Montevideo (, ; ) is the capital and largest city 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 ...

. According to the 2023 census, the

city proper A city proper is the geographical area contained within city limits. The term ''proper'' is not exclusive to city, cities; it can describe the geographical area within the boundaries of any given locality. The United Nations defines the term as " ...

has a population of 1,302,954 (about 37.2% of the country's total population) in an area of . Montevideo is situated on the southern coast of the country, on the northeastern bank of the

Río de la Plata The Río de la Plata (; ), 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, Colonia, Punta Gorda. It empties into the Atlantic Ocean and ...

. A Portuguese garrison was established in the place where today is the city of Montevideo in November 1723. The Portuguese garrison was expelled in February 1724 by a Spanish soldier, Bruno Mauricio de Zabala, as a strategic move amidst the Spanish- Portuguese dispute over the platine region. There is no official document establishing the foundation of the city, but the "Diario" of Bruno Mauricio de Zabala officially mentions the date of 24 December 1726 as the foundation, corroborated by presential witnesses. The complete independence from Buenos Aires as a real city was not reached until 1 January 1730. It was also under brief British rule in 1807, but eventually the city was retaken by Spanish criollos who defeated the

British invasions of the River Plate The British invasions of the River Plate were two unsuccessful British attempts to seize control of the Spanish colony of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata, located around the Río de la Plata in South America – in present-day Argenti ...

. Montevideo is the seat of the administrative headquarters of

Mercosur The Southern Common Market (commonly known by abbreviation ''Mercosur'' in Spanish and ''Mercosul'' in Portuguese) is a South American trade bloc established by the Treaty of Asunción in 1991 and Protocol of Ouro Preto in 1994. Its full me ...

and ALADI,

Latin America Latin America is the cultural region of the Americas where Romance languages are predominantly spoken, primarily Spanish language, Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese. Latin America is defined according to cultural identity, not geogr ...

's leading trade blocs, a position that entailed comparisons to the role of

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

in Europe. The 2019 Mercer's report on quality of life rated Montevideo first in Latin America, a rank the city has consistently held since 2005. , Montevideo was the 19th largest city economy in the continent and 9th highest income earner among major cities. In 2022, it has a projected GDP of $53.9 billion, with a

per capita ''Per capita'' is a Latin phrase literally meaning "by heads" or "for each head", and idiomatically used to mean "per person". Social statistics The term is used in a wide variety of social science, social sciences and statistical research conte ...

of $30,148.(((61/33)^(1/15))^12)*33 and (((33/21)^(1/15))^12)*21. In 2018, it was classified as a beta

global city A global city (also known as a power city, world city, alpha city, or world center) is a city that serves as a primary node in the global economic network. The concept originates from geography and urban studies, based on the thesis that glo ...

ranking eighth in

and 84th in the world. Montevideo hosted every match during the first FIFA World Cup in 1930. Described as a "vibrant, eclectic place with a rich cultural life", and "a thriving tech center and entrepreneurial culture", Montevideo ranked eighth in Latin America on the 2013 MasterCard Global Destination Cities Index. The city features historic European architecture, and is in fact considered one of the cities with the most

art deco Art Deco, short for the French (), is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design that first Art Deco in Paris, appeared in Paris in the 1910s just before World War I and flourished in the United States and Europe during the 1920 ...

influence. It is the hub of commerce and higher education in Uruguay as well as its chief port and financial hub, anchoring the

metropolitan area A metropolitan area or metro is a region consisting of a densely populated urban area, urban agglomeration and its surrounding territories which share Industry (economics), industries, commercial areas, Transport infrastructure, transport network ...

with a population of around 2 million.

Etymology

There are several explanations for the word ''Montevideo''. All agree that "Monte" refers to the Cerro de Montevideo, the hill situated across the Bay of Montevideo, but there is disagreement about the etymological origin of the "video" part. * Monte vide eu ("I saw a mount") is the most widespread belief but is rejected by the majority of experts, who consider it unlikely because it involves a mix of dialects. The name would come from a Portuguese expression which means "I saw a mount", wrongly pronounced by an anonymous sailor belonging to the expedition of Fernando de Magallanes on catching sight of the Cerro de Montevideo. * Montem vídeo ("I see a hill"): This version, a variant of the previous one, suggests that the name comes directly from Latin, stemming from the spontaneous expression of a learned member of Magellan's expedition, who, upon spotting the Cerro de Montevideo, exclaimed: ''Montem vídeo'' ("I see a hill"). The rest of the crew, who did not speak Latin, mistakenly registered this as the name of the hill they had just sighted, ''Monte Vídeo''. This theory is supported by numerous maps and documents from the colonial period that refer to the Cerro de Montevideo with the name ''Monte Vídeo.'' * Monte Vidi: This hypothesis comes from the "Diario de Navegación" (Navigational Calendar) of boatswain Francisco de Albo, member of the expedition of Fernando de Magallanes, who wrote, "Tuesday of the said onth of January 1520we were on the straits of Cape Santa María ow Punta del Este">Punta_del_Este.html" ;"title="ow Punta del Este">ow Punta del Este from where the coast runs east to west, and the terrain is sandy, and at the right of the cape there is a mountain like a hat to which we gave the name "Montevidi"." This is the oldest Spanish document that mentions the promontory with a name similar to the one that designates the city, but it does not contain any mention of the alleged cry "Monte vide eu." * Monte-VI-D-E-O (''Monte VI De Este a Oeste'', "Sixth mount from east to west"): According to Rolando Laguarda Trías, professor of history, the Spaniards annotated the geographic location on a map or Portolan chart, so that the mount/hill is the VI (6th) mount observable on the coast, navigating Río de la Plata from east to west. With the passing of time, these words were unified to "Montevideo". No conclusive evidence has been found to confirm this academic hypothesis, nor can it be asserted with certainty which the other five mounts observable before the Cerro were. * Monte Ovídio (''Monte Santo Ovídio''), a less widespread hypothesis of a religious origin, stems from an interpolation in the aforementioned ''Diario de Navegación'' of Fernando de Albo, where it is asserted "corruptly now called Santo Vidio" when they refer to the hat-like mount which they named Monte Vidi (that is, the Cerro de Montevideo). Auditus of Braga (Spanish: ''Ovídio'') was the third bishop of the Roman city of

Braga Braga (; ) is a cities of Portugal, city and a Municipalities of Portugal, municipality, capital of the northwestern Portugal, Portuguese Braga (district), district of Braga and of the historical and cultural Minho Province. Braga Municipality ...

(now in Portugal) in 95 CE, where he was always revered; a monument to him was erected there in 1505. Given the relationship that the Portuguese had with the discovery and foundation of Montevideo, and despite the fact that this hypothesis, like the previous ones, lacks conclusive documentation, there have been those who linked the name of Santo Ovídio or Vídio (appearing on some maps of the time) with the subsequent derivation of the name "Montevideo" given to the region since the early years of the 16th century. When the Portuguese invaded the

Banda Oriental Banda Oriental (Eastern Bank), or more fully Banda Oriental del Río Uruguay, was the name of the South American territories east of the Uruguay River and north of Río de la Plata that comprise the modern nation of Uruguay, the modern state of Ri ...

and annexed it as the province of Cisplatina until 1831, they called the city , and pronounced as .

History

Paraguay - O Prov de Rio de la Plata - cum regionibus adiacentibus Tvcvman et Sta

Early history

Between 1680 and 1683, Portugal founded the city of Colonia do Sacramento in the region across the bay from

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 ...

. This city met with no resistance from the Spanish until 1723, when they began to place fortifications on the elevations around Montevideo Bay. On 22 November 1723, Field Marshal of Portugal built the Montevieu fort. Los Primeros Pobladores de Montevideo

A Spanish expedition was sent from Buenos Aires, organized by the Spanish governor of that city, Bruno Mauricio de Zabala. On 22 January 1724, the Spanish forced the Portuguese to abandon the location and started populating the city, initially with six families moving in from Buenos Aires and soon thereafter by families arriving from the

Canary Islands The Canary Islands (; ) or Canaries are an archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean and the southernmost Autonomous communities of Spain, Autonomous Community of Spain. They are located in the northwest of Africa, with the closest point to the cont ...

who were known as

Guanches The Guanche were the Indigenous peoples, indigenous inhabitants of the Spain, Spanish Canary Islands, located in the Atlantic Ocean some to the west of modern Morocco and the North African coast. The islanders spoke the Guanche language, which i ...

or Canarians. There was also one significant early Italian resident by the name of Jorge Burgues. A census of the city's inhabitants was performed in 1724 and then a plan was drawn delineating the city and designating it as ''San Felipe y Santiago de Montevideo'', later shortened to Montevideo. The census counted more than 100 families of Galician and Canary Islands origin, more than 1000 indigenous people, mostly Guaraní, as well as some trafficked slaves of Bantu origin. A few years after its foundation, Montevideo became the main city of the region north of the Río de la Plata and east of the

Uruguay River The Uruguay River ( ; ) 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 Mesopotamia from the other two countr ...

, competing with Buenos Aires for dominance in maritime commerce. The importance of Montevideo as the main port of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata brought it in confrontations with the city of Buenos Aires in various occasions, including several times when it was taken over to be used as a base to defend the eastern province of the Viceroyalty from Portuguese incursions. In 1776, Spain made Montevideo its main naval base (''Real Apostadero de Marina'') for the South Atlantic, with authority over the Argentine coast, Fernando Po, and the Falklands. Until the end of the 18th century, Montevideo remained a fortified area, today known as

Charles Stirling Charles Stirling (28 April 1760 – 7 November 1833) was a vice-admiral in the British Royal Navy. Early life and career Charles Stirling was born in London on 28 April 1760 and baptised at St. Albans on 15 May. The son of Admiral Sir Walter ...

occupied the city during the Battle of Montevideo (1807), but it was recaptured by the Spanish in the same year on 2 September when John Whitelocke was forced to surrender to troops formed by forces of the

—roughly the same area as modern Uruguay—and of Buenos Aires. After this conflict, the governor of Montevideo Francisco Javier de Elío opposed the new viceroy

Santiago de Liniers Santiago Antonio María de Liniers y Bremond, 1st Count of Buenos Aires, Order of Montesa, KOM, Order of Malta, OM (July 25, 1753 – August 26, 1810) was a Spanish military officer and a viceroy of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata. Alt ...

, and created a government Junta when the

Peninsular War The Peninsular War (1808–1814) was fought in the Iberian Peninsula by Kingdom of Portugal, Portugal, Spain and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom against the invading and occupying forces of the First French ...

started in Spain, in defiance of Liniers. Elío disestablished the Junta when Liniers was replaced by

Baltasar Hidalgo de Cisneros Baltasar Hidalgo de Cisneros y de la Torre (6 January 1756 – 9 June 1829) was a Spanish Navy officer and colonial administrator. He took part in the Battle of Cape St Vincent and the Battle of Trafalgar, and in the Spanish resistance against ...

. During the

May Revolution The May Revolution () was a week-long series of events that took place from 18 to 25 May 1810, in Buenos Aires, capital of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata. This Spanish colony included roughly the territories of present-day Argentina, ...

of 1810 and the subsequent uprising of the provinces of Rio de la Plata, the Spanish colonial government moved to Montevideo. During that year and the next, Uruguayan revolutionary

José Gervasio Artigas José Gervasio Artigas Arnal (; June 19, 1764 – September 23, 1850) was a soldier and statesman who is regarded as a national hero in Uruguay and the father of Uruguayan nationhood. Born in Montevideo, Artigas enlisted in the Spanish ...

united with others from Buenos Aires against Spain. In 1811, the forces deployed by the Junta Grande of Buenos Aires and the

gaucho A gaucho () or gaúcho () is a skilled horseman, reputed to be brave and unruly. The figure of the gaucho is a folk symbol of Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay, Rio Grande do Sul in Brazil, the southern part of Bolivia, and the south of Chilean Patago ...

forces led by Artigas started a siege of Montevideo, which had refused to obey the directives of the new authorities of the May Revolution. The siege was lifted at the end of that year, when the military situation started deteriorating in the Upper Peru region. The Spanish governor was expelled in 1814. In 1816, Portugal invaded the recently liberated territory and in 1821, it was annexed to the Banda Oriental of Brazil. It was named by

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Pedro I when the city was part of the

Empire of Brazil The Empire of Brazil was a 19th-century state that broadly comprised the territories which form modern Brazil and Uruguay until the latter achieved independence in 1828. The empire's government was a Representative democracy, representative Par ...

as the capital of the Cisplatina province.

Juan Antonio Lavalleja Juan Antonio Lavalleja y de la Torre (June 24, 1784 – October 22, 1853) was an Uruguayan Libertadores, libertador, revolutionary, military general, and political figure. He was born in Minas, Uruguay, Minas, in a region now named after him ...

and his band called the ''Treinta y Tres Orientales'' ("

Thirty-Three Orientals The ''Treinta y Tres Orientales'' (English: Thirty-Three Orientals or Thirty-Three Easterners) was a revolutionary group led by Juan Antonio Lavalleja and Manuel Oribe against the Empire of Brazil. Their actions culminated in the foundation of m ...

") re-established the independence of the region in 1825. Uruguay was consolidated as an independent state in 1828, with Montevideo as the nation's capital. In 1829, the demolition of the city's fortifications began and plans were made for an extension beyond the Ciudad Vieja, referred to as the "Ciudad Nueva" ("new city"). Urban expansion, however, moved very slowly because of the events that followed. PlanoMontevideoSitioGrande

Uruguay's 1830s were dominated by the confrontation between

Manuel Oribe Manuel Ceferino Oribe y Viana (August 26, 1792 – November 12, 1857) was the 2nd Constitutional president of Uruguay and founder of Uruguay's National Party, the oldest Uruguayan political party and considered one of the two Uruguayan "tr ...

and Fructuoso Rivera, the two revolutionary leaders who had fought against the

under the command of Lavalleja, each of whom had become the ''

caudillo A ''caudillo'' ( , ; , from Latin language, Latin , diminutive of ''caput'' "head") is a type of Personalist dictatorship, personalist leader wielding military and political power. There is no precise English translation for the term, though it ...

