Canelones () is the capital of the department of Canelones in

Uruguay Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of 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 the Río de la Plata to the south and the A ...

. Its name is derived from a species of cinnamon, which is called "canelón", growing along the banks of the homonymous river. Since 2010, the city is also the seat of the

municipality of Canelones Canelones is a Uruguayan municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is ...

Geography

The city is located on Route 5 about North of

Montevideo Montevideo (, ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Uruguay, largest city of Uruguay. According to the 2023 census, the city proper has a population of 1,302,954 (about 37.2% of the country's total population) in an area of . M ...

and on its intersection with Route 64. It lies on the west bank of the river Arroyo Canelón Chico.

History

It was founded on 24 April 1783 under the name "Villa Guadalupe". It became capital of one of the nine earlier Departments of the Republic. The railroad arrived here in 1874, while in 1908 National Route 5 from

was inaugurated. On 23 March 1916, it was renamed to "Canelones" and its status was elevated to "Ciudad" (city) by the Act of Ley Nº 5.400.

Population

According to the 2011 census, Canelones had a population of 19,865. In 2010, the ''Intendencia de Canelones'' had recorded a population of 25,961 for the municipality during the elections. While Canelones is the capital of the department of the same name, it has a considerably smaller population compared with two other cities in the department,

Ciudad de la Costa Ciudad de la Costa is a city in Canelones Department of Uruguay, on the banks of the Río de la Plata between the streams Arroyo Carrasco and Arroyo Pando. It is considered an extension of the metropolitan area of Montevideo which it borders to t ...

and Las Piedras. MunCanCanelones

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

Economic activity

The city and the department have numerous small to large vineyards and wineries. In 1987 the cold-storage facility "Frigorífico Canelones" was founded, which ever since became the principal industry of the city.

Government and infrastructure

The civil aviation agency of the country, National Civil Aviation and Aviation Infrastructure Direction (DINACIA), has its headquarters in Canelones.

Places of worship

* Cathedral of Our Lady of Guadalupe (

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

)

Noted local people

Diego Lugano Diego Alfredo Lugano Morena (; born 2 November 1980) is a Uruguayan former professional association football, footballer who played as a central defender. Nicknamed ''Tota'', Lugano played for a number of clubs in South America and Europe, inc ...

, captain of the

Uruguay national football team The Uruguay national football team (), nicknamed ''La Celeste'' ("The Sky Blue") and ''Los Charrúas'' ("The Charrúa, Charrúas"), have represented Uruguay in international men's Association football, football since their first international m ...

* Pablo Gabriel García, football player for

PAOK F.C. PAOK FC (, ), short for "Pan-Thessalonian Athletic Club of Constantinopolitans" (), and commonly known as PAOK Thessaloniki, PAOK Salonika or simply PAOK, is a Greek professional football club based in Thessaloniki, Macedonia, Greece. PAOK ...

Matías Vecino Matías Vecino Falero (born 24 August 1991) is a Uruguayan professional footballer who plays as a central or defensive midfielder for Serie A club Lazio. Club career Early career Vecino started his professional career with Central Español in ...

, footballer * Facundo Peraza (born July 27, 1992), footballer *

Robert Siboldi Robert Dante Siboldi Badiola (born 24 September 1965) is a Uruguayan professional manager and former footballer. He is the current head coach of Liga MX club Mazatlán. A talented goalkeeper, Siboldi played most of his club career in Mexico and ...

, Former football player and former manager of

Santos Laguna Club Santos Laguna S.A. de C.V., simply known as Santos Laguna or Santos, is a Mexican professional football club based in Torreón, Coahuila. The club competes in Liga MX, the top division of Mexican football. Founded in 1983 as Club Santos I ...

* Sebastián Rodríguez (born 1992), footballer * Andrea Trujillo, Director of Nursing, Perfect Survey Champion

Sister Cities

Asunción Asunción (, ) is the capital and the largest city of Paraguay. The city stands on the eastern bank of the Paraguay River, almost at the confluence of this river with the Pilcomayo River. The Paraguay River and the Bay of Asunción in the north ...

Paraguay Paraguay, officially the Republic of Paraguay, is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the Argentina–Paraguay border, south and southwest, Brazil to the Brazil–Paraguay border, east and northeast, and Boli ...

Loudoun County Loudoun County () is in the northern part of the Virginia, Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. In 2020, the census returned a population of 420,959, making it Virginia's third-most populous county. The county seat is Leesburg, Virgi ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

References

External links

INE map of Canelones, Paso Espinosa and Paso Palomeque
{{Authority control Populated places in the Canelones Department Populated places established in 1782 1782 establishments in the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata