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Tânia (Rio de Janeiro)

Written by Elisa de Magalhães e Guimarães

Edited by André Colabelli

Translated by Natalle Moura

Copyedited by Marina Ferreira



For other uses, see Tânia (disambiguation).



This article about a municipality in Brazil is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.


Tânia is a municipality in Rio de Janeiro (State). Tânia shares borders with the municipalities of Niterói, Maricá and São Gonçalo. Tânia’s coordinates are not officially defined yet. The altitude is approximately 1.65 meters, according to a seamstress[1] and the latest medical tests[2]. The total area and population of Tânia are not known yet. However, witnesses of the initial founding estimate that the municipality is home to around 100,000 inhabitants[citation needed].

Although it is considered a coastal municipality by its inhabitants and by real estate companies, Tânia's shoreline on the Atlantic Ocean is contested by the municipalities of Niterói and Maricá[3].


Contents

1 History

2 Government and Politics

3 Sister city 

4 References

5 External links


History

On January 15, 2022, retired realtor Tânia Maria Gomes Medeiros, 63, was washing her house’s sidewalk in the Maria Paula neighborhood, in Niterói[4]’s countryside. For reasons still unknown, Tânia melted, mixing with the pavement, earth, water and soap. Her liquefied body expanded and spread throughout the region around the neighborhood, occupying the territory that is now considered a new municipality.

The separation of Tânia from the other municipalities took effect on February 1, 2022[5]. On January 17, 2022[6], the first business day after the liquefaction of Tânia, the city hall of Niterói sent a technical team to investigate the situation. Researchers from the Biology, Architecture and Urbanism and Civil Engineering departments at the Fluminense Federal University (UFF) were also present at the site. After intense discussion with Tânia and her family, a white paper was prepared recommending the political-administrative emancipation of the territory[7]. The report was sent to the municipalities of Niterói, Maricá and São Gonçalo, as well as to the Legislative Assembly of the State of Rio de Janeiro (Alerj) and the state governor. Tânia's emancipation was voted on as a matter of urgency at Alerj and published in the Diário Oficial on January 25, 2022, with an effective date scheduled for the first working day of the following month[8].

The reason for the liquefaction has not yet been determined. Researchers from the UFF, the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ) and the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz) are negotiating to collect soil samples from Tânia for analysis. Although Tânia does not mind providing the samples, the researchers find resistance from two of the five children of the pensioner-municipality, Juninho and Everaldo, who consider the sampling a serious offense to their mother[9].


Government and Politics 

Tânia is currently the only self-administered, conscious city in Brazil[citation needed]. Four of Tânia's five children – Juninho, Everaldo, Pedro Henrique and Bruna – are in the process of moving to their mother's territory to help with issues related to health, education, commerce, transport and tourism[citation needed]. The only areas that will remain under Tânia's sole management are housing and urban planning. In an official statement sent through the instant-messaging application WhatsApp, Tânia stated: “I don't go meddling into anyone's house, I don't want anyone meddling in mine”[10].

The control of Tânia over the city led to the creation of a group of residents dissatisfied with the local administration. The Movimento Tânia para os Tanienses (Tânia for the Tanienses Movement, also called MOTATAN) demands direct mayoral elections and the formulation of a municipal council, as well as the creation of administrative offices relative to the different areas of public administration[11].

A common complaint from MOTATAN members concerns the arbitrary eviction of Tânia’s residents. A particular case is that of Tânia's youngest daughter, Graziela, who was prevented from moving to the city for “being a fool that keeps supporting that slacker Dilsinho[12].


Sister city

Tânia's sister city is expected to be recognized on August 25, 2022, when researchers from the Federal University of Paraná (UFPR) estimate that retired teacher Sônia, 67, will finish merging into the ground between the cities of Londrina and Ibiporã [13].

Sonia was driving to her mother-in-law's house when she had to stop the car due to an oil leak. When she stepped on the oil, her foot began to merge with the asphalt[14]. Due to the small amount of the leaked substance, Sonia's assimilation process has been slower than that of her sister[citation needed]. However, the prefectures and municipal councils of Londrina and Ibiporã have already anticipated laws regulating the emancipation of the new retiree-municipality.


References

1.  Ana Cristina dos Santos Ferreira's notebook (March 11, 2022).

2.  Medical records of Nossa Senhora de Lourdes Clinic (March 7, 2022).

3.  “Niterói and Maricá go to court against Tânia for ocean beach shore”. Eduardo Sobrinho, O Fluminense Newspaper (March 2, 2022).

4. ↑ “Retired realtor melts in Niterói”. G1 Portal (January 15, 2022). (in Portuguese)

5. ↑ “Realtor who melted in Niterói becomes a municipality”. G1 Portal (February 1, 2022). (in Portuguese)

6. ↑ “Researchers study the melting of a pensioner in East Fluminense”. Extra Newspaper (January 18, 2022). (in Portuguese)

7. ↑ “Technical assessment regarding the environmental and social causes about the impacts of the melting of Tânia Maria Gomes Medeiros”. Federal Fluminense University (March 7, 2022). (in Portuguese)

8. ↑ “Tânia Municipality Foundation”. Diário Oficial do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (Rio de Janeiro City Hall 's Official Newspaper), v. XLVIII, n. 15, (January 25, 2022). (in Portuguese)

9. ↑ “Researchers meet resistance to collect samples of Tânia”. Aline Maranhão, O Globo Newspaper (April 5, 2022). (in Portuguese)

10.  Message sent by Tânia to a group of inhabitants through Whatsapp group  (April 16, 2022). 

11. ↑ “Our Demands”. Tânia for the Tanienses Movement (MOTATAN) (May 18, 2022). (in Portuguese)

12. ↑ “Exposed”. Graziela e Dilson (couple’s profile). Instagram (April 13, 2022). (in Portuguese)

13.  “The merging of a teacher with asphalt should be completed in August, says UFPR”. Edson Delgado, Folha de Londrina (Londrina Newspaper) (July 10, 2022). (in Portuguese)

14.  Ibid.


External links

City Hall ↗️.

Tânia Movement for the Tanienses (MOTATAN) ↗️ (in Portuguese).

Tânia’s Facebook ↗️.


Elisa de Magalhães e Guimarães

Elisa was born in the state of Goiás, raised in the city of Niterói, and currently lives in Rio de Janeiro. Writing is her work and when she’s not working she is writing. She’s published the short stories “Os moradores” and “Ticket pendente” in the anthology Escritos da Quarentena and the newsletter Faísca, respectively.

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