'' of their respective faction. Politics were divided between Oribe's ''Blancos'' ("whites"), represented by the National Party, and Rivera's ''Colorados'' ("reds"), represented by the Colorado Party, with each party's name taken from the color of its emblems. In 1838, Oribe was forced to resign from the presidency; he established a rebel army and began a long civil war, the Guerra Grande, which lasted until 1851. The city of Montevideo suffered a siege of eight years between 1843 and 1851, during which it was supplied by sea with British and French support. By 1843 Montevideo's population of thirty thousand inhabitants was highly cosmopolitan with Uruguayans making up only a third of it. The remaining were chiefly Italian (4205), Spanish (3406), Argentine (2553), Portuguese (659), English (606) and Brazilians (492). Oribe, with the support of the then conservative Governor of Buenos Aires Province

Juan Manuel de Rosas Juan Manuel José Domingo Ortiz de Rozas y López de Osornio (30 March 1793 – 14 March 1877), nicknamed "Restorer of the Laws", was an Argentine politician and army officer who ruled Buenos Aires Province and briefly the Argentine Confedera ...

, besieged the Colorados in Montevideo, where the latter were supported by the French Legion, the Italian Legion, the Basque Legion and battalions from Brazil. Finally in 1851, with the additional support of Argentine rebels who opposed Rosas, the Colorados defeated Oribe. The fighting however resumed in 1855, when the Blancos came to power, which they maintained until 1865. Thereafter, the Colorado Party regained power, which they retained until the middle of the 20th century. After the end of hostilities, a period of growth and expansion started for the city. In 1853 a

stagecoach A stagecoach (also: stage coach, stage, road coach, ) is a four-wheeled public transport coach used to carry paying passengers and light packages on journeys long enough to need a change of horses. It is strongly sprung and generally drawn by ...

bus line was established joining Montevideo with the newly formed settlement of Unión and the first natural gas

street light A street light, light pole, lamp pole, lamppost, streetlamp, light standard, or lamp standard is a raised source of light on the edge of a road or path. Similar lights may be found on a railway platform. When urban electric power distribution b ...

s were inaugurated. From 1854 to 1861 the first public sanitation facilities were constructed. In 1856 the Teatro Solís was inaugurated, 15 years after the beginning of its construction. By Decree, in December 1861 the areas of Aguada and Cordón were incorporated to the growing ''Ciudad Nueva'' (New City). In 1866, an underwater telegraph line connected the city with Buenos Aires. The statue of Peace, ''La Paz'', was erected on a column in Plaza Cagancha and the building of the Postal Service as well as the bridge of Paso Molino were inaugurated in 1867. In 1868, the horse-drawn tram company ''Compañía de Tranvías al Paso del Molino y Cerro'' created the first lines connecting Montevideo with Unión, the beach resort of Capurro and the industrialized and economically independent Villa del Cerro, at the time called ''Cosmopolis''. In the same year, the Mercado del Puerto was inaugurated. In 1869, the first railway line of the company ''Ferrocarril Central del Uruguay'' was inaugurated connecting Bella Vista with the town of Las Piedras. During the same year and the next, the neighborhoods Colón, Nuevo París and La Comercial were founded. The Sunday market of Tristán Narvaja Street was established in Cordón in 1870. Public water supply was established in 1871. In 1878, ''Bulevar Circunvalación'' was constructed, a boulevard starting from Punta Carretas, going up to the north end of the city and then turning west to end at the beach of Capurro. It was renamed Artigas Boulevard in 1885. By Decree, on 8 January 1881, the area ''Los Pocitos'' was incorporated into the ''Novísima Ciudad'' (Most New City). The first telephone lines were installed in 1882 and electric street lights took the place of the gas-operated ones in 1886. The Hipódromo de Maroñas started operating in 1888, and the neighborhoods of Reus del Sur, Reus del Norte and Conciliación were inaugurated in 1889. The new building of the School of Arts and Trades, as well as Zabala Square in Ciudad Vieja were inaugurated in 1890, followed by the Italian Hospital in 1891. In the same year, the village of

Peñarol Club Atlético Peñarol (), more commonly referred to as Peñarol, is a Uruguayan professional football club based in Montevideo. The club currently competes in the Uruguayan Primera División, the highest tier in Uruguayan football. The nam ...

was founded. Other neighborhoods that were founded were Belgrano and Belvedere in 1892, Jacinto Vera in 1895 and Trouville in 1897. In 1894 the new port was constructed, and in 1897, the Central Railway Station of Montevideo was inaugurated. MontevideoIndependencePlaza1900

20th century

In the early 20th century, many Europeans (particularly Spaniards and Italians but also thousands from Central Europe) immigrated to the city. In 1908, 30% of the city's population of 300,000 was foreign-born. In that decade the city expanded quickly: new neighborhoods were created and many separate settlements were annexed to the city, among which were the Villa del Cerro, Pocitos, the Prado and Villa Colón. The Rodó Park and the

Estadio Gran Parque Central The Estadio Gran Parque Central is the stadium of Club Nacional de Football. It is located in Montevideo, Uruguay, near Nacional headquarters (exactly between the streets Carlos Anaya, Jaime Cibils, General Urquiza and Comandante Braga), in the L ...

were also established, which served as ''poles'' of urban development. During the early 20th century, Uruguay saw huge social changes with repercussions primarily in urban areas. Among these changes were the right to divorce (1907) and women's right to vote. The 1910s saw the construction of Montevideo's Rambla; strikes by tram workers, bakers and port workers; the inauguration of electric trams; the creation of the Municipal Intendencias; and the inauguration of the new port. In 1913, the city limits were extended around the entire gulf. The previously independent localities of the Villa del Cerro and La Teja were annexed to Montevideo, becoming two of its neighborhoods. During the 1920s, the equestrian statue of Artigas was installed in Plaza Independencia; the Palacio Legislativo was built; the Spanish Plus Ultra flying boat arrived (the first airplane to fly from Spain to Latin America, 1926); prominent politician and former president José Batlle y Ordóñez died (1929); and the ground was broken (1929) for the

Estadio Centenario Centenario Stadium (, ; , named after the Constitution of Uruguay of 1830, centenary of Constitution of Uruguay, Uruguay's Constitution) is an association football stadium in Montevideo, Uruguay. Located in the Parque Batlle, Parque Battle neig ...

(completed 1930).

World War II

During World War II, a famous incident involving the German cruiser ''Admiral Graf Spee'' took place in

Punta del Este Punta del Este () is a seaside city and peninsula on the Atlantic Coast in the Maldonado Department of southeastern Uruguay. Starting as a small town, Punta del Este grew to become a resort for the Latin and North American jet set and tourists. T ...

, from Montevideo. After the Battle of the River Plate with the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

and

Royal New Zealand Navy The Royal New Zealand Navy (RNZN; ) is the maritime arm of the New Zealand Defence Force. The fleet currently consists of eight ships. The Navy had its origins in the Naval Defence Act 1913, and the subsequent acquisition of the cruiser , whi ...

on 13 December 1939, the ''Graf Spee'' retreated to Montevideo's port, which was considered neutral at the time. To avoid risking the crew in what he thought would be a losing battle, Captain Hans Langsdorff scuttled the ship on 17 December. Langsdorff committed suicide two days later. The eagle figurehead of the ''Graf Spee'' was salvaged on 10 February 2006.

Post-war era

Uruguay began to stagnate economically in the mid-1950s; Montevideo began a decline, later exacerbated by widespread social and political violence beginning in 1968 (including the emergence of the guerrilla Movimiento de Liberación Nacional-Tupamaros) and by the Civic-military dictatorship of Uruguay (1973-1985). There were major problems with supply; the immigration cycle was reversed. From the 1960s to the end of the dictatorship in 1985, around one hundred people died or disappeared because of political violence. In 1974 another hundred Uruguayans also disappeared in Argentina. In 1980, the dictatorship proposed a new constitution. The project was submitted to a

referendum A referendum, plebiscite, or ballot measure is a Direct democracy, direct vote by the Constituency, electorate (rather than their Representative democracy, representatives) on a proposal, law, or political issue. A referendum may be either bin ...

and rejected in the first polls since 1971, with 58% of the votes against and 42% in favor. The result weakened the military and triggered its fall, allowing the return of democracy. In the 1980s, Pope

John Paul II Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, his death in 2005. In his you ...

visited the city twice. In April 1987, as head of state of

Vatican Vatican may refer to: Geography * Vatican City, an independent city-state surrounded by Rome, Italy * Vatican Hill, in Rome, namesake of Vatican City * Ager Vaticanus, an alluvial plain in Rome * Vatican, an unincorporated community in the ...

, he signed a mediation agreement for the conflict of the

Beagle Channel Beagle Channel (; Yahgan language, Yahgan: ''Onašaga'') is a strait in the Tierra del Fuego, Tierra del Fuego Archipelago, on the extreme southern tip of South America between Chile and Argentina. The channel separates the larger main island of I ...

. He also held a large mass in Tres Cruces, declaring the cross located behind the altar as a monument. In 1988, he returned to the country, visiting Montevideo,

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

, Salto and Melo.

21st century

The 2002 Uruguay banking crisis affected several industries of Montevideo. In 2017, the city has maintained 15 years of economic growth, with a GDP of $44 billion, and a

GDP per capita This is a list of countries by nominal GDP per capita. GDP per capita is the total value of a country's finished goods and services (gross domestic product) divided by its total population (per capita). Gross domestic product (GDP) per capita is ...

of $25,900. Montevideo has consistently been rated as having the highest quality of life of any city in Latin America: by 2015 it held this rank every year during the decade through 2014.

Geography

Montevideo is situated on the north shore of the Río de la Plata, the arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates the south coast of Uruguay from the north coast of Argentina; Buenos Aires lies west on the Argentine side. The Santa Lucía River forms a natural border between Montevideo and San José Department to its west. To the city's north and east is Canelones Department, with the stream of Carrasco forming the eastern natural border. The coastline forming the city's southern border is interspersed with rocky protrusions and sandy beaches. The Bay of Montevideo forms a natural harbor, the nation's largest and one of the largest in the Southern Cone, and the finest natural port in the region, functioning as a crucial component of the Uruguayan economy and foreign trade. Various streams crisscross the town and empty into the Bay of Montevideo. Its coastline near the emptying rivers are heavily polluted. The city has an average elevation of . Its highest elevations are two hills: the Cerro de Montevideo and the Cerro de la Victoria, with the highest point, the peak of Cerro de Montevideo, crowned by a fortress, the Fortaleza del Cerro at a height of . Closest cities by road are Las Piedras to the north and the so-called Ciudad de la Costa (a conglomeration of coastal towns) to the east, both in the range of 20 to from the city center. The approximate distances to the neighboring department capitals by road are, to San Jose de Mayo (San Jose Department) and to Canelones (Canelones Department).

Climate

Montevideo has a

Humid subtropical climate A humid subtropical climate is a subtropical -temperate climate type, characterized by long and hot summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between ...

(

Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (1951–2014), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author ...

Cfa) in a middle latitude, the city experiences the four seasons. It has cool winters (June to August), warm to hot summers (December to February), mild autumns (March to May) and volatile springs (September to November); The climate is characterized by having mild temperatures, without harsh cold or extreme heat. There are numerous thunderstorms but no tropical cyclones. Rainfall is regular and evenly spread throughout the year, reaching around . Winters are generally cool, wet, windy and overcast. The average temperature during this season is just above . Daytime temperatures are generally between and , and night lows between and . During this season, there are bursts of icy and relatively dry winds of continental polar air masses, giving an unpleasant chilly feeling to the everyday life of the city, with daytime temperatures around or below and possible night frosts. These occur few times during winter, with temperatures generally not falling below because of the oceanic influence that moderates the temperature; a few kilometres inland, frosts are more common and colder. On the other hand, even in the middle of winter it's not uncommon to have temperatures above for a few days. Rainfall and sleet are a frequent winter occurrence, but snowfall is extremely rare: flurries have been recorded only four times but with no accumulation, the last one on 13 July 1930 during the inaugural match of the

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the name is ...

, (the other three snowfalls were in 1850, 1853 and 1917); the alleged 1980 Carrasco snowfall was actually a

hail Hail is a form of solid Precipitation (meteorology), precipitation. It is distinct from ice pellets (American English "sleet"), though the two are often confused. It consists of balls or irregular lumps of ice, each of which is called a hailsto ...

storm. Summers are warm-hot and humid, with less wind than other seasons. The average temperature in this season is . Daytime temperatures are usually between and , while night lows between and . During this season, a moderate wind often blows from the sea in the evenings which has a pleasant cooling effect on the city, in contrast to the more severe summer heat of nearby cities like

. Heat waves come with the north winds, which bring humid and hot air masses from the tropical interior of the continent; temperatures can rise above . These warm periods are usually followed by thunderstorms, generated by cold fronts from the southwest that lowers temperatures considerably. This phenomenon is regional, and can occur several times all year long. The autumn in Montevideo is quite pleasant and not so unstable. Daytime temperatures are in general around and nights around . Spring average temperatures are very similar to the autumn, but the weather in that season tends to be more windy and volatile, with more dramatic changes in a short period of time. Montevideo has an annual average temperature of . The lowest recorded temperature is while the highest is .

