the neighborhood of lagoa is in the heart of the south zone of rio de janeiro, with christ on corcovado to the north, ipanema to the south, copacabana and botafogo to the east and the vast expanse of tijuca national park to the west.

the neighborhood is named after its dominant geographical feature, lagoa rodrigo de freitas, the rodrigo de freitas lagoon. the population of lagoa is only around 18,500, which is comparatively small considering its location and the density of the surrounding regions.