Cerro Largo Department () is a department of

Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...

. Its capital is Melo. It is located in the east of the country, bordering Brazil to its northeast with Yaguaron River as the natural border,

Treinta y Tres Department Treinta y Tres () is a department of Uruguay. Its capital is Treinta y Tres. It is located in the east of the country, bordering the departments of Cerro Largo to the north, Durazno and Florida to the west, Lavalleja and Rocha to the south, wh ...

to its south,

Durazno Department Durazno () is a department of Uruguay. Its capital is Durazno. Its name means ''"peach"'' in Spanish, referring to the department's peaches and its status as an agricultural breadbasket. It is located in the centre of the country, and is bounded ...

to its west and the departments of

Tacuarembó Tacuarembó ( Guarani: ''Takuarembo'', literally: "Bamboo shoot") is the capital city of the Tacuarembó Department in north-central Uruguay. Location and geography The city is located on Km. 390 of Route 5, south-southwest of Rivera, the c ...

and

Rivera Rivera () is the capital of Rivera Department of Uruguay. The border with Brazil joins it with the Brazilian city of Santana do Livramento, which is only a street away from it, at the north end of Route 5. Together, they form an urban area of aro ...

to its northwest with

Negro River Río Negro (Spanish and Portuguese, 'Black River') may refer to: Rivers Brazil * Rio Negro (Amazon), tributary of the Amazon River * Rio Negro (Mato Grosso do Sul) * Rio Negro (Paraná) * Rio Negro (Rio de Janeiro) * Rio Negro (Rondônia) * ...

as its natural border with them.

History

At the end of the 18th century, apart from the indigenous people, the area was populated by the Spanish and the Portuguese alike. In 1795, the Captain of the Spanish Infantry Agustín de la Rosa founded the town of Melo, a fortress to repel attacks of the Portuguese and the Indios. The territory was invaded by the Portuguese in 1801, 1811, and 1816. The history of this place is marked by battles before, during and after the Independence of the Republic. The old Posta del Chuy, from the town, was the historic Inn where travellers from Melo to Villa Artigas (the actual Río Branco) could rest and pay the fares for using the first public work of the Republic, the stone bridge over the stream Chuy del Tacuarí, today a Heritage Monument, built in 1855 by the French Basque brothers Etcheverry. In 1830, when Uruguay was divided in nine departments, Cerro Largo was one of them, including the biggest part of what was later separated as the

. During the 19th and early 20th centuries, when intermittent periods of

civil war A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

occurred in Uruguay, the department was a stronghold of the

Blanco Blanco (''white'' or ''blank'' in Spanish) or Los Blancos may refer to: People *Blanco (surname) Fictional characters *Blanco, a hobbit in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth * Blanco Webb, character in the BBC sitcom ''Porridge'' * El Blanco, albin ...

party. This was the precursor of the Partido Nacional. Local people are usually known as "arachanes", in memory of an extinct local ethnicity, the Arachán people.

Population and Demographics

As of the census of 2011, Cerro Largo Department had a population of 84,698 (41,050 male and 43,648 female) and 35,841 households. Demographic data for Florida Department in 2010: *Population growth rate: 0.571% *Birth Rate: 15.95 births/1,000 people *Death Rate: 8.64 deaths/1,000 people *Average age: 32.1 (31.0 male, 33.0 female) *Life Expectancy at Birth: **Total population: 75.86 years **Male: 72.58 years **Female: 79.04 years *Average per household income: 18,880 pesos/month *Urban per capita income: 7,801 pesos/month ''2010 Data Source:'' :Rural population According to the 2011 census, Cerro Largo department has a rural population of 5,936.

Map of the department

Prominent local people

Aparicio Saravia Aparicio Saravia da Rosa (August 16, 1856 – September 10, 1904) was a Uruguayan politician and military leader. He was a member of the Uruguayan National Party and was a revolutionary leader against the Uruguayan government. Early life H ...

was a prominent

National National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...

(Blanco) Party leader, who died following the

Battle of Masoller The Battle of Masoller, which occurred on September 1, 1904, was the final battle of the Aparicio Saravia revolt, resulting in the victory of the Colorado forces. Location and historical background Masoller is a village in northern Uruguay, cl ...

in 1904. * Villanueva Saravia was a regional

(Blanco) Party leader. *

Rodolfo Nin Novoa Rodolfo Nin Novoa (born 25 January 1948) is a Uruguayan politician who served as the 14th vice president of Uruguay from 2005 to 2010. He also served as Minister of Foreign Relations of Uruguay from 2015 to 2020 under Tabaré Vázquez. A membe ...

has been

Vice President of Uruguay The vice president of Uruguay is the person with the second highest position in the executive branch of the Uruguayan government, after the President of Uruguay. The Vice President replaces the elected President in case of his death or absence. Th ...

(2005-2010).

Bibliography

References

External links

Official site - Intendencia de Cerro Largo / Geography and demographics

Official site - Intendencia de Cerro Largo / History of the departmentINE map of Cerro Largo DepartmentNuestra Terra, Colección Los Departamentos, Vol.18 "Cerro Largo"
{{Authority control Departments of Uruguay States and territories established in 1821