Administrative divisions and barrios

, the city of Montevideo has been divided into 8 political municipalities (''Municipios''), referred to with letters from A to G, including CH, each presided over by a mayor elected by the citizens registered in the constituency. This division, according to the Municipality of Montevideo, "aims to advance political and administrative decentralization in the department of Montevideo, with the aim of deepening the democratic participation of citizens in governance." The head of each ''Municipio'' is called an ''alcalde'' or (if female) ''alcaldesa''. Of much greater importance is the division of the city into 62 ''barrios'': neighborhoods or wards. Many of the city's ''barrios''—such as Sayago, Ituzaingó and Pocitos—were previously geographically separate settlements, later absorbed by the growth of the city. Others grew up around certain industrial sites, including the salt-curing works of Villa del Cerro and the tanneries in Nuevo París. Each ''barrio'' has its own identity, geographic location and socio-cultural activities. A neighborhood of great significance is Ciudad Vieja, that was surrounded by a protective wall until 1829. This area contains most important buildings of the colonial era and early decades of independence. #

Ciudad Vieja Ciudad Vieja () is a town and municipality in the Guatemalan Departments of Guatemala, department of Sacatepéquez. According to the 2018 census, the town has a population of 32,802 Centro Centro may refer to: Places Brazil *Centro, Santa Maria, a neighborhood in Santa Maria, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil * Centro, Porto Alegre, a neighborhood of Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil * Centro (Duque de Caxias), a neighborhood of Du ...

# Barrio Sur # Aguada # Villa Muñoz, Goes, Retiro # Cordón #

Palermo Palermo ( ; ; , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan province. The ...

Parque Rodó Parque Rodó is both a ''barrio'' (neighbourhood or district) of Montevideo, Uruguay and a park which lies mostly outside the limits of the barrio itself and belongs to Punta Carretas. The name "Rodó" has been given in memory of José Enrique Rod� ...

# Tres Cruces # La Comercial # Larrañaga # La Blanqueada # Parque Batlle – Villa Dolores # Pocitos # Punta Carretas # Unión # Buceo # Malvín # Malvín Norte # Las Canteras # Punta Gorda # Carrasco #

Carrasco Norte Carrasco Norte is a ''barrio'' (neighbourhood or district) of Montevideo, Uruguay. Location It borders Las Canteras, Uruguay, Las Canteras to the west, Bañados de Carrasco to the north, the Canelones Department to the north and to the east, Car ...

# Bañados de Carrasco #

Flor de Maroñas Flor de Maroñas is a ''barrio'' (neighbourhood or district) of Montevideo, Uruguay. Location It borders Villa Española to the southwest, Ituzaingó to the west, Jardines del Hipódromo to the north and northwest, Bañados de Carrasco to the e ...

# Maroñas – Parque Guaraní #

Villa Española Villa Española is a ''barrio'' (neighbourhood or district) of Montevideo. Location This barrio shares borders with Mercado Modelo to the west, Pérez Castellanos to the northwest, Ituzaingó to the north, Flor de Maroñas to the northeast, Mar ...

# Ituzaingó # Castro – Pérez Castellanos #

Mercado Modelo Mercado Modelo (Spanish and Portuguese for "Model Market") may refer to: * Mercado Modelo (Montevideo), Uruguay * Mercado Modelo (Salvador), Brazil {{dab ...

– Bolívar # Brazo Oriental # Jacinto Vera # La Figurita # Reducto # Capurro – Bella Vista, Arroyo Seco # Prado – Nueva Savona #

Atahualpa Atahualpa (), also Atawallpa or Ataw Wallpa ( Quechua) ( 150226 July 1533), was the last effective Inca emperor, reigning from April 1532 until his capture and execution in July of the following year, as part of the Spanish conquest of the In ...

Aires Puros Aires Puros is a ''barrio'' (neighbourhood or district) of Montevideo, Uruguay. Location It borders Lavalleja, Montevideo, Lavalleja and Paso de las Duranas to the northwest, Casavalle to the northeast, Cerrito, Montevideo, Cerrito and Brazo Ori ...

# Paso de las Duranas # Belvedere # La Teja # Tres Ombúes – Pueblo Victoria # Villa del Cerro # Casabó – Pajas Blancas, Rincón del Cerro # La Paloma – Tomkinson # Paso de la Arena – Los Bulevares – Santiago Vázquez # Nuevo París # Conciliación # Sayago # Peñarol – Lavalleja # Colón Centro y Noroeste # Lezica – Melilla # Colón Sudeste – Abayubá # Manga – Toledo Chico # Casavalle, Barrio Borro # Cerrito de la Victoria # Las Acacias #

Jardines del Hipódromo __NOTOC__ Jardines or Jardine's may refer to: Places * Jardines (Tren Urbano station), San Juan, Puerto Rico * Jardines del Rey, an archipelago off the north coast of Cuba * Jardines de la Reina, an archipelago off the south coast of Cuba * Ja ...

# Piedras Blancas #

Manga are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long history in earlier Japanese art. The term is used in Japan to refer to both comics ...

# Punta de Rieles - Bella Italia # Villa García – Manga Rural

Landmarks

The architecture of Montevideo ranges from Neoclassical buildings such as the Montevideo Metropolitan Cathedral to the late-modern style of the World Trade Center Montevideo or the ANTEL Telecommunication Tower, the tallest skyscraper in the country. Along with the Telecommunications Tower, the Palacio Salvo dominates the skyline of the Bay of Montevideo. The building facades in the Old Town reflect the city's extensive European immigration, displaying the influence of old European architecture. Notable government buildings include the Legislative Palace, the

City Hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or municipal hall (in the Philippines) is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses the city o ...

, Estévez Palace and the Executive Tower. The most notable sports stadium is the

within Parque Batlle. Parque Batlle,

and Parque Prado are Montevideo's three great parks. The Pocitos district, near the beach of the same name, has many homes built by Bello and Reboratti between 1920 and 1940, with a mixture of styles. Other landmarks in Pocitos are the " Edificio Panamericano" designed by Raul Sichero, and the "Positano" and "El Pilar" designed by Adolfo Sommer Smith and in the 1950s and 1960s. However, the construction boom of the 1970s and 1980s transformed the face of this neighborhood, with a cluster of modern apartment buildings for upper and upper middle-class residents.

Palacio Legislativo

The Palacio Legislativo in Aguada, north of the city center, is the seat of the Uruguayan Parliament. Construction started in 1904 and was sponsored by the government of President José Batlle y Ordóñez. It was designed by Italian architects Vittorio Meano and , who planned the building's interior. Among the notable contributors to the project was sculptor José Belloni, who contributed numerous

relief Relief is a sculpture, sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces remain attached to a solid background of the same material. The term ''wikt:relief, relief'' is from the Latin verb , to raise (). To create a sculpture in relief is to give ...

s and allegorical sculptures.

World Trade Center Montevideo

World Trade Center Montevideo officially opened in 1998, but work was completed in 2009. The complex is composed of three towers, two three-story buildings called World Trade Center Plaza and World Trade Center Avenue and a large central square called Towers Square. World Trade Center 1 was the first building to be inaugurated, in 1998. It has 22 floors and 17,100 square meters of space. That same year the avenue and the auditorium were raised. World Trade Center 2 was inaugurated in 2002, a twin tower of World Trade Center 1. Finally, in 2009, World Trade Center 3 and the World Trade Center Plaza and the Towers Square were inaugurated. It is located between the avenues Luis Alberto de Herrera and 26 de Marzo and has 19 floors and of space. The World Trade Center Plaza is designed to be a center of gastronomy opposite Towers Square and Bonavita St. The Towers Square, is an area of remarkable aesthetic design, intended to be a platform for the development of business activities, art exhibitions, dance and music performances and social places. This square connects the different buildings and towers which comprise the WTC Complex and it is the main access to the complex. The square contains various works of art, notably a sculpture by renowned Uruguayan sculptor Pablo Atchugarry. World Trade Center 4, with 40 floors and of space is under construction .

Telecommunications Tower

Torre de las Telecomunicaciones (Telecommunications Tower) or Torre Antel (Antel Tower) is the , 37-floor headquarters of Uruguay's government-owned telecommunications company, ANTEL, and is the tallest building in the country. It was designed by architect

Carlos Ott Carlos Adolfo Ott (born October 16, 1946) is a Uruguayans, Uruguayan-Canadians, Canadian architect. He became famous when he won the international design competition in 1983 for the construction of the Opéra Bastille in Paris, which was inaugu ...

. It is situated by the side of the Bay of Montevideo. The tower was completed by American Bridge Company and other design/build consortium team members on 15 March 2000. When its construction was announced, many politicians complained about its cost (US$40 million, plus US$25 million for the construction of the other 5 buildings of the Telecommunications Complex). Problems during its construction turned the original US$65 million price into US$102 million.

Ciudad Vieja (Old City)

Ciudad Vieja was the earliest part of the city to be developed and today it constitutes a prominent ''

barrio ''Barrio'' () is a Spanish language, Spanish word that means "Quarter (urban subdivision), quarter" or "neighborhood". In the modern Spanish language, it is generally defined as each area of a city delimited by functional (e.g. residential, comm ...

'' of southwest Montevideo. It contains many colonial buildings and national heritage sites, but also many banks, administrative offices, museums, art galleries, cultural institutions, restaurants and nightclubs, making it vibrant with life. Its northern coast is the main port of Uruguay, one of the few deep-draft ports in the Southern Cone of South America. Montevideo's most important

plaza A town square (or public square, urban square, city square or simply square), also called a plaza or piazza, is an open public space commonly found in the heart of a traditional town or city, and which is used for community gatherings. Rela ...

is Plaza Independencia, located between Ciudad Vieja and

downtown ''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in American and Canadian English to refer to a city's sometimes commercial, cultural and often the historical, political, and geographic heart. It is often synonymous with its central business district ( ...

Montevideo. It starts with the Gateway of The Citadel at one end and ends at the beginning of 18 de Julio Avenue. It is the remaining part of the wall that surrounded the oldest part of the city. Several notable buildings are located here. TEATRO SOLIS 01

The Solís Theatre is Uruguay's oldest theater. It was built in 1856 and is owned by the government of Montevideo. In 1998, the government of Montevideo started a major reconstruction of the theater, which included two US$110,000 columns designed by Philippe Starck. The reconstruction was completed in 2004, and the theater reopened in August of that year. The plaza is also the site of the offices of the

President of Uruguay The president of Uruguay (), officially known as the president of the Oriental Republic of Uruguay (), is the head of state and head of government of Uruguay. The president presides over the Cabinet of Uruguay, Council of Ministers, directing ...

(both the Estévez Palace and the Executive Tower). The Artigas Mausoleum is located at the center of the plaza. Statues include that of

, a hero of Uruguay's independence movement; an honor guard keeps vigil at the Mausoleum. Palacio Salvo, at the intersection of 18 de Julio Avenue and Plaza Independencia, was designed by the architect

Mario Palanti Mario Palanti (September 20, 1885 – September 4, 1978) was an Italian architect who designed important buildings in the capital cities of both Argentina and Uruguay. Life and career Born in 1885 in Milan, Italy, the brother of painter Giu ...

and completed in 1925. Palanti, an Italian immigrant living in Buenos Aires, used a similar design for his Palacio Barolo in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Palacio Salvo stands high, including its antenna. It is built on the former site of the Confitería La Giralda, renowned for being where

Gerardo Matos Rodríguez Gerardo Hernán Matos Rodríguez (March 28, 1897 – April 25, 1948), also known as Becho, was a Uruguayan musician, composer and journalist. Background and early career Gerardo Hernán Matos Rodríguez was born in Montevideo, the son of the own ...

wrote his tango " La Cumparsita" (1917.) Palacio Salvo was originally intended to function as a hotel but is now a mixture of offices and private residences. Also of major note in Ciudad Vieja is the Plaza de la Constitución (or ''Plaza Matriz''). During the first decades of Uruguayan independence this square was the main hub of city life. On the square are the Cabildo—the seat of colonial government—and the Montevideo Metropolitan Cathedral. The cathedral is the burial place of Fructuoso Rivera,

and Venancio Flores. Another notable square is Plaza Zabala with the equestrian statue of Bruno Mauricio de Zabala. On its south side, Palacio Taranco, once residence of the Ortiz Taranco brothers, is now the Museum of Decorative Arts. A few blocks northwest of Plaza Zabala is the Mercado del Puerto, another major tourist destination.

Parque Batlle

Parque BatlleFinzer, p. 98 (formerly: ''Parque de los Aliados'', translation: "Park of the Allies") is a major public central park, located south of Avenida Italia and north of Avenue Rivera. Along with Parque Prado and

it is one of three large parks that dominate Montevideo. The park and surrounding area constitute one of the 62 neighborhoods (''barrios'') of the city. The barrio of Parque Batlle is one of seven coastal barrios, the others being Buceo, Carrasco, Malvin, Pocitos, Punta Carretas, and Punta Gorda. The barrio of Parque Battle includes four former districts: Belgrano, Italiano, Villa Dolores and Batlle Park itself and borders the neighborhoods of La Blanqueada, Tres Cruces, Pocitos and Buceo. It has a high population density and most of its households are of medium-high- or high-income. Villa Dolores, a sub-district of Parque Batlle, took its name from the original villa of Don Alejo Rossell y Rius and of Doña Dolores Pereira de Rossel. On their grounds, they started a private collection of animals that became a zoological garden and was passed to the city in 1919; in 1955 the Planetarium of Montevideo was built within its premises. Parque Batlle is named in honor of José Batlle y Ordóñez,

from 1911 to 1915. The park was originally proposed by an Act of March 1907, which also projected wide boulevards and avenues. French landscape architect,

Carlos Thays Carlos Thays (August 20, 1849 – January 31, 1934)Biog ...

