Lavalleja () 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

Minas Minas or MINAS may refer to: People with the given name Minas * Menas of Ethiopia (died 1563) * Saint Menas (Minas, 285–309) * Minias of Florence (Minas, Miniato, died 250) * Minas Alozidis (born 1984), Greek hurdler * Minas Avetisyan (1928� ...

. It is located in the southeast of the country, bordered to the north by the department of

Treinta y Tres Treinta y Tres () is the capital city of the Treinta y Tres Department in eastern Uruguay. Location The city is located on Route 8, on the north banks of Olimar Grande River. The city is almost surrounded by a populated rural area, a zone of ' ...

to the east with Rocha, to the south with Canelones and Maldonado, and to the west to

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

. The department is named in honor of

Brigadier Brigadier is a military rank, the seniority of which depends on the country. In some countries, it is a senior rank above colonel, equivalent to a brigadier general or commodore, typically commanding a brigade of several thousand soldiers. I ...

Juan Antonio Lavalleja Juan Antonio Lavalleja (June 24, 1784 – October 22, 1853) was a Uruguayan revolutionary and political figure. He was born in Minas, nowadays being located in the Lavalleja Department, which was named after him. Pre-Independence role He l ...

, who had distinguished military and political action in the country's independence.

History

The department was created on June 16, 1837, with part of Cerro Largo and Maldonado departments. It was first named as Minas. In March 1888, it was asked that the Chamber of Deputies raised the

settlement hierarchy A settlement hierarchy is a way of arranging settlements into a hierarchy based upon their population or some other criteria. The term is used by landscape historians and in the National Curriculum for England. The term is also used in the pla ...

of the village of Minas to be a town and to change the department's name to Lavalleja. The first was approved. From then, and until December 26, 1927, when the name was changed to Lavalleja, widespread debates about the matter were held. There was political will to designate a department under the name of the head of the Liberation Crusade, but not at the expense of Minas, even considering creating a new department named Lavalleja, being rejected afterwards.

Geography

Most of the north border of the department is formed by the Olimar Chico River and Olimar Grande River. Most of the middle and north part of the department is crossed by many streams, flowing from northwest and south directions towards the northeast of the department, all being tributaries of Río Cebollati, which flows to the northeast and discharges into Lake Merín, a natural border with

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

. These streams, from north to south, are: Arroyo Gutiérrez, Arroyo de los Molles, Arroyo de los Chanchos, Arroyo Polanco, Arroyo Barriga Negra, Arroyo Tapes Grande, Arroyo Marmarajá and finally Arroyo Aiguá, which forms most of the east border of the department. In the south of the department, flowing from east to west is

Santa Lucía River The Santa Lucía River ( es, Río Santa Lucía) is a river in Uruguay. Course The headwaters of the Santa Lucía River are in the Lavalleja department. For a large part of its course it forms the limit between the departments of Florida and Sa ...

with its tributaries, Arroyo del Soldato, Arroyo Campanero Grande and Arroyo Verdún. Another stream in the south is Arroyo Solís Grande, which forms part of the natural border with

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 Neighbour ...

and flows south discharging into the

Río de la Plata The Río de la Plata (, "river of silver"), also called the River Plate or La Plata River in English, is the estuary formed by the confluence of the Uruguay River and the Paraná River at Punta Gorda. It empties into the Atlantic Ocean and fo ...

near Gregorio Aznárez. The south part of the

Cuchilla Grande Cuchilla Grande is a hill range that crosses the east part of Uruguay from north to south. It extends from the south part of Cerro Largo Department, through the departments of Treinta y Tres and Lavalleja and ends in Maldonado Department where it ...

hillrange crosses the department from the south to northwest. In the south and near Minas, there are two important tourist attractions, the hills of Cerro Arequita and Cerro Verdún (which is also a pilgrimage sanctuary). A bit further to the north is the hill Cerro Espuelitas.

Population and demographics

At the 2011 census, Lavalleja Department had a population of 58,815 (28,793 male and 30,022 female) and 27,644 households. Demographic data for Florida Department in 2010: *Population growth rate: 0.085% *Birth Rate: 13.29 births/1,000 people *Death Rate: 10.23 deaths/1,000 people *Average age: 35.6 (34.4 male, 37.0 female) *Life Expectancy at Birth: **Total population: 77.47 years **Male: 73.59 years **Female: 81.26 years *Average per household income: 23,999 pesos/month *Urban per capita income: 9,986 pesos/month ''2010 Data Source:'' :Rural population According to the 2011 census, Lavalleja department has a rural population of 6,070.

Transportation

National Route 8 joins the department with Montevideo via

, with Minas being to its northeast. Route 8 crosses the department in a northeast direction, joining it with

, capital of the homonymous department and Melo capital of

Cerro Largo Department Cerro Largo Department () is a department of Uruguay. 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 to its south, Durazno ...

. Route 14, which crosses the country in a west-to-east direction, passes through the north of the department, joining it with Mercedes,

Trinidad Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands of Trinidad and Tobago. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is often referred to as the southernmos ...

and

Durazno Durazno is the capital city of the department of Durazno in Uruguay. Durazno is characterized by being the most central city of Uruguay. It has a population of more than 30,000 inhabitants. In the past it was the capital of Uruguay; today the ca ...

to the west and the Atlantic coast to the east. Route 14 joins the town

José Batlle y Ordóñez José Pablo Torcuato Batlle y Ordóñez ( or ; 23 May 1856 in Montevideo, Uruguay – 20 October 1929), nicknamed ''Don Pepe'', was a prominent Uruguayan politician, who served two terms as President of Uruguay for the Colorado Party. He w ...

with the city

José Pedro Varela José Pedro Varela Berro (19 March 1845 - 24 October 1879) was an Uruguayan sociologist, journalist, politician, and educator. He was born in Montevideo. Uruguay adopted free, compulsory, and secular education in 1876, thanks to his efforts. It wa ...

in the department. The railroad track Montevideo-Minas is active only for cargo trains of the Línea Minas. Another track, following the path of Route 14 through the department, is active for cargo trains from Montevideo of the Línea Río Branco, which continues into Brazil.

References

External links

INE map of Lavalleja DepartmentNuestra Terra, Colección Los Departamentos, Vol.5 "Lavalleja"
{{Authority control Departments of Uruguay States and territories established in 1837 1837 establishments in Uruguay