La Paz is a small city in the

Canelones Department The Departamento de Canelones (; ) is one of the 19 Uruguayan departments. With an area of and 608,956 inhabitants at the 2023 Census, it is located in the south of Uruguay. Its capital is Canelones. Ciudad de la Costa is the largest city by ...

, 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 ...

. It gives the name to the municipality to which it belongs.

Geography

The city is located east of Route 5 on the border with

Montevideo Department Montevideo () is a department (''departamento'') of Uruguay. It is by far the smallest department in area, but also by far the most populated. Its capital is the city of Montevideo, which is also the national capital. While most of the departme ...

. It belongs to the wider

Montevideo metropolitan area The Montevideo metropolitan area () refers to the conurbation around Montevideo, encompassing its surrounding suburbs and satellite cities in the departments of Montevideo Montevideo (, ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in ...

History

The first Spanish inhabitants settled here in 1758, when the land was distributed to settlers for development. The railroad arrived here in 1868. The village of La Paz was founded on 28 February 1872, its name as a homage to the " Revolution of the Lances" (1870–1872). At the time it was a middle-class resort. The only

Jewish cemetery A Jewish cemetery ( ''beit almin'' or ''beit kvarot'') is a cemetery where Jews are buried in keeping with Halakha, Jewish tradition. Cemeteries are referred to in several different ways in Hebrew, including ''beit kevarot'' (house of s ...

of the country was created here in 1917. On 15 May 1925, its status was elevated to "Villa" (town) by the Act of Ley Nº 7.837, while on 19 December 1957 it was further elevated to "Ciudad" (city) by the Act of Ley Nº 12.477. The area was known for its vineyards, wine cellars and agroindustry. There were

marble Marble is a metamorphic rock consisting of carbonate minerals (most commonly calcite (CaCO3) or Dolomite (mineral), dolomite (CaMg(CO3)2) that have recrystallized under the influence of heat and pressure. It has a crystalline texture, and is ty ...

and

granite Granite ( ) is a coarse-grained (phanerite, phaneritic) intrusive rock, intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly coo ...

quarries, used for the development of Montevideo and

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...

, in

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

. These quarries brought many Italian immigrants to the area. The exploitation of granite is still active. The city is also known for its

meat industry The meat industry are the people and companies engaged in modern industrialized livestock agriculture for the production, packing, preservation and marketing of meat (in contrast to dairy products, wool, etc.). In economics, the meat industry is ...

Population

According to the 2011 census, La Paz has a population of 20,524. In 2010, the ''Intendencia de Canelones'' had estimated a population of 23,500 for the municipality during the elections. MunCanLaPaz

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

Places of worship

Nuestra Señora de La Paz, La Paz Church ''Nuestra'' is the debut studio album of the Venezuelan rock band La Vida Bohème, released in August 2010. Recorded and produced by Rudy Pagliuca, it is a free download on the website of the record label All of the Above. The album was nominated ...

(

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 ...

)

Government

The city mayor as of July 2010 is Juan Tons."MUNICIPIOS DE URUGUAY" at the Intendents' Congress website

References

External links

INE map of La Paz, Barrio Cópola, Costa y Guillamón, Villa Paz S.A. and Barrio La Lucha
{{Canelones Department Populated places in the Canelones Department Populated places established in 1872 1872 establishments in Uruguay