, began the plantings in 1911. In 1918, the park was named ''Parque de los Aliados'', following the victory of the Allies of World War I. On 5 May 1930, after significant expansion, it was again renamed as Parque Batlle y Ordóñez, in memory of the prominent politician and president, who had died in 1929. The park was designated a National Historic Monument Park in 1975. , the park covers an area of and is considered the "lung" of the Montevideo city due to the large variety of trees planted here. Parque Batlle, Retrieved 15 November 2010 The

, the national football stadium, opened in 1930 for the first

, and later hosted several other sporting grounds of note (see ''

Sports Sport is a physical activity or game, often competitive and organized, that maintains or improves physical ability and skills. Sport may provide enjoyment to participants and entertainment to spectators. The number of participants in ...

''). In 1934, sculptor José Belloni's "La Carreta", a bronze monument on granite base, was installed on Avenida Lorenzo Merola near Estadio Centenario. One of several statues in the park, it depicts

yoke A yoke is a wooden beam used between a pair of oxen or other animals to enable them to pull together on a load when working in pairs, as oxen usually do; some yokes are fitted to individual animals. There are several types of yoke, used in dif ...

d oxen pulling a loaded wagon. It was designated a national monument in 1976. Another statue on the same side of the park is a bronze copy of the Discobolus of Myron. On the west side of Parque Batlle, on Artigas Boulevard, the 1938 Obelisk of Montevideo is a monument dedicated to those who created the first Constitution. The work of sculptor José Luis Zorrilla de San Martín (1891–1975), it is a three-sided granite obelisk, tall, with bronze statues on its three sides, representing "Law", "Liberty", and "Force", respectively. It has been a National Heritage Site since 1976.

Parque Prado

Puente sobre el arroyo Miguelete en el Parque del Prado

Established in 1873, the largest of Montevideo's six main public parks is the Parque Prado. Located in the northern part of the city, the Miguelete Creek flows through the park and the neighborhood and of the same name. It is surrounded by the avenues Agraciada, Obes Lucas, Joaquín Suárez, Luis Alberto de Herrera and by the streets Castro and José María Reyes. The most frequented areas of the park are the ''Rosedal'', a public rose garden with pergolas, the Botanical Garden, the area around the Hotel del Prado, as well as the ''Rural del Prado'', a seasonal cattle and farm animal fairground. The Rosedal contains four pergolas, eight domes, and a fountain; its 12,000 roses were imported from France in 1910. There are several jogging paths along the Miguelete river. The Presidential Residence is located behind the Botanical Gardens. Established in 1930, Juan Manuel Blanes Museum is situated in the Palladian villa, a National Heritage Site since 1975, and includes a Japanese garden. The Professor Atilio Lombardo Museum and Botanical Gardens were established in 1902. The National Institute of Physical Climatology and its observatory are also in the Prado.

Parque Rodó

is both a ''barrio'' (neighborhood) of Montevideo and a park which lies mostly outside the limits of the neighborhood itself and belongs to Punta Carretas. The name "Rodó" commemorates José Enrique Rodó, an important Uruguayan writer whose monument is in the southern side of the main park. The park was conceived as a French-style city park. Apart from the main park area which is delimited by Sarmiento Avenue to the south, Parque Rodó includes an amusement park; the

Estadio Luis Franzini The Estadio Luis Franzini (or Luis Franzini Stadium) is an outdoor football (soccer), football stadium located in Montevideo, Uruguay. The stadium's maximum capacity is 16,000 people, and it is the home ground of Defensor Sporting. The stadium was ...

, belonging to Defensor Sporting; the front lawn of the Faculty of Engineering and a strip west of the Club de Golf de Punta Carretas that includes the ''Canteras'' ("quarry") ''del Parque Rodó'', the ''Teatro de Verano'' ("summer theatre") and the ''Lago'' ("lake") ''del Parque Rodó''. On the east side of the main park area is the National Museum of Visual Arts. On this side, a street market takes place every Sunday. On the north side is an artificial lake with a little castle housing a municipal library for children. An area to its west is used as an open-air exhibition of photography. West of the park, across the coastal avenue Rambla Presidente Wilson, stretches Ramirez Beach. Directly west of the main park area, and belonging to Parque Rodó ''barrio'', there is the former ''Parque Hotel'', now called ''Edifício Mercosur'', the seat of the parliament of the member countries of the

. During the guerilla war the Tupamaros frequently attacked buildings in this area, including the old hotel.

Forts

The first set of subsidiary forts was planned by the Portuguese at Montevideo in 1701 to establish a front-line base to stop frequent insurrections by the Spaniards emanating from Buenos Aires. These fortifications were planned within the River Plate estuary at

Colonia del Sacramento Colonia del Sacramento (; ) is a city in southwestern Uruguay, by the Río de la Plata, facing Buenos Aires, Argentina. It is one of the oldest towns in Uruguay and the capital of the Colonia Department. As of the 2023 census, it has a populatio ...

. However, this plan came to fruition only in November 1723, when Captain Manuel Henriques de Noronha reached the shores of Montevideo with soldiers, guns and colonists on his warship ''Nossa Senhora de Oliveara''. They built a small square fortification. However, under siege from forces from Buenos Aires, the Portuguese withdrew from Montevideo Bay in January 1724, after signing an agreement with the Spaniards.

= Fortaleza del Cerro (Fortress del Cerro)

= Fortaleza del Cerro overlooks the bay of Montevideo. An observation post at this location was first built by the Spanish in the late 18th century. In 1802, a beacon replaced the observation post; construction of the fortress began in 1809 and was completed in 1839. It has been involved in many historical developments and has been repeatedly taken over by various sides. In 1907, the old beacon was replaced with a stronger electric one. It has been a National Monument since 1931 and has housed a military museum since 1916. Today it is one of the tourist attractions of Montevideo.

Punta Brava Lighthouse

Punta Brava Lighthouse (''Faro Punta Brava''), also known as Punta Carretas Lighthouse, was erected in 1876. The lighthouse is high and its light reaches away, with a flash every ten seconds. In 1962, the lighthouse became electric. The lighthouse is important for guiding boats into the Banco Inglés Buceo Port or the entrance of the Santa Lucía River.

Rambla of Montevideo

The Rambla is an avenue that goes along the entire

coastline A coast (coastline, shoreline, seashore) is the land next to the sea or the line that forms the boundary between the land and the ocean or a lake. Coasts are influenced by the topography of the surrounding landscape and by aquatic erosion, su ...

of Montevideo. The literal meaning of the Spanish word ''rambla'' is "avenue" or "watercourse", but in the Americas it is mostly used as "coastal avenue", and since all the southern

departments of Uruguay Uruguay consists of 19 Department (country subdivision), departments (''departamentos''). Each department has a legislature, called a Departmental Board, and a chief executive called an ''Intendant (government official)#Uruguay, Intendente''. ...

border either the Río de la Plata or the Atlantic Ocean, they all have ''ramblas'' as well. As an integral part of Montevidean identity, the Rambla has been included by Uruguay in the Indicative List of

World Heritage World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...

sites, though it has not received this status. Previously, the entire Rambla was called ''Rambla Naciones Unidas'' ("United Nations"), but in recent times different names have been given to specific parts of it. The Rambla is a very important site for recreation and leisure in Montevideo. Every day, a large number of people go there to take long strolls, jog, bicycle, roller skate, fish and even—in a special area—skateboard. Its length makes it one of the longest esplanades in the world. Montevideo is noted for its beaches, which are particularly important because 60% of the population spends the summer in the city. Its best-known beaches are Ramírez, Pocitos, Carrasco, Buceo and Malvín. Further east and west are other beaches including the Colorada, Punta Espinillo, Punta Yeguas, Zabala and Santa Catarina.

Cemeteries

There are five large cemeteries in Montevideo, all administered by the "Fúnebre y Necrópolis" annex of the Intendencia of Montevideo. The largest cemetery is the Cementerio del Norte, located in the northern-central part of the city. The Central Cemetery (Spanish: ''Cementerio central''), located in Barrio Sur in the southern area of the city, is one of Uruguay's main cemeteries. It was one of the first cemeteries (in contrast to church graveyards) in the country, founded in 1835 at a time when burials were still carried out by the Catholic Church. It is the burial place of many of the most famous Uruguayans, such as Eduardo Acevedo, Delmira Agustini,

Luis Batlle Berres Luis Conrado Batlle y Berres (26 November 1897 – 15 July 1964) was a Uruguayan politician who was President of Uruguay from 1947 to 1951. Background Batlle Berres was a journalist and prominent member of the Uruguayan Colorado Party. He was ...

, José Batlle y Ordóñez, Juan Manuel Blanes, François Ducasse, father of Comte de Lautréamont (Isidore Ducasse),

Luis Alberto de Herrera Luis Alberto de Herrera (Montevideo, 22 July 1873 – 8 April 1959) was a Uruguayan lawyer, diplomat, journalist and politician. Political and diplomatic roles A national leader of great importance during the first half of the 20th century, he ...

, Benito Nardone, José Enrique Rodó, and Juan Zorrilla de San Martín. The other large cemeteries are the Cementerio del Buceo, Cementerio del Cerro, and Cementerio Paso Molino. The British Cemetery Montevideo (Cementerio Británico) is another of the oldest cemeteries in Uruguay, located in the Buceo neighborhood. Many noblemen and eminent persons are buried there. The cemetery originated when the Englishman Thomas Samuel Hood purchased a plot of land in the name of the English residents in 1828. However, in 1884 the government compensated the British by moving the cemetery to Buceo to accommodate city growth. A section of the cemetery, known as British Cemetery Montevideo Soldiers and Sailors, contains the graves of quite a number of sailors of different nationalities, although the majority are of British descent. One United States Marine, Henry de Costa, is buried here.

Demographics

In 1860, Montevideo had 57,913 inhabitants including a number of people of African origin who had been brought as slaves and had gained their freedom around the middle of the century. By 1880, the population had quadrupled, mainly because of the great European immigration. In 1908, its population had grown massively to 309,331 inhabitants. In the course of the 20th century the city continued to receive large numbers of European immigrants, especially Spanish and Italian, followed by Portuguese Brazilians, French, Germans, English, Irish, Swiss, Austrians, Poles, Dutch,

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

, Hungarians, Russians, Croats, Lebanese,

Armenians Armenians (, ) are an ethnic group indigenous to the Armenian highlands of West Asia.Robert Hewsen, Hewsen, Robert H. "The Geography of Armenia" in ''The Armenian People From Ancient to Modern Times Volume I: The Dynastic Periods: From Antiq ...

, and Jews of various origins. The last wave of immigrants occurred between 1945 and 1955. According to the census survey carried out between 15 June and 31 July 2004, Montevideo had a population of 1,325,968 persons, compared to Uruguay's total population of 3,241,003. The female population was 707,697 (53.4%) while the male population accounted for 618,271 (46.6%). The population had declined since the previous census carried out in 1996, with an average annual growth rate of −1.5 per thousand. The continual decline has been documented since the census period of 1975–1985, which showed a rate of −5.6 per thousand. The decrease is due in large part to lowered fertility, partly offset by mortality, and to a smaller degree in migration. The birth rate declined by 19% from 1996 (17 per thousand) to 2004 (13.8 per thousand). Similarly, the total fertility rate (TFR) declined from 2.24 in 1996 to 1.79 in 2004. However, mortality continued to fall with

life expectancy at birth Life, also known as biota, refers to matter that has biological processes, such as signaling and self-sustaining processes. It is defined descriptively by the capacity for homeostasis, organisation, metabolism, growth, adaptation, respons ...

for both sexes increasing by 1.73 years. In the census of 2011, Montevideo had a population of 1,319,108. Source: ''Instituto Nacional de Estadística de Uruguay''

Government and politics

Intendancy of Montevideo

The Intendancy of Montevideo was first created by a legal act of 18 December 1908. The municipality's first mayor (1909–1911) was Daniel Muñoz. Municipalities were abolished by the

Uruguayan Constitution of 1918 The second Constitution of Uruguay was in force during the period 1918–1933. Approved in 1917 Uruguayan constitutional referendum, a referendum on 25 November 1917, it replaced the Constitution of Uruguay of 1830, first Uruguayan Constitution, ...

, effectively restored during the 1933 military coup of

Gabriel Terra José Luis Gabriel Terra Leivas (August 1, 1873 – September 15, 1942) was a Uruguayan lawyer and statesman who served as the 26th constitutional president of Uruguay from 1931 to 1933 and as dictator until 1938. He led a traditionalist and ...

, and formally restored by the 1934 Constitution. The 1952 Constitution again decided to abolish the municipalities; it came into effect in February 1955. Municipalities were replaced by departmental councils, which consisted of a collegiate executive board with 7 members from Montevideo and 5 from the interior region. However, municipalities were revived under the 1967 Constitution and have operated continuously since that time. Since 1990, Montevideo has been partially decentralized into 18 areas; administration and services for each area is provided by its Zonal Community Center (''Centro Comunal Zonal'', CCZ), which is subordinate to the Intendancy of Montevideo. The boundaries of the municipal districts of Montevideo were created on 12 July 1993, and successively amended on 19 October 1993, 6 June 1994 and 10 November 1994. In 2010, the city CCZ were abolished and eight municipalities were created instead. The city government of Montevideo performs several functions, including maintaining communications with the public, promoting culture, organizing society, caring for the environment and regulating traffic. The city hall is the Palacio Municipal on 18 de Julio Avenue in the

Centro Centro may refer to: Places Brazil *Centro, Santa Maria, a neighborhood in Santa Maria, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil * Centro, Porto Alegre, a neighborhood of Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil * Centro (Duque de Caxias), a neighborhood of Du ...

area of Montevideo. The legislative branch of government, the Junta Departamental, or the Congress of Montevideo, governs the Department of Montevideo. The Junta, composed of 31 unsalaried elected members, is responsible for such things as the freedom of the citizens, the regulation of cultural activities, the naming of streets and public places, and the placement of monuments; it also responds to proposals of the Intendant in various circumstances. Its seat is the architecturally remarkable Casa de Francisco Gómez in Ciudad Vieja. A 2016 private ranking named ''Subnational Legislative Online Opening Index'' measured the data availability in official websites, scoring Montevideo as the second most open district nationally at 17.50 points.

Intendants of Montevideo

# Daniel Muñoz (1909–1911) # Ramón V. Benzano (1911–1914) # Juan M. Aubriot (1914–1914) # Santiago Rivas (1914–1915) # Francisco Accinelli (1915–1919) # Alberto Dagnino (1933–1937) # Luis Alberto Zanzi (1937–1938) # Horacio Acosta y Lara (1938–1942) # Benigno Paiva (1942–1942) # Pedro Onetti (1942–1943) # Juan Pedro Fabini (1943–1947) # Andrés Martínez Trueba (1947–1948) # Álvaro Correa Moreno (1950–1951) # Germán Barbato (1951–1954) # Armando Malet (1954–1955) # Board members of the Concejo Departamental (1955–1967) # Glauco Segovia (1967–1967) # Carlos Bartolomé Herrera (1967–1969) # Oscar Víctor Rachetti (1969–1971) # E. Mario Peyrot (1971–1972) # Oscar Víctor Rachetti (1972–1983) # Juan Carlos Payssé (1983–1985) # Aquiles R. Lanza (1985–1985) # Julio Iglesias Álvarez (1985–1986) # Eduardo Fabini Jiménez (1989–1990) # Tabaré Vázquez (1990–1994) # Tabaré González (1994–1995) # Mariano Arana (1995–2000 / 2000–2005) # Adolfo Pérez Piera (2005) # Ricardo Ehrlich (2005–2010) # Hyara Rodríguez (2010) # Ana Olivera (2010–2015) # Daniel Martínez (2015–2019) # Christian di Candia (2019–2020) #

Carolina Cosse Ana Carolina Cosse Garrido (born 25 December 1961) is a Uruguayan engineer and politician who is serving as the Vice President of Uruguay since 2025, after winning the 2024 Uruguayan general election, 2024 general election. She has been Intendant ...

(2020-2024) # Mauricio Zunino, (2024-Incumbent)

Culture

In recent years Montevideo nightlife has moved to Parque Rodó, where a large concentration of buildings cater for the recreational interests of young people during the night time. Under a presidential decree which went into effect on 1 March 2006, smoking is prohibited in any public place with roofing, and there is a prohibition on the sale of alcohol in certain businesses from 21.00 to 9.00. Montevideo has been part of the UNESCO Creative Cities Network in the area of Literature since December 2015.

The arts

Montevideo has a very rich architectural heritage and a number of writers, artists, and musicians. Uruguayan tango is a unique form of dance that originated in the neighborhoods of Montevideo towards the end of the 1800s. Tango, candombe and murga are the three main styles of music in this city. The city is also the center of the cinema of Uruguay, which includes commercial, documentary and experimental films. There are two movie theater companies running seven cinemas, around ten independent ones and four art film cinemas in the city. The theater of Uruguay is admired inside and outside Uruguayan borders. The Solís Theatre is the most prominent theater in Uruguay and the oldest in South America. There are several notable theatrical companies and thousands of professional actors and amateurs. Montevideo playwrights produce dozens of works each year; of major note are Mauricio Rosencof, and .

Visual arts

The daily newspaper ''El País'' sponsors the Virtual Museum of Contemporary Uruguayan Art. The director and curator of the Museum presents exhibitions in "virtual spaces, supplemented by information, biographies, texts in English and Spanish". In the early 1970s (1973, to be particular) when the military junta took over power in Uruguay, art suffered in Montevideo. The art studios went into protest mode, with Rimer Cardillo, one of the country's leading artists, making the National Institute of Fine Arts, Montevideo a "hotbed of resistance". This resulted in the military junta coming down heavily on artists by closing the Fine Art Institute and carting away all the presses and other studio equipment. Consequently, the learning of fine arts was only in private studios run by people who had been let out of jail, in works of printing and on paper and also painting and sculpture. It resumed much later.

Literature

The first public library in Montevideo was formed by the initial donation of the private library of Father José Manuel Pérez Castellano, who died in 1815. Its promoter, director and organizer was Father Dámaso Antonio Larrañaga, who also made a considerable donation along with donations from José Raimundo Guerra, as well as others from the Convent of San Francisco in

Salta Salta () is the capital and largest city in the Provinces of Argentina, Argentine province of Salta Province, the same name. With a population of 618,375 according to the 2010 census, it is also the List of cities in Argentina, 7th most-populous ...

. In 1816 its stock was 5,000 volumes. The building of the National Library of Uruguay (''Biblioteca Pública de Uruguay'') was designed by Luis Crespi in the Neoclassical style and occupies an area of . Construction began in 1926 and it was inaugurated in 1964. Its collection amounts to 900,000 volumes.

Authors

The city has a long and rich literary tradition. Although Uruguayan literature is not limited to the authors of the capital ( Horacio Quiroga was born in Salto and Mario Benedetti in Paso de los Toros, for instance), Montevideo has been and is the center of the editorial and creative activity of literature. In 1900, the city had a remarkable group of writers, including José Enrique Rodó, Carlos Vaz Ferreira, Julio Herrera y Reissig, Delmira Agustini and Felisberto Hernández. Montevideo was then called the "Atenas del Plata" or the "

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

of the Rio de la Plata". Eduardo Galeano - conferenza Vicenza 2

Among the outstanding authors of Montevideo of the second half of the 20th century are Juan Carlos Onetti, Antonio Larreta,

Eduardo Galeano Eduardo Germán María Hughes Galeano (; 3 September 1940 – 13 April 2015) was a Uruguayan journalist, writer and novelist considered, among other things, "a literary giant of the Latin American left" and "global soccer's pre-eminent man of le ...

Marosa di Giorgio Marosa di Giorgio (née María Rosa di Giorgio Médici, Salto, 1932 – Montevideo, 2004) was a Uruguayan poet and novelist. Marosa di Giorgio is considered one of the most singular voices in Latin America. Critics tend to agree that her writing ...

and Cristina Peri Rossi. A new generation of writers has become known internationally in recent years. These include Eduardo Espina (essayist and poet), Fernando Butazzoni (novelist), (poet) and Hugo Burel (short story writer and novelist).

Music

In Montevideo, as throughout the Rio de Plata region, the most popular forms of music are tango, milonga and '' vals criollo''. Many notable songs originated in Montevideo including "El Tango supremo", "La Cumparsita", "La Milonga", "La Puñalada" and " Desde el Alma", composed by notable Montevideo musicians such as

, Pintín Castellanos and Rosita Melo. Tango is deeply ingrained in the cultural life of the city and is the theme for many of the bars and restaurants in the city. 20th. century composers like three-time

Grammy The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious a ...

nominated Miguel del Aguila have taken Uruguayan tango to international classical music audiences. ''Fun Fun' Bar'', established in 1935, is one of the most important places for tango in Uruguay as is ''El Farolito'', located in the old part of the city and ''Joventango'', ''Café Las Musas'', ''Garufa'' and ''Vieja Viola''. The city is also home to the Montevideo Jazz Festival and has the Bancaria Jazz Club bar catering for jazz enthusiasts.

Cuisine

The center of traditional Uruguayan food and beverage in Montevideo is the Mercado del Puerto ("Port Market"). Beef is very important in Uruguayan cuisine and an essential part of many dishes. A ''

torta frita A sopaipilla, sopapilla, sopaipa, or cachanga is a kind of fried pastry and a type of quick bread served in several regions with Spanish heritage in the Americas. The word sopaipilla is the diminutive of sopaipa, a word that entered Spanish from ...

'' is a pan-fried cake consumed in Montevideo and throughout Uruguay. It is generally circular, with a small cut in the center for cooking, and is made from wheat flour, yeast, water and sugar or salt. Montevideo has a variety of restaurants, from traditional

Uruguayan cuisine Uruguayan cuisine is a fusion of cuisines from several European countries, especially of Mediterranean foods from Spain, Italy, Portugal and France. Other influences on the cuisine resulted from immigration from countries such as Germany and Sco ...

Japanese cuisine Japanese cuisine encompasses the regional and traditional foods of Japan, which have developed through centuries of political, economic, and social changes. The traditional cuisine of Japan (Japanese language, Japanese: ) is based on rice with m ...

Notable people

* Fede Álvarez (Film director) * Delmira Agustini (writer) * Miguel del Aguila (composer) * Julio Albino (footballer) *

Marcelina Almeida Marcelina Almeida (1880), was an Argentine-born Uruguayan writer living in Montevideo, since she was young. Almeida used the pseudonyms Abel and Reine mi bella acclamada (anagram of her full name) to sign her contributions in publications of the ti ...

(writer) * Victoria Alonsoperez (engineer) * Odile Baron Supervielle (writer, journalist) *

(president of Uruguay) * José Batlle y Ordóñez (president of Uruguay) * Mario Benedetti (writer) * Roy Berocay (journalist and author) * Juan Manuel Blanes (artist) *

Baltasar Brum Baltasar Brum Rodríguez, GCTE (18 June 1883 – 31 March 1933) was a Uruguayan political figure. He was President of Uruguay from 1919 to 1923. Background Brum was born in the Department of Artigas near the city of Salto, where he began his ...

(Uruguayan statesman) * Raúl Javiel Cabrera (painter) * Graciela Cánepa (actress and television presenter) * Rodrigo Casagrande (former footballer) * Manuel Ceferino Oribe (Uruguayan politician) * Gonzalo Curbelo (footballer) * Eladio Dieste (civil engineer) * Jorge Drexler (musician and actor) *

Esteban Echeverría José Esteban Antonio Echeverría (2 September 1805 – 19 January 1851) was an Argentine poet, fiction writer, cultural promoter, and liberal activist who played a significant role in the development of Argentine literature, not only thro ...

(Argentine writer) * Claudio Elías (footballer) * Marcel Felder (tennis player) * Julio Ferrón (footballer) *

Diego Forlán Diego Forlán Corazo (born 19 May 1979) is a Uruguayan professional Manager (association football), football manager and former football player who played as a Striker (association football), striker. Regarded as one of the best forwards of his ...

(footballer) * Enzo Francescoli (footballer) * Giuliana Luz Grabina (philosopher) *

(Uruguayan revolutionary) * Andrea Ghidone (Vedette, model, dancer, actress) * Felisberto Hernández (writer) * Julio Herrera y Reissig (poet) * Juana de Ibarbourou (poet) * Pedro Ipuche Riva (classical composer) * Jules Laforgue (French poet) * Rolando Laguarda Trías (historian) * Felipe Laurino (footballer) * Lautréamont, Comte de. Isidore Ducasse (French poet) * Rosita Melo (composer, poet, writer) * Martin Mendez (bass player for Swedish metal outfit Opeth) * Ricardo Moller (footballer) * Paolo Montero (footballer) *

Amado Nervo Amado Nervo (August 27, 1870 – May 24, 1919) also known as Juan Crisóstomo Ruiz de Nervo, was a Mexican poet, journalist and educator. He also acted as Mexican Ambassador to Argentina and Uruguay. His poetry was known for its use of metaphor a ...

(Mexican author) * Juan Carlos Onetti (writer) * Natalia Oreiro (actress, singer) *

Álvaro Recoba Álvaro Alexánder Recoba Rivero (; born 17 March 1976; nickname "El Chino"

(footballer) * Nando Parrado (writer) * Maxi Pereira (footballer) * Cristina Peri Rossi (writer) * Pedro Piedrabuena (billiard player) * Olga Piria (painter and goldsmith) * Jorge Plachot (former footballer) * Arturo C. Porzecanski (Wall Street economist) * Teresa Porzecanski (anthropologist and writer) * Rubén Rada (Musician) *

Andy Ram Andreas "Andy" Ram (; born April 10, 1980) is a retired Israeli professional tennis player. He was primarily a doubles player, and competed in three Olympics. He is the first Israeli tennis player to win a senior Grand Slam event. Ram first ...

(Israeli tennis player) * José Enrique Rodó (philosopher) * Rubén Rodríguez (footballer) * Mariano Rubbo (Uruguayan footballer) * Gabe Saporta (musician and entrepreneur) * Carlos Savio (footballer) * Erwin Schrott (operatic bass-baritone) * José Serebrier (conductor and composer) * Jules Supervielle (French author) * Joaquín Torres-García (painter) * Obdulio Varela (footballer) * Tabaré Vázquez (president of Uruguay) * Santiago Vecino (illustrator and artist) * Helen Velando (author) * Margarita Xirgu (Spanish actress) * China Zorrilla (actress) * José Luis Zorrilla de San Martín (sculptor) * Juan Zorrilla de San Martín (poet) * Elena Zuasti (stage actress)

Recreation

Museums

The Centro Cultural de España, as well as Asturian and cultural centers, testify to Montevideo's considerable Spanish heritage. Montevideo also has important museums including Museo Torres García, , Museo Nacional de Artes Visuales and Museo Juan Manuel Blanes etc. The Montevideo Cabildo was the

seat of government The seat of government is (as defined by ''Brewer's Politics'') "the building, complex of buildings or the city from which a government exercises its authority". In most countries, the nation's Capital city, capital is also seat of its governmen ...

during the colonial times of the

Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata The Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata or Viceroyalty of Buenos Aires ( or Virreinato de Buenos Aires or ) meaning "River of the Silver", also called the "Viceroyalty of River Plate" in some scholarly writings, in southern South America, was ...

. It is located in front of Constitution Square, in Ciudad Vieja. Built between 1804 and 1869 in Neoclassical style, with a series of Doric and Ionic columns, it became a National Heritage Site in 1975. In 1958, the Municipal Historic Museum and Archive was inaugurated here. It features three permanent

city museum City Museum is a museum whose exhibits consist largely of Repurposing, repurposed architectural and industrial objects, housed in the former International Shoe building in the Washington Avenue Loft District of St. Louis, Missouri, United Stat ...

exhibitions, as well as temporary art exhibitions, cultural events, seminars, symposiums and forums. Palacio Taranco meeting

The Palacio Taranco is located in front of the Plaza Zabala, in the heart of Ciudad Vieja. It was erected in the early 20th century as the residence of the Ortiz Taranco brothers on the ruins of Montevideo's first theater (of 1793), during a period in which the architectural style was influenced by French architecture. The palace was designed by French architects Charles Louis Girault and who also designed the

Petit Palais The (; ) is an art museum in the 8th arrondissement of Paris, France. Built for the Exposition Universelle (1900), 1900 Exposition Universelle ("universal exhibition"), it now houses the City of Paris Museum of Fine Arts (''Musée des beaux-arts ...

and the

Arc de Triomphe The Arc de Triomphe de l'Étoile, often called simply the Arc de Triomphe, is one of the most famous monuments in Paris, France, standing at the western end of the Champs-Élysées at the centre of Place Charles de Gaulle, formerly named Plac ...

in Paris. It passed to the city from the heirs of the Tarancos in 1943, along with its precious collection of Uruguayan furniture and draperies and was deemed by the city as an ideal place for a museum; in 1972 it became the Museum of Decorative Arts of Montevideo and in 1975 it became a National Heritage Site. The Decorative Arts Museum has an important collection of European paintings and decorative arts, ancient

and

Roman art The art of Ancient Rome, and the territories of its Republic and later Empire, includes architecture, painting, sculpture and mosaic work. Luxury objects in metal-work, gem engraving, ivory carvings, and glass are sometimes considered to be m ...

and Islamic

ceramics A ceramic is any of the various hard, brittle, heat-resistant, and corrosion-resistant materials made by shaping and then firing an inorganic, nonmetallic material, such as clay, at a high temperature. Common examples are earthenware, porce ...

of the 10th–18th century from the area of present-day Iran. The palace is often used as a meeting place by the Uruguayan government. MuseoHistoricoNacionalMontevideo

The National History Museum of Montevideo is located in the historical residence of General Fructuoso Rivera. It exhibits artifacts related to the history of Uruguay. In a process begun in 1998, the National Museum of Natural History (1837) and the National Museum of Anthropology (1981), merged in 2001, becoming the National Museum of Natural History and Anthropology. In July 2009, the two institutions again became independent. The Historical Museum has annexed eight historical houses in the city, five of which are located in the Ciudad Vieja. One of them, on the same block with the main building, is the historic residence of Antonio Montero, which houses the Museo Romantico. Also nearby is the Museo Casa de José Garibaldi where

Giuseppe Garibaldi Giuseppe Maria Garibaldi ( , ;In his native Ligurian language, he is known as (). In his particular Niçard dialect of Ligurian, he was known as () or (). 4 July 1807 – 2 June 1882) was an Italian general, revolutionary and republican. H ...

lived in the 1840s while participating in the

Uruguayan Civil War The Uruguayan Civil War, also known in Spanish as the ''Guerra Grande'' ("Great War"), was a series of armed conflicts between the leaders of Uruguayan independence. While officially the war lasted from 1839 until 1851, it was a part of armed ...

The Museo Torres García is located in the Old Town, and exhibits Joaquín Torres García's unusual portraits of historical icons and cubist paintings akin to those of

Picasso Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, Ceramic art, ceramicist, and Scenic ...

and Braque. The museum was established by Manolita Piña Torres, the widow of Torres Garcia, after his death in 1949. She also set up the García Torres Foundation, a private non-profit organization that organizes the paintings, drawings, original writings, archives, objects and furniture designed by the painter as well as the photographs, magazines and publications related to him. Museo Naval Montevideo

There are several other important art museums in Montevideo. The Centro de Fotografía de Montevideo (CdF) is a museum, archive, and gallery for historic and contemporary photography with twelve outdoor exhibition spaces in various Montevideo neighborhoods as well as four galleries in its downtown headquarters. The National Museum of Visual Arts in Parque Rodó has Uruguay's largest collection of paintings. The Juan Manuel Blanes Museum was founded in 1930, the 100th anniversary of the first

Constitution of Uruguay The Constitution of Uruguay () is the supreme law of Uruguay. Its first version was written in 1830 and its last constitutional amendment, amendment was made in 2004. Uruguay's first constitution was adopted in 1830, following the conclusion of ...

, significant with regard to the fact that Juan Manuel Blanes painted Uruguayan patriotic themes. In the back of the museum is a Japanese Garden with a pond where there are over a hundred

carp The term carp (: carp) is a generic common name for numerous species of freshwater fish from the family (biology), family Cyprinidae, a very large clade of ray-finned fish mostly native to Eurasia. While carp are prized game fish, quarries and a ...

. The Museo de Historia del Arte, located in the Palacio Municipal, features replicas of ancient monuments and exhibits a varied collection of artifacts from Egypt, Mesopotamia, Persia, Greece, Rome and Native American cultures including local finds of the pre-Columbian period. The Museo Municipal Precolombino y Colonial, in the Ciudad Vieja, has preserved collections of the archeological finds from excavations carried out by Uruguayan archeologist Antonio Taddei. These antiquaries are exhibits of pre-Columbian art of Latin America, painting and sculpture from the 17th and 18th century mostly from Mexico,

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

and Brazil. The Museo de Arte Contempo has small exhibits of modern Uruguayan painting and sculpture. There are also other types of museums in the city. The Museo del Gaucho y de la Moneda, located in the Centro, has distinctive displays of the historical culture of Uruguay's

s, their horse gear, silver work and '' mate'' (tea), gourds, and ''bombillas'' (drinking straws) in odd designs. The Museo Naval, is located on the eastern waterfront in Buceo and offers exhibits depicting the maritime history of Uruguay. The Museo del Automóvil, belonging to the Automobile Club of Uruguay, has a rich collection of vintage cars which includes a 1910 Hupmobile. The Museo y Parque Fernando García in Carrasco, a transport and automobile museum, includes old horse carriages and some early automobiles. The Castillo Pittamiglio, with an unusual façade, highlights the eccentric legacy of Humberto Pittamiglio, local alchemist and architect.

Festivals

Las Llamadas - Carnaval 2011 - 110203-0690-jikatu

La Gozadera Montevideo Llamadas Carnaval 2012 17

As the capital of Uruguay, Montevideo is home to a number of festivals and carnivals including a Gaucho festival when people ride through the streets on horseback in traditional gaucho gear. The major annual festival is the annual Montevideo Carnival which is part of the national festival of Carnival Week, celebrated throughout Uruguay, with central activities in the capital, Montevideo. Officially, the public holiday lasts for two days on Carnival Monday and

Shrove Tuesday Shrove Tuesday (also known as Pancake Tuesday or Pancake Day) is the final day of Shrovetide, which marks the end of the pre-Lenten season. Lent begins the following day with Ash Wednesday. Shrove Tuesday is observed in many Christian state, Ch ...

preceding

Ash Wednesday Ash Wednesday is a holy day of prayer and fasting in many Western Christian denominations. It is preceded by Shrove Tuesday and marks the first day of Lent: the seven weeks of Christian prayer, prayer, Religious fasting#Christianity, fasting and ...

, but due to the prominence of the festival, most shops and businesses close for the entire week. During carnival there are many open-air stage performances and competitions and the streets and houses are vibrantly decorated. "Tablados" or popular scenes, both fixed and movable, are erected in the whole city. Notable displays include "Desfile de las Llamadas" ("Parade of the Calls"), which is a grand united parade held on the south part of downtown, where it used to be a common ritual back in the early 20th century. Due to the scale of the festival, preparation begins as early as December with an election of the "zonal beauty queens" to appear in the carnival.

Sports

, the national

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

stadium in Parque Batlle, was opened in 1930 for the first

, as well as to commemorate the centennial of Uruguay's first constitution. In this World Cup, Uruguay won the title game against Argentina by 4 goals to 2. The stadium has 70,000 seats. It is listed by

FIFA The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (), more commonly known by its acronym FIFA ( ), is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded on 21 May 1904 to o ...

as one of the football world's classic stadiums, along with Maracanã,

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium, currently branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE Limited, EE for sponsorship reasons, is an association football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Sta ...

, San Siro, Estadio Azteca, and

Santiago Bernabéu Stadium Santiago Bernabéu Stadium (, ) is a retractable roof association football, football stadium in Madrid, Spain. With a seating capacity of around 83,000 following its extensive renovation completed in late 2024, the stadium has the second-largest ...

. A museum located within the football stadium has exhibits of memorabilia from Uruguay's 1930 and 1950 World Cup championships. Museum tickets give access to the stadium, stands, locker rooms and playing field. Between 1935 and 1938, the athletics track and the municipal

velodrome A velodrome is an arena for track cycling. Modern velodromes feature steeply banked oval tracks, consisting of two 180-degree circular bends connected by two straights. The straights transition to the circular turn through a moderate easement ...

were completed within Parque Batlle. The Tabaré Athletic Club is occasionally made over as a carnival theater using impermanent materials. PSG rugby seven punta

Today the vast majority of teams in the Primera División and

Segunda División The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commonly known as Segunda División or La Liga 2, and officially known as LaLiga HyperMotion for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spa ...

come from Montevideo, including Nacional,

Central Español Central Español Fútbol Club, usually known simply as Central Español is a Uruguayan football club based in Montevideo. History The F.U.F era Together with Peñarol, Central founded FUF (Uruguayan football federation) in 1923 after being expel ...

, Cerrito, Cerro, Danubio,

Defensor Sporting Defensor Sporting Club is a sports club based in Montevideo, Uruguay. Founded in 1913, Defensor has several sports sections, with football and basketball being the most important and the ones in which the club has achieved significant achievement ...

, Atlético Fénix,

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

, Wanderers,

Racing In sports, racing is a competition of speed, in which competitors try to complete a given task in the shortest amount of time. Typically this involves traversing some distance, but it can be any other task involving speed to reach a specific g ...

, River Plate, Club Atlético Torque, Boston River and

Rampla Juniors Rampla Juniors Fútbol Club, commonly known as Rampla Juniors, is a Uruguayan football club based in Montevideo. The team was actively playing the 2021 season by January 2021. In their home stadium, Rampla won the Uruguayan championship in 1927. I ...

. Besides Estadio Centenario, other stadiums include Gran Parque Central,

Estadio Campeón del Siglo Estadio Campeón del Siglo is a association football, football stadium located in Bañados de Carrasco, Montevideo, Uruguay, and the Home (sports), home ground of Peñarol, who plays in the Uruguayan Primera División, First Division. It has a ma ...

, Belvedere, Complejo Rentistas,

, José Pedro Damiani, "La Bombonera", Luis Franzini, Luis Tróccoli and the park stadiums of Abraham Paladino, Alfredo Víctor Viera, Omar Saroldi, José Nasazzi, Osvaldo Roberto, Maracaná and

. The city has a tradition as host of major international basketball tournaments including the official 1967 FIBA World Cup and the 1988

1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

and 2017 editions of the official Americas Basketball Championship. The Uruguayan Basketball League is headquartered in Montevideo and most of its teams are from the city, including

, Biguá, Atlético Aguada,

Goes The Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES), operated by the United States' National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)'s National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service division, supports weather fo ...

, Malvín, , and Trouville. Montevideo is also a center of rugby;

equestrianism Equestrianism (from Latin , , , 'horseman', 'horse'), commonly known as horse riding ( Commonwealth English) or horseback riding (American English), includes the disciplines of riding, driving, and vaulting. This broad description includes the ...

, which regained importance in Montevideo after the Maroñas Racecourse reopened; golf, with the Club de Punta Carretas; and yachting, with the Puerto del Buceo, an ideal place to moor yachts. The Golf Club of Punta Carretas was founded in 1894 covers all the area encircled by the west side of Bulevar Artigas, the Rambla (Montevideo's promenade) and the Parque Rodó (Fun Fair).

Religion

The religion with most followers in Montevideo is Roman Catholicism and has been so since the foundation of the city. The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Montevideo was created as the

Apostolic Vicariate An apostolic vicariate is a territorial jurisdiction of the Catholic Church under a titular bishop centered in missionary regions and countries where dioceses or parishes have not yet been established. The status of apostolic vicariate is often ...

of Montevideo in 1830. The vicariate was promoted to the Diocese of Montevideo on 13 July 1878.

Pope Leo XIII Pope Leo XIII (; born Gioacchino Vincenzo Raffaele Luigi Pecci; 2March 181020July 1903) was head of the Catholic Church from 20 February 1878 until his death in July 1903. He had the fourth-longest reign of any pope, behind those of Peter the Ap ...

elevated it to the rank of a

metropolitan archdiocese A metropolis, metropolitanate or metropolitan diocese is an episcopal see whose bishop is the metropolitan bishop or archbishop of an ecclesiastical province. Metropolises, historically, have been important cities in their provinces. Eastern Ortho ...

on 14 April 1897. The new archdiocese became the Metropolitan of the suffragan sees of Canelones,

, Maldonado–Punta del Este, Melo, Mercedes, Minas, Salto, San José de Mayo,

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 ...

. Montevideo is the only archdiocese in Uruguay and, as its Ordinary, the archbishop is also

Primate Primates is an order (biology), order of mammals, which is further divided into the Strepsirrhini, strepsirrhines, which include lemurs, galagos, and Lorisidae, lorisids; and the Haplorhini, haplorhines, which include Tarsiiformes, tarsiers a ...

of the Catholic Church in Uruguay. The archdiocese's

mother church Mother church or matrice is a term depicting the Christian Church as a mother in her functions of nourishing and protecting the believer. It may also refer to the primary church of a Christian denomination or diocese, i.e. a cathedral church, or ...

and thus seat of its archbishop is Catedral de la Inmaculada Concepción y San Felipe y Santiago. Church and state are officially separated since 1916 in Uruguay. , the Archbishop of Montevideo is Daniel Fernando Sturla Berhouet, SDB, since his appointment on 11 February 2014. Other religious faiths in Montevideo are

Protestantism Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

Umbanda Umbanda () is a religion that emerged in Brazil during the 1920s. Deriving largely from Kardecist spiritism, Spiritism, it also combines elements from African diasporic religions, Afro-Brazilian traditions like Candomblé as well as Roman Catho ...

Judaism Judaism () is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic, Monotheism, monotheistic, ethnic religion that comprises the collective spiritual, cultural, and legal traditions of the Jews, Jewish people. Religious Jews regard Judaism as their means of o ...

, and there are many people who define themselves as Atheists and Agnostics, while others profess "believing in God but without religion".

Montevideo Metropolitan Cathedral

The Montevideo Metropolitan Cathedral is the main Roman Catholic church of Montevideo. It is located in Ciudad Vieja, immediately across Constitution Square from the Cabildo. In 1740 a brick church was built on the site. In 1790, the foundation was laid for the current neoclassical structure. The church was consecrated in 1804. Bicentennial celebrations were held in 2004. In 1897,

elevated the church to Metropolitan Cathedral status. Important ceremonies are conducted under the direction of the Archbishop of Montevideo. Weddings and choral concerts are held here and the parish priest conducts the routine functions of the cathedral. In the 19th century, its precincts were also used as a burial place of famous people who died in the city. For decades, the prison and the nearby Punta Carretas parish church were the only major buildings in the neighborhood.

Nuestra Señora del Sagrado Corazón

Nuestra Señora del Sagrado Corazón ("Our Lady of the Sacred Heart"), also known as Iglesia Punta Carretas ("Punta Carretas Church"), was built between 1917 and 1927 in the Romanesque Revival style. The church was originally part of the

Order of Friars Minor Capuchin The Order of Friars Minor Capuchin (; postnominal abbr. OFMCap) is a religious order of Franciscan friars within the Catholic Church, one of three " First Orders" that reformed from the Franciscan Friars Minor Observant (OFMObs, now OFM), the ...

, but is presently in the parish of the Ecclesiastic Curia. Its location is at the corner of Solano García and José Ellauri. It has a nave and aisles. The roof has many vaults. During the construction of the Punta Carretas Shopping complex, major cracks developed in the structure of the church as a result of differential foundation settlement.

Economy

'' Main Article: Economy of Uruguay'' As the capital of Uruguay, Montevideo is the economic and political center of the country. Most of the largest and wealthiest businesses in Uruguay have their headquarters in the city. Since the 1990s the city has undergone rapid economic development and modernization, including two of Uruguay's most important buildings—the World Trade Center Montevideo (1998), and Telecommunications Tower (2000), the headquarters of Uruguay's government-owned telecommunications company ANTEL, increasing the city's integration into the global marketplace. The Port of Montevideo, in the northern part of Ciudad Vieja, is one of the major ports of South America and plays a very important role in the city's economy. The port has been growing rapidly and consistently at an average annual rate of 14 percent due to an increase in foreign trade. The city has received a US$20 million loan from the

Inter-American Development Bank The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB or IADB) is an international development finance institution headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States of America. It serves as one of the leading sources of development financing for the countri ...

to modernize the port, increase its size and efficiency, and enable lower maritime and river transportation costs. The most important state-owned companies headquartered in Montevideo are: AFE (railways), ANCAP (Energy), Administracion Nacional de Puertos (Ports), ANTEL (telecommunications), BHU (savings and loan), BROU (bank), BSE (insurance), OSE (water & sewage),

UTE Ute or UTE may refer to: * Ute people, a Native American people of the Great Basin * Ute Indian Tribe of the Uintah and Ouray Reservation, Utah * Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah * Southern Ute Indian Tribe of the Southern ...

(electricity). These companies operate under public law, using a legal entity defined in the Uruguayan Constitution called ''Ente Autonomo'' ("autonomous entity"). The government also owns part of other companies operating under private law, such as those owned wholly or partially by the CND (National Development Corporation). Banking has traditionally been one of the strongest service export sectors in Uruguay: the country was once dubbed "the Switzerland of America", mainly for its banking sector and stability, although that stability has been threatened in the 21st century by the recent global economic climate. The largest bank in Uruguay is Banco Republica (BROU), based in Montevideo. 9 private banks, most of them branches of international banks, operate in the country (

Banco Santander Banco Santander S.A. trading as Santander Group ( , , ), is a Spanish multinational financial services company based in Santander, with operative offices in Madrid. Additionally, Santander maintains a presence in most global financial centres ...

BBVA Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, S.A. (), better known by its initialism BBVA, is a Spanish multinational financial services company based in Bilbao, with operative offices in Madrid. It is one of the largest financial institutions in the world, ...

, ABN AMRO,

Citibank Citibank, N.A. ("N. A." stands for "National bank (United States), National Association"; stylized as citibank) is the primary U.S. banking subsidiary of Citigroup, a financial services multinational corporation, multinational corporation. Ci ...

, among others). There are also a myriad of brokers and financial-services bureaus, among them Ficus Capital, Galfin Sociedad de Bolsa, Europa Sociedad de Bolsa, Darío Cukier, GBU, Hordeñana & Asociados Sociedad de Bolsa, etc.

Tourism

Tourism accounts for much of Uruguay's economy. Tourism in Montevideo is centered in the Ciudad Vieja area, which includes the city's oldest buildings, several museums, art galleries, and nightclubs, with Sarandí Street and the Mercado del Puerto being the most frequented venues of the old city. On the edge of Ciudad Vieja, Plaza Independencia is surrounded by many sights, including the Solís Theatre and the Palacio Salvo; the plaza also constitutes one end of 18 de Julio Avenue, the city's most important tourist destination outside of Ciudad Vieja. Apart from being a shopping street, the avenue is noted for its

Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French (), is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design that first Art Deco in Paris, appeared in Paris in the 1910s just before World War I and flourished in the United States and Europe during the 1920 ...

buildings, three important public squares, the Gaucho Museum, the Palacio Municipal and many other sights. The avenue leads to the Obelisk of Montevideo; beyond that is Parque Batlle, which along with the Parque Prado is another important tourist destination. Along the coast, the Fortaleza del Cerro, the ''Rambla'' (the coastal avenue), of sandy beaches, and Punta Gorda attract many tourists, as do the Barrio Sur and

''barrios''. The Ministry of Tourism offers a two-and-a-half-hour city tour and the Montevideo Tourist Guide Association offers guided tours in English, Italian, Portuguese and German. Apart from these, many private companies offer organized city tours. Most tourists to the city come from Argentina, Brazil and Europe, with the number of visitors from elsewhere in Latin America and from the United States growing every year, thanks to an increasing number of international airline arrivals at Carrasco International Airport as well as cruises and ferries that arrive into the port of Montevideo.

Retail

Montevideo is the heartland of retailing in Uruguay. The city has become the principal center of business and real estate, including many expensive buildings and modern towers for residences and offices, surrounded by extensive green spaces. In 1985, the first shopping center in Rio de la Plata, Montevideo Shopping was built. In 1994, with the building of three more shopping complexes such as the Shopping Tres Cruces, Portones Shopping, and Punta Carretas Shopping, the business map of the city changed dramatically. The creation of shopping complexes brought a major change in the habits of the people of Montevideo. Global firms such as

McDonald's McDonald's Corporation, doing business as McDonald's, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational fast food chain store, chain. As of 2024, it is the second largest by number of locations in the world, behind only the Chinese ch ...

and

Burger King Burger King Corporation (BK, stylized in all caps) is an American multinational chain store, chain of hamburger fast food restaurants. Headquartered in Miami-Dade County, Florida, the company was founded in 1953 as Insta-Burger King, a Jacks ...

etc. are firmly established in Montevideo. In 2013 Nuevocentro Shopping, a shopping mall located in the Jacinto Vera neighborhood, was inaugurated. Portones Shopping Estacionamiento

Apart from the big shopping complexes, the main retailing venues of the city are: most of 18 de Julio Avenue in the

and Cordón ''barrios'', a length of Agraciada Avenue in the Paso de Molino area of Belvedere, a length of Arenal Grande St. and the

Media

Out of the 100 radio stations found in Uruguay, 40 of them are in Montevideo. The city has a vibrant artistic and literary community. The press enjoyed full freedom until the advent of the Civic-military dictatorship (1973–1985); this freedom returned on 1 March 1985, as part of the restoration of democracy. Some of the important newspapers published in the city are: '' Brecha'', '' La República'', '' El Observador'', ''

El País (; ) is a Spanish-language daily newspaper in Spain. is based in the capital city of Madrid and it is owned by the Spanish media conglomerate PRISA. It is the second-most circulated daily newspaper in Spain . is the most read newspaper in ...

'', ''Gaceta Comercial'' and ''La Diaria''. '' El Día'' was the most prestigious paper in Uruguay, founded in 1886 by José Batlle, who would later go on to become President of Uruguay. The paper ceased production in the early 1990s. All television stations have their headquarters in Montevideo, for example: Saeta Channel 10,

Teledoce Teledoce Televisora Color, also known as Canal 12 is a Uruguayan free-to-air television network, located in the capital of Uruguay, Montevideo. It is owned by Grupo Disco. Television transmissions commenced in 1962. History It was the third a ...

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

and National Television (Channel 5)

Transport

Public transport

The city and its

have a bus transportation network, the ''Sistema Met''s acronym. It covers urban and interurban services within the Metropolitan Area and is administered by the municipal government together with the Ministry of Transport and Public Works. The Baltasar Brum Terminal located in

Ciudad Vieja Ciudad Vieja () is a town and municipality in the Guatemalan Departments of Guatemala, department of Sacatepéquez. According to the 2018 census, the town has a population of 32,802State Railways Administration of Uruguay (AFE) operates three commuter rail lines, namely the Empalme Olmos, San Jose and Florida. These lines operate to major suburban areas of Canelones, San José and

. Within the Montevideo city limits, local trains stop at

Lorenzo Carnelli Lorenzo Carnelli (1887 – 1960) was a Uruguayan lawyer and politician who belonged to the National Party (Uruguay), National Party. Career In 1925, he left the National Party and founded the Radical National Party. In the elections of 1927, ...

, Yatai (Step Mill), Sayago, Colón (line to San Jose and Florida),

and

(line Empalme Olmos) stations. The historic 19th century General Artigas Central Station located in the ''

'' Aguada, six blocks from the central business district, was abandoned 1 March 2003 and remains closed. A new station, north of the old one and part of the Telecommunications Tower modern complex, has taken over the rail traffic. The train service is currently suspended for works related to the modernization of the railway system until mid-2023 when the work will end.

Intercity buses

The Tres Cruces bus station is the main bus terminal in Uruguay, serving long-distance buses that travel into Montevideo, from other parts of the country and abroad. Inaugurated in 1994, it serves more than 12 million passengers per year. Aeropuerto carrasco

Companies operating at Tres Cruces bus station: Agencia central, Bruno, Copsa, Cromin, Cynsa, Copay, Cot, Cut, Corporacion, Cita, Cauvi, Colonia Express, El Condor, El Norteño, Ega, Expreso Chago, Expreso Minuano, Intertur, Nossar, Nuñez, Rutas del sol, TTL, Turil, Turismar, etc.

Aviation

Montevideo is served by the Carrasco International Airport , which is located in the north of Ciudad de la Costa, in Canelones Department, from the city center. It handles over 1,5 million passengers per year, and has been cited as one of the most efficient and traveler-friendly airports in Latin America. Ángel S. Adami Airport is a private airport operated by minor charter companies and in which there is also a flight school.

Port

Montevideo is also served by a ferry system operated by the company Buquebus that connects the port with

. More than 2.2 million people per year travel between Argentina and Uruguay with Buquebus. One of these ships is a

catamaran A catamaran () (informally, a "cat") is a watercraft with two parallel hull (watercraft), hulls of equal size. The wide distance between a catamaran's hulls imparts stability through resistance to rolling and overturning; no ballast is requi ...

, which can reach a top speed of about .The port on Montevideo Bay is one of the reasons the city was founded. It gives natural protection to ships, although two jetties now further protect the harbor entrance from waves. This natural port is competitive with the other great port of Río de la Plata, Buenos Aires. The main engineering work on the port occurred between the years 1870 and 1930. These six decades saw the construction of the port's first wooden pier, several warehouses in La Aguada, the north and south Rambla, a river port, a new pier, the dredged river basin and the La Teja Refinery. A major storm in 1923 necessitated repairs to many of the city's engineering works. Since the second half of the 20th century, until the 21st century, physical changes had ceased, and since that time the area had degraded due to national economic stagnation. The port's proximity has contributed to the installation of various industries in the area surrounding the bay, particularly import/export businesses and other business related to port and naval activity. The density of industrial development in the area surrounding the port has kept its popularity as a residential area relatively low despite its centrality. The main environmental problems are subaquatic sedimentation and air and water contamination. Every year more than one hundred cruises arrive, bringing tourists to Montevideo by public or private tours.

Cycling

The city has bicycle circuits in

as well as with good facilities for cyclists such as bike paths and bike racks throughout the city. In 2013 the "South Bicicircuito" was also inaugurated, which connects several of the dependent faculties of the University of the Republic. There are more than 100 bike stations in the city. In 2014, a

bicycle sharing system A bicycle-sharing system, bike share program, public bicycle scheme, or public bike share (PBS) scheme, is a shared transport service where bicycles are available for shared use by individuals at low cost. The programmes themselves include bo ...

called ''Movete'' was launched.

