San Carlos is a city in the

Maldonado Department The Maldonado Department (; ), with an area of and 212,951 inhabitants (2023), is located to the southeast of Uruguay. Its capital is Maldonado, Uruguay, Maldonado. Geography Neighbouring departments are Rocha Department, Rocha to the East, Lav ...

of southern

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 ...

. "San Carlos" is also the name of the municipality to which the city belongs. The municipality includes the following zones: San Carlos,

El Tesoro ''El tesoro'' (English: ''Digging for Love'') is a Colombian telenovela produced and broadcast by Caracol Televisión Caracol Televisión () (known as Caracol and previously as Canal Caracol) is a Colombian free-to-air television network owned ...

La Barra La Barra is a resort in the Maldonado Department of southeastern Uruguay. Geography The resort is located on Route 10, south of its junction with Ruta Interbalnearia. Its west coast is on the mouth of Arroyo Maldonado, while its south coast in ...

, Edén Rock,

El Chorro El Chorro ("The Cascade") is a small village located in Málaga (Andalusia) in southern Spain, near the town of Álora. It is one of the most popular rock climbing attractions in Spain as it is located next to ''Desfiladero de los Gaitanes'' ' ...

, Manantiales, Balneario Buenos Aires, Punta Piedras, Santa Mónica, , El Edén, Paso de la Cantera, Las Cañas, Carapé, Mataojo, Guardia Vieja, Pago de la Paja, Partido Norte, Partido Oeste, Cañada Bellaca, Corte de la Leña, Punta del Campanera, Puntas de Mataojo, and Laguna José Ignacio.

Geography

The city is located on Route 39, south of its intersection with Route 9 and about north of the center of the department capital city of Maldonado. The stream Arroyo San Carlos flows along the east limits of the city and the park and neighbourhood of Parque Medina is situated across it.

History

It was founded on October 1763 by the Spanish Governor

Pedro Antonio de Cevallos Pedro Antonio de Cevallos Cortés y Calderón, also spelled Ceballos (29 June 1715 – 26 December 1778), was a Spanish military Governor of Buenos Aires between 1757 and 1766, and the first Viceroy of the Río de la Plata in 1776. Biography Pe ...

, to discourage the foundation of Portuguese settlements in the region. Its name is originated from that of the King of Spain at the time,

Charles III Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. Charles was born at Buckingham Palace during the reign of his maternal grandfather, King George VI, and ...

. It had acquired the status of "Villa" (town) before the Independence of Uruguay, which was elevated to "Ciudad" (city) on 18 December 1929 by the Act of Ley Nº 8.559.

Population

In 2023, San Carlos had a population of 30,923. This makes it the second largest city in Maldonado Department after the capital city of Maldonado. According to the Intendencia Departamnetal de Maldonado, the municipality of San Carlos has a population of 27,000. MunMaldSanCar

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

Economy

It is considered to be the agropecuarian centre of the region.

Places of worship

* Parish Church of St. Charles Borromeo (

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 ...

) * Parish Church of St. Pius X (Roman Catholic) * San Carlos Ward LDS (

Mormon Mormons are a religious and cultural group related to Mormonism, the principal branch of the Latter Day Saint movement started by Joseph Smith in upstate New York during the 1820s. After Smith's death in 1844, the movement split into several ...

)

Notable people

* Luis Barrios Tassano, lawyer and politician * Manuel Basilio Bustamante, interim President * Cayetano Alberto Silva, musician *

Mariano Soler Monsignor Dr. Mariano Soler (born 25 March 1846 in San Carlos - deceased 26 September 1908 in Gibraltar) was a Uruguayan cleric and the first Roman Catholic archbishop of Montevideo, Uruguay. A student at the South American College in Rome, he ...

, first Archbishop of Montevideo *

Francisco Antonino Vidal Francisco Antonino Vidal (1827–1889) was born in Montevideo, though his birth has also been reported as in 1825, in San Carlos, Uruguay. He was a senator and two-time president of Uruguay. Background and earlier political roles He grew to beco ...

, President * Marta Albertini, actress * Leonardo Olivera, military officer * Matías Britos, footballer * Darío Pérez Brito, physician and politician * Óscar de los Santos, politician * Ruperto Elichiribehety, navy officer

References

External links

INE map of San Carlos and Parque Medina
{{Authority control Populated places in the Maldonado Department Populated places established in 1763