La Paz is a small city in the

Canelones Department The Departamento de Canelones ( es, Departamento de Canelones; ) is one of the 19 uruguayan departments. With an area of and 518,154 inhabitants, it is located in the south of Uruguay. Its capital is Canelones. Geography and climate Neighbou ...

, southern

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 ...

. La Paz is also the name of the municipality to which the city belongs.

Location

The city is located east of Route 5 on the border with

Montevideo Department Montevideo () is a department (''departamento'') of Uruguay. It is by far the smallest department in area, but also by far the most populated. Its capital is the city of Montevideo, which is also the national capital. While most of the departme ...

. It belongs to the wider Montevideo Metropolitan Area.

History

The first Spanish inhabitants settled here in 1758, when the land was distributed to settlers for development. The railroad arrived here in 1868. The village of La Paz was founded on 28 February 1872, its name as a homage to the "

Revolution of the Lances The Revolution of the Lances (''Revolución de las Lanzas'') occurred in Uruguay from September 12, 1870 to April 6, 1872. Parties Led by Timoteo Aparicio, leader of the National Party of Uruguay (the Blancos) and a former army officer, it wa ...

" (1870-1872). At the time it was a middle-class resort. The only

Jewish cemetery A Jewish cemetery ( he, בית עלמין ''beit almin'' or ''beit kvarot'') is a cemetery where Jews are buried in keeping with Jewish tradition. Cemeteries are referred to in several different ways in Hebrew, including ''beit kevarot'' ...

of the country was created here in 1917. On 15 May 1925, its status was elevated to "Villa" (town) by the Act of Ley Nº 7.837, while on 19 December 1957 it was further elevated to "Ciudad" (city) by the Act of Ley Nº 12.477. The area was known for its vineyards, wine cellars and agroindustry. There were

marble Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or Dolomite (mineral), dolomite. Marble is typically not Foliation (geology), foliated (layered), although there are exceptions. In geology, the ...

and

granite Granite () is a coarse-grained (phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies undergro ...

quarries, used for the development of Montevideo and

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

, in

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

. These quarries brought many Italian immigrants to the area. The exploitation of granite is still active. The city is also known for its

meat industry The meat industry are the people and companies engaged in modern industrialized livestock agriculture for the production, packing, preservation and marketing of meat (in contrast to dairy products, wool, etc.). In economics, the meat industry is ...

Population

According to the 2011 census, La Paz has a population of 20,524. In 2010, the ''Intendencia de Canelones'' had estimated a population of 23,500 for the municipality during the elections. MunCanLaPaz

Source: ''Instituto Nacional de Estadística de Uruguay''

Places of worship

* Nuestra Señora de La Paz, La Paz Church (

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

)

Government

The city mayor as of July 2010 is Juan Tons."MUNICIPIOS DE URUGUAY" at the Intendents' Congress website

References

External links

INE map of La Paz, Barrio Cópola, Costa y Guillamón, Villa Paz S.A. and Barrio La Lucha
{{Canelones Department Populated places in the Canelones Department Populated places established in 1872 1872 establishments in Uruguay