Bella Unión is a city in the north part of Artigas 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 ...

History

The original settlement was founded on 13 May 1829 under the name "Santa Rosa". It was started by

Fructuoso Rivera José Fructuoso Rivera y Toscana (17 October 1784 – 13 January 1854) was a Uruguayan general and patriot who fought for the liberation of Banda Oriental from Brazilian rule, twice served as Uruguay's President and was one of the instigator ...

, who played a prominent role in the early history of

. On 20 April 1928, it was renamed to "Bella Unión" by the Act of Ley No. 8.207. On 15 October 1963, its status was raised to "Ciudad" (city) by the Act of Ley No. 13.180.

Population

In 2011, Bella Unión had a population of 12,200. Together with its peripheral populated and rural areas ( Coronado, Portones de Hierro y Campodónico, Las Piedras,

Franquia Franquia is a populated rural area in Artigas Department of northern Uruguay. Geography It is located directly north of Bella Unión Bella Unión is a city in the north part of Artigas Department of Uruguay. History The original settlement w ...

Cuareim Cuareim is a village in the Artigas Department of northern Uruguay. Location It is located on the shores of the Cuareim River and is northeast of Bella Unión Bella Unión is a city in the north part of Artigas Department of Uruguay. History ...

) they form a population centre of around 18,000. Source: ''Instituto Nacional de Estadística de Uruguay''

Geography

It is located at the north end of Route 3, on the banks of the

Uruguay River The Uruguay River ( es, Río Uruguay, ; pt, Rio Uruguai, ) is a major river in South America. It flows from north to south and forms parts of the boundaries of Brazil, Argentina, and Uruguay, separating some of the Argentine provinces of La M ...

, near the mouth of

Río Cuareim Rio or Río is the Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, and Maltese word for "river". When spoken on its own, the word often means Rio de Janeiro, a major city in Brazil. Rio or Río may also refer to: Geography Brazil * Rio de Janeiro * Rio do Sul, a ...

. Being situated on a piece of land protruding between

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, t ...

and

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 ...

, it lies across Monte Caseros, Corrientes of Argentina to the west and across Barra do Quaraí of Brazil, which is only to the northeast, joined by a bridge over Río Cuareim.

Climate

Places of worship

* St. Rose of Lima of the Cuareim Parish 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 letter ...

)

Notable local person

The writer Jesús Moraes, (1955-), who specializes in short stories in Spanish, is from Bella Unión, and is one of the relatively few contemporary

an writers strongly identified with the

an north.

References

External links

* :es:Fructuoso Rivera
INE map of Bella Unión, Coronado, Las Piedras and Portones de Hierro y CampodónicoThe Community Website
Populated places in the Artigas Department Uruguay River Populated places established in 1829 Argentina–Uruguay border crossings Brazil–Uruguay border crossings Port cities and towns in Uruguay {{Artigas-geo-stub