Cortiço is a term commonly used in Brazil and Portugal to describe an area of urban housing where many people live in conditions of poor hygiene and poverty. Some cortiços can be seen in big Brazilian and Portuguese cities such as São Paulo, Salvador, Rio de Janeiro, Recife, Lisboa and Porto. In recent decades the term has been generally been replaced with favela.
The term was made popular by Brazillian writer Aluísio de Azevedo in 1890 with the book "O Cortiço".