Lami, Rio Grande do Sul

Lami
Low buildings among trees on a flat shoreline
View of Lami
Interactive map of Lami
CountryBrazil
StateRio Grande do Sul
MunicipalityPorto Alegre
Area
 • Total
17.495 km2 (6.755 sq mi)
Population
 (2022 census)[2]
 • Total
6,677

Lami is a neighbourhood (bairro) in the far south of Porto Alegre, the capital of the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul. It lies on the shore of the Guaíba, at the boundary with the municipality of Viamão. At the 2022 census it had 6,677 inhabitants.[3] The bairro was named and delimited by municipal Law 6,893 of September 12, 1991; its present boundaries were set by Law 12,112 of August 22, 2016, which replaced the 1991 law.[3][1]

History

Two children bathing in shallow, calm water near a wooded shore
Bathers in the Guaíba at Lami beach, 2018

Until the 1970s, Lami was an isolated fishing settlement. Its inhabitants could live from fishing, because the waters of the Guaíba were not yet unfit for it, but the lack of a road link with the city centre kept the fishermen far from markets and the beach far from summer visitors. This began to change in the 1970s with the construction of a paved road from Belém Novo and the creation of the biological reserve. In the 1950s, the city had considered the area first for a housing estate and later for a recreation centre for municipal employees; both plans were dropped because the swampy ground would have required costly landfill.[4]

Biological reserve

A shallow pond with aquatic grasses, surrounded by dense trees hung with epiphytes
Wetland in the Lami José Lutzenberger Biological Reserve

Lami is home to the Lami José Lutzenberger Biological Reserve, created in 1975 after the discovery in the area of Ephedra tweediana, a rare plant of the restinga woodlands. The reserve covers about 204 hectares; its purposes are nature conservation, scientific research and environmental education.[5]

Demographics

At the 2022 census, Lami had 6,677 inhabitants, of whom 6,567 lived in the urban area and 110 in the rural area.[2] The municipal neighbourhood profile places the bairro in the Extremo Sul region of the city's participatory budget, with an area of 17.495 km2 (6.755 sq mi), about 3.7% of the municipality; the average income of its residents is well below the city average.[1]

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Observando o Bairro: Lami" [Observing the neighbourhood: Lami] (PDF) (in Portuguese). ObservaPOA, Prefeitura de Porto Alegre. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 3, 2024. Retrieved July 9, 2026.
  2. 1 2 "População urbana e rural, segundo as faixas etárias – Censo Demográfico 2022" [Urban and rural population by age range – 2022 Demographic Census] (in Portuguese). ObservaPOA, Prefeitura de Porto Alegre. Archived from the original (XLSX) on July 9, 2026. Retrieved July 9, 2026.
  3. 1 2 "Lei nº 6.893, de 12 de setembro de 1991: Denomina e delimita bairros no município de Porto Alegre" [Law No. 6,893 of September 12, 1991: Names and delimits neighbourhoods in the municipality of Porto Alegre]. LeisMunicipais (in Portuguese). Retrieved July 9, 2026.
  4. ↑ "História dos bairros de Porto Alegre" [History of the neighbourhoods of Porto Alegre] (PDF) (in Portuguese). ObservaPOA, Prefeitura de Porto Alegre. Archived from the original (PDF) on May 11, 2021. Retrieved July 9, 2026.
  5. ↑ "Reserva Biológica do Lami José Lutzenberger" [Lami José Lutzenberger Biological Reserve] (in Portuguese). Secretaria Municipal do Meio Ambiente, Prefeitura de Porto Alegre. Archived from the original on March 26, 2023. Retrieved July 9, 2026.

30°14′S 51°05′W / 30.233°S 51.083°W / -30.233; -51.083