Education

Public education

The University of the Republic is the country's largest and most important university, with a student body of 81,774, according to the census of 2007. It was founded on 18 July 1849 in Montevideo, where most of its buildings and facilities are still located. Its Rector is Dr. Rodrigo Arocena. The university houses 14 faculties (departments) and various institutes and schools. Many eminent Uruguayans have graduated from this university, including Carlos Vaz Ferreira, José Luis Massera, Gabriel Paternain, Mario Wschebor, Roman Fresnedo Siri,

and Eladio Dieste The process of founding the country's public university began on 11 June 1833 with the passage of a law proposed by Senator Dámaso Antonio Larrañaga. It called for the creation of nine academic departments; the President of the Republic would pass a decree formally creating the departments once the majority of them were in operation. In 1836, the House of General Studies was formed, housing the departments of Latin, philosophy, mathematics, theology and jurisprudence. On 27 May 1838,

passed a decree establishing the Greater University of the Republic. That decree had few practical effects, given the institutional instability of the Oriental Republic of Uruguay at that time.

Private education

The largest private university in Uruguay, is also located in Montevideo. ORT Uruguay was first established as a non-profit organization in 1942, and was officially certified as a private university in September 1996, becoming the first private educational institution in the country to achieve that status. It is a member of

World ORT ORT (), also known as the Organisation for Rehabilitation through Training, is a global education network driven by Jewish values. It promotes education and training in communities worldwide. Its activities throughout its history have spanned mor ...

, an international educational network founded in 1880 by the Jewish community in

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

, Russia. The university has about 8,000 students, distributed among 5 faculties and institutes, mainly geared towards the sciences and technology/engineering. Its rector is Dr. Jorge A. Grünberg. Another private university in Uruguay is the University of Montevideo (Spanish: Universidad de Montevideo, short: UM). It opened in 1986 and obtained the right to be legally named a

university A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...

in 1997. With its seven schools the UM has facilities all over Montevideo. The Universidad de Montevideo also holds more than 250 partnerships with other universities in 47 countries. Since 2019 is the university ranked in the Top 500 in the world by the

QS World University Rankings The ''QS World University Rankings'' is a portfolio of comparative college and university rankings compiled by Quacquarelli Symonds, a higher education analytics firm. Its first and earliest edition was published in collaboration with '' Times ...

(QSWUR). The Montevideo Crandon Institute is an American School of missionary origin and the main

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...

educational institution in Uruguay. Founded in 1879 and supported by the Women's Society of the Methodist Church of the United States, it is one of the most traditional and emblematic institutions in the city inculcating

John Wesley John Wesley ( ; 2 March 1791) was an English cleric, Christian theology, theologian, and Evangelism, evangelist who was a principal leader of a Christian revival, revival movement within the Church of England known as Methodism. The societies ...

's values. Its alumni include presidents, senators, ambassadors and Nobel Prize winners, along with musicians, scientists, and others. The Montevideo Crandon Institute boasts of being the first academic institution in South America where a

home economics Home economics, also called domestic science or family and consumer sciences (often shortened to FCS or FACS), is a subject concerning human development, personal and family finances, consumer issues, housing and interior design, nutrition and f ...

course was taught. Montevideo school play laundress

The Christian Brothers of Ireland Stella Maris College is a private,

co-educational Mixed-sex education, also known as mixed-gender education, co-education, or coeducation (abbreviated to co-ed or coed), is a system of education where males and females are educated together. Whereas single-sex education was more common up to ...

not-for-profit A not-for-profit or non-for-profit organization (NFPO) is a Legal Entity, legal entity that does not distribute surplus funds to its members and is formed to fulfill specific objectives. While not-for-profit organizations and Nonprofit organ ...

Catholic school located in the wealthy residential southeastern neighborhood of Carrasco. Established in 1955, it is regarded as one of the best high schools in the country, blending a rigorous curriculum with strong extracurricular activities. The school's headmaster, history professor Juan Pedro Toni, is a member of the Stella Maris Board of Governors and the school is a member of the

International Baccalaureate Organization The International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO), more commonly known as the International Baccalaureate (IB), is a nonprofit foundation headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, and founded in 1968. It offers four educational programmes: the I ...

(IBO). Its long list of distinguished former pupils includes economists, engineers, architects, lawyers, politicians and even F1 champions. The school has also played an important part in the development of rugby union in Uruguay, with the creation of Old Christians Club, the school's

alumni Alumni (: alumnus () or alumna ()) are former students or graduates of a school, college, or university. The feminine plural alumnae is sometimes used for groups of women, and alums (: alum) or alumns (: alumn) as gender-neutral alternatives. Th ...

club. Also in Carrasco is The British Schools of Montevideo, one of the oldest educational institutions in the country, founded in 1908 with "the object of giving children a complete education, both intellectual and moral, based upon the ideas and principles of the best schools in The British Isles". The School is governed by the Board of Governors, elected by the British Schools Society in Uruguay, whose honorary president is the British Ambassador to Uruguay. Prominent alumni include president

Luis Lacalle Pou Luis Alberto Aparicio Alejandro Lacalle Pou (, ; born 11 August 1973), is a Uruguayan politician and lawyer, who served as the 42nd president of Uruguay from 2020 to 2025. The son of former president Luis Alberto Lacalle, Lacalle Pou attended ...

and former government ministers Pedro Bordaberry and Gabriel Gurméndez Armand-Ugon. Located in Cordon, St.Brendan's school, previously named St.Catherine's is a non-profit civil association, which has a solid institutional culture with a clear vision of the future. It is known for being one of the best schools in the country, joining students from the wealthiest parts of Montevideo, such as, Punta Carretas, Pocitos, Malvin and Carrasco. St. Brendan's School is a bilingual, non-denominational school that promotes a pedagogical constructivist approach focused on the child as a whole. In this approach, understanding is built from the connections children make between their own prior knowledge and the learning experiences, thus developing critical thinking skills. It is also the only school in the country implementing the three

International Baccalaureate Programme The International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (IBDP) is a two-year educational programme primarily aimed at 16-to-19-year-olds in 140 countries around the world. The programme provides an internationally accepted qualification for entry int ...

s. These are: *Diploma Program – Pre-University course for students aged 16 to 19. The Diploma Program is a two-year curriculum. *MYP -Middle Years Program. For students aged 12 to 16. *PYP – Primary Years Program. For students aged 3 to 12. Other educational institutions of note include Colegio Ingles, John XXIII Institute, Lycée Français de Montevideo, Ivy Thomas, German School of Montevideo and Colegio Preuniversitario Ciudad de San Felipe.

Healthcare

In Montevideo, as elsewhere in the country, there are both public and private health services. In both sectors, medical services are provided by polyclinics and hospitals or sanatorios. The term ''hospital'' is used here for both outpatient and inpatient facilities, while ''sanatorio'' is used for private short- and long-term facilities for the treatment of illnesses.

Public hospitals

Hospital de Clínicas "Dr. Manuel Quintela" is a University Hospital attached to the University of the Republic, and is located on Avenida Italia. It functions as an adult general polyclinic and hospital. The building was designed by architect Carlos Surraco in 1928–1929 and has a surface area of on 23 floors. The hospital was inaugurated 21 September 1953. For many years it was led by Dr. Hugo Villar, who was a considerable influence on the institution. Hospital Maciel is one of the oldest hospitals in Uruguay and stands on the block bounded by the streets Maciel, 25 de Mayo, Guaraní and Washington, with the main entrance at 25 de Mayo, 172. The land was originally donated in Spanish colonial times by philanthropist Francisco Antonio Maciel, who teamed up with Mateo Vidal to establish a hospital and charity. The first building was constructed between 1781 and 1788 and later expanded upon. The present building stems from the 1825 plans of José Toribio (son of ) and later Bernardo Poncini (wing on the Guaraní street, 1859), Eduardo Canstatt (corner of Guaraní and 25 de Mayo) and Julián Masquelez (1889). The hospital has a chapel built in Greek style by Miguel Estévez in 1798. Hospital Pereira Rossell was founded in 1908 and was built on land donated in late 1900 by Alexis Rossell y Rius and Dolores Pereira de Rossell. It was the city's first pediatric hospital, and shortly afterwards the addition of an obstetric and gynecological clinic in 1915 made it the first maternity hospital as well. Later, the hospital received a donation from Dr. Enrique Pouey for a radiotherapy unit. Hospital Vilardebó is the only psychiatric hospital in Montevideo. Named after the physician and naturalist , it opened 21 May 1880. The hospital was originally one of the best of Latin America and in 1915 grew to 1,500 inpatients. Today the hospital is very deteriorated, with broken walls and floors, lack of medicines, beds, and rooms for the personnel. It has an emergency service, outpatient, clinic and inpatient rooms and employs approximately 610 staff, psychologists, psychiatrists, social workers, administrators, guards, among others. The average patient age is 30 years; more than half of the patients arrive by court order; 42% suffer from schizophrenia, 18% from depression and mania, and there are also a high percentage of drug addicted patients. Other public polyclinics and hospitals of note include the Hospital Saint Bois, founded 18 November 1928, which consists of a General Hospital and Eye Hospital; the Pasteur Hospital in La Unión neighborhood; the Hospital Español, which was founded in 1886, passed to the private sector in the 20th century, closed in 2004 and was restored and re-inaugurated in 2007 as the municipal Juan Jose Crottogini Polyclinic; the National Cancer Institute; and the National Institute of Trauma and Orthopedics.

Private healthcare

Private healthcare is offered by many private health insurance companies, each of which has one or more polyclinics and owns or is associated with one or more hospitals. Private medical facilities of note include the Hospital Británico, the Italian Hospital of Montevideo, Mutualista CASMU's Sanatoria I, II, III and IV, the Evangelical Hospital, , Sanatorio de la Asociación Española, Sanatorios del Círculo Católico, Sanatorio Casa de Galicia and Sanatorio GREMCA.

International relations

Twin towns and sister relations

Montevideo is twinned with: * Arica, Chile * Asunción, Paraguay *

Barcelona, Spain Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a pop ...

* Berisso, Argentina * Bluefields, Nicaragua * Brasília, Brazil * Cádiz, Spain * Cali, Colombia * Ceuta, Spain * Cochabamba, Bolivia *

Córdoba, Argentina Córdoba () is a city in central Argentina, in the foothills of the Punilla Valley, Sierras Chicas on the Primero River, Suquía River, about northwest of Buenos Aires. It is the capital of Córdoba Province, Argentina, Córdoba Province an ...

* Coroico, Bolivia * Cumaná, Venezuela * Curitiba, Brazil * El Aaiun,

Western Sahara Western Sahara is a territorial dispute, disputed territory in Maghreb, North-western Africa. It has a surface area of . Approximately 30% of the territory () is controlled by the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR); the remaining 70% is ...

* Esmeraldas, Ecuador * Hurlingham, Argentina * La Plata, Argentina * Libertador, Venezuela *

Lisbon, Portugal Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits and 3,028,000 within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, metropolis, as of 2025. Lisbon is mainlan ...

* Mar del Plata, Argentina *

Marsico Nuovo Marsico Nuovo ( Lucano: ) is a town and ''comune'' of the province of Potenza in the Basilicata region of southern Italy. It was the seat of the bishops of Grumentum. It is an agricultural centre in the Agri river valley. History The city's o ...

Basilicata Basilicata (, ; ), also known by its ancient name Lucania (, , ), is an administrative region in Southern Italy, bordering on Campania to the west, Apulia to the north and east, and Calabria to the south. It has two coastlines: a 30-kilometr ...

, Italy * Melilla, Spain *

Mississauga Mississauga is a Canadian city in the province of Ontario. Situated on the north-western shore of Lake Ontario in the Regional Municipality of Peel, it borders Toronto (Etobicoke) to the east, Brampton to the north, Milton to the northwest, ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

, Canada * Montevideo, Minnesota, United States< (relationship began in 1905) *

Paris, France Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

* Port-au-Prince, Haiti * Qingdao, Shandong, China * Quebec City, Canada *

Rosario Rosario () is the largest city in the central provinces of Argentina, Argentine province of Santa Fe Province, Santa Fe. The city, located northwest of Buenos Aires on the west bank of the Paraná River, is the third-most populous city in the ...

, Argentina * Saint Petersburg, Russia * Santa Cruz, Bolivia *

São Paulo, Brazil SAO or Sao may refer to: Places * Sao civilisation, in Middle Africa from 6th century BC to 16th century AD * Sao, a town in Boussé Department, Burkina Faso * Serb Autonomous Regions (''Srpska autonomna oblast'', SAO), during the breakup of Yu ...

* Satriano di Lucania,

, Italy * Shenzhen, Guangdong, China * Talamanca, Costa Rica * Tambo de Mora, Peru * Tianjin, China *

Tito, Basilicata Tito ( Lucano: ) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Potenza, in the Southern Italian region of Basilicata. It is bounded by the comuni of Abriola, Picerno Picerno is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Potenza, in the Southern It ...

, Italy * Tumaco, Colombia * Ulsan, South Korea * Wrocław, Poland * Wuhu, Anhui, China Montevideo is part of the Union of Ibero-American Capital Cities since 12 October 1982.

References

Bibliography

* Albes, Edward.
Montevideo, the city of roses
' (US Government Printing Office, 1922). *

External links

Montevideo official website
* {{Authority control Capitals in South America Cities in Uruguay Populated places in the Montevideo Department Port cities and towns in Uruguay Populated places established in 1726 1726 establishments in the Viceroyalty of Peru 1726 establishments in Uruguay