Salt marsh vegetation grows next to the beach and a rain forest surrounds its hills. A nude beach is next to Grumari beach called Abricó beach (Portuguese for Apricot beach). It is the only nude beach around the city. Five virgin beaches with pristine vegetation are in this neighborhood: Inferno Beach (Hell's beach), Funda beach (Deep Beach), Búzios beach (Whelks beach), Meio's beach (middle's beach) and Perigoso beach (dangerous beach). The word Grumari comes from ancient South American dialects. the word refers to the tip of a mammal's nipples. In the same way, the beach sticks out onto the ocean, "feeding" the fish.

Barra de Guaratiba is a neighborhood in the Western Zone of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It borders Guaratiba, Vargem Grande, Recreio dos Bandeirantes and Grumari neighborhoods. This place is 56 km from Rio de Janeiro's downtown. It is a beachy neighborhood. The Guaratiba Beach is next to it. There are mangroves in the surroundings and it is characterized by mountains of virgin rainforest and over 100 restaurants and bars specializing in seafood and it is the best place and the cheapest corner in Rio de Janeiro to eat this kind of food.

Santa Cruz ('Holy Cross') is an extensive and populous neighborhood of the high class, lower middle and low in the West Zone of the municipality of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, the farthest from the center of Rio de Janeiro. Cut by the Santa Cruz extension of the urban passenger rail network of the metropolitan region of Rio de Janeiro, it has a very diverse landscape, with commercial areas, residential and industrial. The neighborhood of Santa Cruz is the seat of the administrative region of Santa Cruz, comprising the neighborhoods of Santa Cruz, Paciência and Sepetiba. The administrative region, in turn, belongs to the West Zone subprefecture. Since the installation of Itaguaí Port, is a rapidly developing neighborhood. It is 445 years old, and has important preserved monuments. But it is a place of contrasts. It is one of the most populated districts, and at the same time, due to its vast land area, one of the least densely populated; has an industrial district, but in its landscape still rules many unexplored areas. Its HDI in 2000 was 0.742, the 119 placed in the municipality of Rio de Janeiro, among 126 areas analyzed.

The West Zone State University (Portuguese: Centro Universitário Estadual da Zona Oeste, UEZO) is a public university of the State of Rio de Janeiro, legally created in 2002 and inaugurated in 2005. The university was created with the purpose of meeting the demand of students from the West Zone of Rio de Janeiro, and municipalities such as Itaguaí and Nova Iguaçu, and expanding the technological and economic development of such regions.

The Santa Cruz Estate is a former imperial country retreat in Santa Cruz, Rio de Janeiro. Originally a Jesuit estate and convent dating from 1570, it became a residence of the Portuguese viceroys in Brazil at the end of the 18th century. When King John VI and the royal family moved the court to Brazil in 1808, the palace became a royal residence. After the King's return to Portugal, the Prince Regent Pedro I continued to use the palace. Upon his marriage to Princess Leopoldina in 1818, they spent their honeymoon in the palace. The estate became one of the imperial palaces with the independence of Brazil in 1822. Emperor Pedro II later used the palace as a summer residence. Following proclamation of a republic in 1889, the palace was converted to a military school. It has continued to function as an academy to the present.