Maré was declared a neighborhood in 1994, and comprises 16 micro-neighborhoods. It is considered the largest complex of favela communities in Rio, home to around 130,000 residents, and it is situated in the north of the city, on the outskirts of the guanabara bay.

It was first occupied in the 1940s, in an area that had previously been populated by Mangrove vegetation. the initial residences emerged on stilts following the construction of Avenida Brasil, others followed the instigation of landfills in surrounding regions.

The first residential association formed in 1954, and these groups have since been of fundamental importance in the process of community organization, securing services such as water, electricity, sewage, paving and garbage collection, as well as the right to remain on the land.