Rocha () is the capital city of the

Rocha Department Rocha () is a department in the east of Uruguay. Its capital is the city of Rocha. It borders Maldonado Department to its west, Lavalleja Department to its northwest, Treinta y Tres Department to its north, while to its northeast Laguna Merín fo ...

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 ...

Location and geography

The city is located on the intersection of Route 9 with Route 15, about northeast of San Carlos of

Maldonado Department The Maldonado Department ( es, Departamento de Maldonado; ), with an area of and 164,300 inhabitants (2011), is located to the southeast of Uruguay. Its capital is Maldonado. Geography and climate Neighbouring departments are Rocha to the Eas ...

. The stream

Arroyo Rocha Arroyo often refers to: * Arroyo (creek), an intermittently dry creek Arroyo may also refer to: People * Arroyo (surname) Places United States ;California * Arroyo Burro Beach, a public beach park in Santa Barbara County, California * Arroyo ...

flows along the west limits of the city.

History

It was founded in 1793 and had acquired the status of "Villa" (town) before the Independence of Uruguay. On 7 July 1880 it was made capital of the Department of Rocha by the Act of Ley Nº 1.474, while its status was elevated to "Ciudad" (city) on 10 January 1894 by the Act of Ley Nº 2.252.

In literature

Rocha department features in

Carlos Maria Dominguez Carlos may refer to: Places ;Canada * Carlos, Alberta, a locality ;United States * Carlos, Indiana, an unincorporated community * Carlos, Maryland, a place in Allegany County * Carlos, Minnesota, a small city * Carlos, West Virginia ;Elsewher ...

's 2004 novel Casa de Papel (trs English, 2005, The house of paper). The narrator visits the ruins of a house of books ergo, 'house of paper' which had been built and then destroyed by an obsessive book collector on the sand spit separating Rocha lagoon from the ocean.

Population

In 2011 Rocha had a population of 25,422. Source: ''Instituto Nacional de Estadística de Uruguay''

Transportation

Rocha is on the main road from Montevideo to the border with Brazil. Buses connect it to Montevideo. The rail station was closed in the 1980s. There is a small local airfield. There are plans to improve the local infrastructure substantially. The major project planned is to build a deep water port in or near

La Paloma "La Paloma", "The Dove" in English, is a popular Spanish song that has been produced and reinterpreted in diverse cultures, settings, arrangements, and recordings over the last 140 years. The song was written by the Spanish Basque composer Seb ...

. There are also plans to build an airport to bring in tourism, for example, Rocha's lagoon has a circular bridge especially for it.

Places of worship

* Parish Church of Our Lady of Remedies (

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 ...

) * Parish Church of Our Lady of Fatima (Roman Catholic)

Notable people

Elio Rodríguez Elio Rodríguez (born November 13, 1962 in Rocha, Uruguay) is a former Uruguayan footballer who played for clubs of Uruguay, Argentina and Chile. Teams * Liverpool 1986-1987 * Deportivo Mandiyú 1987-1992 * Chaco For Ever 1992-1993 * Cobreloa ...

(born 1962), former Uruguayan footballer

Climate

Rocha has a mild

humid subtropical climate A humid subtropical climate is a zone of climate characterized by hot and humid summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between latitudes 25° and 40° ...

(''Cfa'', according to the

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...

), with pleasant summers and cool winters. It was

oceanic Oceanic may refer to: *Of or relating to the ocean *Of or relating to Oceania **Oceanic climate **Oceanic languages **Oceanic person or people, also called "Pacific Islander(s)" Places * Oceanic, British Columbia, a settlement on Smith Island, ...

(''Cfb'') before the current climatic table (1961-1990 period). The precipitation is evenly distributed throughout the year, with an average of 1,123 mm (44.21 in). The hottest month, January, has an average temperature of 22.5 °C (72.5 °F), and the coldest month, July, has an average of 11.2 °C (52.2 °F). The average yearly temperature is 16.8 °C (62.2 °F).

References

External links

INE map of Rocha
Populated places in the Rocha Department {{Rocha-geo-stub