| Department Departamento (Spanish) | |
|---|---|
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| Category | Unitary state |
| Location | Oriental Republic of Uruguay |
| Number | 19 departments |
| Subdivisions | |
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 Uruguayportal |
Uruguay consists of 19 departments (departamentos). Each department has a legislature, called a Departmental Board, and a chief executive called a Intendente .
The first division of Uruguay into six departments occurred on 27 January 1816. In February of the same year, two more departments were formed, and in 1828 one more was added. When the country's first constitution was signed in 1830, there were nine departments: Montevideo, Maldonado, Canelones, San José, Colonia, Soriano, Paysandú, Durazno and Cerro Largo. At that time, the department of Paysandú occupied all the territory north of the Río Negro, which included the current departments of Artigas, Rivera, Tacuarembó, Salto, Paysandú and Río Negro.
On 17 June 1837, this northern territory was divided in three, by the creation of the departments of Salto and Tacuarembó. At the same time, the department of Minas (which was eventually renamed to Lavalleja) was created out of parts of Cerro Largo and Maldonado. In 1856 Florida was created, and on 7 July 1880 the department of Río Negro was split from Paysandú and Rocha was split from Maldonado. In 1884 Treinta y Tres was formed from parts of Cerro Largo and Minas, while Artigas was split from Salto. The same year the department of Rivera was split from Tacuarembó, and in 1885 Flores was split from San José.
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| Series of maps showing the gradual formation of the current 19 departments of Uruguay. | ||||
| Flag or COA | Department | ISO 3166-2 code | Formation | Area (km2) | Population (2011) [1] | Density (/km2) | Capital | Capital population |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Artigas | UY-AR | 1884 (from Salto) | 11,928 | 73,378 | 6.15 | Artigas | 40,658 |
 | Canelones | UY-CA | 1816 (as Villa de Guadalupe) | 4,536 | 520,187 | 114.68 | Canelones | 19,865 |
 | Cerro Largo | UY-CL | 1821 | 13,648 | 84,698 | 6.21 | Melo | 53,245 |
 | Colonia | UY-CO | 1816 | 6,106 | 123,203 | 20.18 | Colonia del Sacramento | 26,231 |
 | Durazno | UY-DU | 1822 (as Entre Ríos Yí y Negro) | 11,643 | 57,088 | 4.90 | Durazno | 34,372 |
 | Flores | UY-FS | 1885 (from San José) | 5,144 | 25,050 | 4.87 | Trinidad | 21,429 |
 | Florida | UY-FD | 1856 (from San José) | 10,417 | 67,048 | 6.44 | Florida | 33,640 |
 | Lavalleja | UY-LA | 1837 (as Minas) | 10,016 | 58,815 | 5.87 | Minas | 45,638 |
 | Maldonado | UY-MA | 1816 (as San Fernando de Maldonado) | 4,793 | 164,300 | 34.28 | Maldonado | 62,592 |
 | Montevideo | UY-MO | 1816 | 530 | 1,319,108 | 2,489 | Montevideo | 1,319,108 |
 | Paysandú | UY-PA | 1820 | 13,922 | 113,124 | 8.13 | Paysandú | 76,429 |
 | Río Negro | UY-RN | 1868 (from Paysandú) | 9,282 | 54,765 | 5.90 | Fray Bentos | 24,406 |
 | Rivera | UY-RV | 1884 (as Tacuarembó) | 9,370 | 103,493 | 11.04 | Rivera | 64,465 |
 | Rocha | UY-RO | 1880 (from Maldonado) | 10,551 | 68,088 | 6.45 | Rocha | 25,422 |
 | Salto | UY-SA | 1837 (from Paysandú) | 14,163 | 124,878 | 8.82 | Salto | 104,028 |
 | San José | UY-SJ | 1816 | 4,992 | 108,309 | 21.70 | San José de Mayo | 36,747 |
 | Soriano | UY-SO | 1816 (as Santo Domingo Soriano) | 9,008 | 82,595 | 9.17 | Mercedes | 41,975 |
 | Tacuarembó | UY-TA | 1837 (from Paysandú) | 15,438 | 90,053 | 5.83 | Tacuarembó | 54,757 |
 | Treinta y Tres | UY-TT | 1884 (from Cerro Largo and Lavalleja) | 9,676 | 48,134 | 4.97 | Treinta y Tres | 25,477 |
The General Assembly has the powers to create new departments, requiring a supermajority vote of two thirds in both chambers, as provided by the Constitution in article 85. The General Assembly can also define their borders, requiring the same majority. [2]
The basic statutory framework of departments is defined by Section XVI of the Constitution. Each department has executive and legislative branches, in the form of the Intendant and the Departmental Board respectively. The Municipal Organic Law No. 9515 regulates more specific details of these rules. [3]
The sources of financial resources of the departmental governments are detailed in article 297 of the Constitution, being the departmental taxes, national taxes whose administration is granted to departments, earnings from services or incomes, money obtained from sanctions, donations, inheritances and bequests received and accepted, and their own part of the national budget that they were granted by budget laws. [4]
Since 2009 (Law No. 18567 of 13 September 2009), [5] the Uruguayan departments have been subdivided into municipalities. This system has been widely criticized as a waste of resources, due to Uruguay's small population of 3.4 million. The inaugural municipal elections were held in 2010, with municipal officials assuming office later in the year. Currently there are 125 municipalities.
