Cerro Largo Department () is a department of

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 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 Treinta y Tres () is a department of Uruguay. Its capital is Treinta y Tres. It is located in the east of the country, bordering the departments of Cerro Largo to the north, Durazno and Florida to the west, Lavalleja and Rocha to the south, w ...

to its south,

Durazno Department Durazno (; ) is a Departments of Uruguay, department of Uruguay. Its capital is Durazno. Its name means ''"peach"'' in Spanish language, Spanish, referring to the department's peaches and its status as an agricultural breadbasket. It is located i ...

to its west and the departments of

Tacuarembó Tacuarembó ( Guaraní language, Guarani: ''Takuarembo'', literally: "Bamboo shoot") is the capital city of the Tacuarembó Department in north-central Uruguay. History On 24 October 1831, a presidential decree by Fructuoso Rivera ordered the cr ...

and

Rivera Rivera () is the capital of Rivera Department of Uruguay. The border with Brazil joins it with the Brazilian city of Santana do Livramento, which is only a block away from it, at the north end of Route 5 (Uruguay), Route 5. Together, they form an ...

to its northwest with Negro River as its natural border with them.

History

At the end of the 18th century, apart from the indigenous people, the area was populated by the Spanish and the Portuguese alike. In 1795, the Captain of the Spanish Infantry Agustín de la Rosa founded the town of Melo, a fortress to repel attacks of the Portuguese and the Indios. The territory was invaded by the Portuguese in 1801, 1811, and 1816. The history of this place is marked by battles before, during and after the Independence of the Republic. The old Posta del Chuy, from the town, was the historic Inn where travellers from Melo to Villa Artigas (the actual Río Branco) could rest and pay the fares for using the first public work of the Republic, the stone bridge over the stream Chuy del Tacuarí, today a Heritage Monument, built in 1855 by the French Basque brothers Etcheverry. In 1830, when Uruguay was divided in nine departments, Cerro Largo was one of them, including the biggest part of what was later separated as the

. During the 19th and early 20th centuries, when intermittent periods of

civil war A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

occurred in Uruguay, the department was a stronghold of the

Blanco Blanco (''white'' or ''blank'' in Spanish) or Los Blancos may refer to: People *Blanco (surname) Fictional characters *Blanco, a hobbit in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth *Blanco Webb, character in the BBC sitcom ''Porridge'' *Graboid#El Blanco, ...

party. This was the precursor of the Partido Nacional. Local people are usually known as "arachanes", in memory of an extinct local ethnicity, the

Arachán people Arachanes (sing. Arachán) were a group of Indigenous peoples in Uruguay of dubious existence (known through only one document). Their origin is not very well-known, but some scholars consider them (if they existed) to be different from other loca ...

Demographics

As of the census of 2011, Cerro Largo Department had a population of 84,698 (41,050 male and 43,648 female) and 35,841 households. Demographic data for Florida Department in 2010: *Population growth rate: 0.571% *Birth Rate: 15.95 births/1,000 people *Death Rate: 8.64 deaths/1,000 people *Average age: 32.1 (31.0 male, 33.0 female) *Life Expectancy at Birth: **Total population: 75.86 years **Male: 72.58 years **Female: 79.04 years *Average per household income: 18,880 pesos/month *Urban per capita income: 7,801 pesos/month ''2010 Data Source:'' :Rural population According to the 2011 census, Cerro Largo department has a rural population of 5,936.

Map of the department

Notable people

Aparicio Saravia Aparicio Saravia da Rosa (August 16, 1856 – September 10, 1904) was a Uruguayan politician and military leader. He was a member of the Uruguayan National Party (Uruguay), National Party and was a revolutionary leader against the Uruguayan ...

was a prominent National (Blanco) Party leader, who died following the

Battle of Masoller The Battle of Masoller, which occurred on September 1, 1904, was the final battle of the Aparicio Saravia, Aparicio Saravia revolt, resulting in the victory of the Colorado Party (Uruguay), Colorado forces. Location and historical background Ma ...

in 1904. * Villanueva Saravia was a regional National (Blanco) Party leader. * Rodolfo Nin Novoa has been

Vice President of Uruguay The vice president of Uruguay is the person with the second highest position in the executive branch of the Uruguayan government, after the President of Uruguay. The vice president replaces the elected President in case of his death or absence. Th ...

(2005-2010).

Bibliography

References

External links

Official site - Intendencia de Cerro Largo / Geography and demographics

Official site - Intendencia de Cerro Largo / History of the departmentINE map of Cerro Largo DepartmentNuestra Terra, Colección Los Departamentos, Vol.18 "Cerro Largo"
{{Authority control Departments of Uruguay States and territories established in 1821