at a glance

the neighborhood of anil is surrounded by the neighborhoods of jacarepaguá to the south and to the east, freguesia to the north, and gardênia azul to the west - all of which are part of the zone oeste (west region) of rio de janeiro.

it is one of the neighborhoods that resulted from the dismantling of the jacarepaguá region, which up until the 20th century, was the sole administrative region of the whole area between the tijuca and the pedra branca ridges, north of the tijuca lagoon - in the early colonial times anil, like several neighboring districts, was part of the porta d'água ranch and although it went on to be fragmented and eventually dissipate, some historic buildings still remain.

the name for the current neighborhood actually derives from the colonial era - 'anil' is the portuguese word for 'indigo', and at the time the region was widely covered by the bushes used to produce the coloring. the production of the plants continued into the 18th century, was predominently used for the cultivation of coffee.