Uruguay is a country in the southeastern region of South America, bordering the Atlantic Ocean, between Argentina and Brazil. It is located in the Southern Hemisphere on the Atlantic seaboard of South America between 53 and 58 west longitude and 30 and 35 south latitude. It is bordered to the west by Argentina, on the north and northeast by Brazil, and on the southeast by the Atlantic Ocean, which makes up Uruguay's coast.
The national flag of Uruguay is one of the three official flags of Uruguay along with the flag of Artigas and the flag of the Treinta y Tres. It has a field of nine equal horizontal stripes alternating white and blue. The canton is white, charged with the Sun of May, from which 16 rays extend, alternating between triangular and wavy. The flag was first adopted by law on 18 December 1828, and had 19 alternating stripes of white and blue until 11 July 1830, when a new law reduced the number of alternating stripes to nine. The flag was designed by Joaquín Suárez.
The coat of arms of Uruguay or Uruguayan shield was first adopted by law on March 19, 1829, and later on had some minor modification in 1906 and 1908. It was supposedly designed by Juan Manuel Besnes Irigoyen (1788–1865), based on the coat of arms of Argentina.
Río Negro Department is a department of the northwestern region of Uruguay. It has an area of 9,282 km2 (3,584 sq mi) and a population of 54,765. Its capital is Fray Bentos. It borders Paysandú Department to the north, Tacuarembó Department to the east, Durazno Department to the southeast, Soriano Department to the south and has the Río Uruguay flowing at its west, separating it from Argentina.
Paysandú Department is a department of the northwestern region of Uruguay. It has an area of 13,922 km2 (5,375 sq mi) and a population of 113,124. Its capital is the city of Paysandú. It borders Salto Department to its north, Tacuarembó Department to its east, Río Negro Department to its south and has the Río Uruguay flowing at its west, separating it from Argentina.
Salto Department is a department of the northwestern region of Uruguay. It has an area of 14,163 km2 (5,468 sq mi) and a population of 124,878. Its capital is the city of Salto. It borders Artigas Department to its north, Paysandú Department to its south, the departments of Rivera and Tacuarembó to its east and has the Río Uruguay flowing at its west, separating it from Argentina.
Rivera Department is a department of the northern region of Uruguay. It has an area of 9,370 km2 (3,620 sq mi) and a population of 103,493. Its capital is the city of Rivera. It borders Brazil to the north and east, Cerro Largo Department to the southeast, Tacuarembó Department to the south and west and Salto Department to the northwest.
Tacuarembó is the largest department of Uruguay and it is part of its northern region. Its capital is Tacuarembó. It borders Rivera Department to its north and east, the departments of Salto, Paysandú and Río Negro to its west and has the river Río Negro flowing along its south border, separating it from the departments of Durazno and Cerro Largo.
Uruguay's local government elections, held on May 16, 2005, to elect the intendente of the 19 departments that are the administrative divisions of Uruguay, resulted in major gains for the newly elected Frente Amplio government, and heavy losses for the opposition Partido Nacional and Partido Colorado.
The municipal elections held on May 14, 2000, resulted in the consolidation of the EP-FA as the most popular party, a strong recovery for the Partido Nacional after its worst ever performance in the 1999 general elections, and a slight drop of support for the incumbent Partido Colorado of President Jorge Batlle.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to Uruguay:
The Miss Universo Uruguay 2007 was on March 17, 2007. There were 20 candidates for the national title. The winner was Uruguay at Miss Universe 2007 and Reina Hispanoamericana 2007. The first runner up entered Miss Tourism Queen International 2008 and Miss Atlantico. The second runner up was Miss Continente Americano 2007. The Best Departemental Costume was used in Miss Universe.
Route 3 is a national route of Uruguay. In 1975, it was assigned the name General José Artigas, the foremost national hero of Uruguay. It is one of the most important highways in the country along with Route 5, connecting the south coast near Rafael Perazza with Bella Unión in the extreme northwest. The road is approximately 592 kilometres (368 mi) in length.
Uruguay's local government elections, held on May 9, 2010, to elect the intendente of the 19 departments that are the administrative divisions of Uruguay, resulted in losses for the Frente Amplio government, and some gains for the opposition Partido Nacional and Partido Colorado. This was the first time that another level of government was elected as well: 89 local governments.
The State Health Services Administration (ASSE) is the state provider of health care in Uruguay. It has a network of services throughout the country.
The 2022 Copa Uruguay, was the inaugural edition of the Copa Uruguay, the country's national football cup tournament. The tournament began on 22 June and ended on 13 November, and had 76 teams participating.
The 2023 Copa Uruguay, was the second edition of the Copa Uruguay, the country's national football cup tournament. The tournament began on 21 August 2023 and had 80 teams participating. It was originally scheduled to end on 10 December 2023, but the tournament was paused at the round of 16 and resumed on 5 February 2024 due to a players strike in Uruguayan football, with the final match eventually moved to 22 May 2024.
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Departments of the Americas | ||
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