part of grupo rio, the group d of the samba school championship of rio de janeiro, also referred to as the fourth division, is currently at the bottom of the general hierarchy of the carnival parades.

curiously enough the category appeared in its most basic form in 1979 when the samba schools were divided in two large broad categories, each one with its own sub-categories.

in 1987 this arrangement would be modified, in a move which also saw the creation of the group e, the new bottom for the hierarchy of samba schools.