View source for Departments of Uruguay

{{short description|none}} <!-- "none" is preferred when the title is sufficiently descriptive; see [[WP:SDNONE]] -->
{{Infobox subdivision type
| name               = Department<br>Departamento ([[Spanish language|Spanish]])
| alt_name           = 
|map                = [[File:Uruguay, administrative divisions - es - colored.svg|300px|Map of the departments of Uruguay.]]
|category           =  [[Unitary state]] 
|upper_unit        = 
|territory          = [[Uruguay|Oriental Republic of Uruguay]]
|start_date         =
|current_number     = 19 departments
|number_date        = 
|population_range   = 
|area_range         = 
|government         = 
|subdivision        = [[Municipalities of Uruguay|Municipalities]]
}}
{{Politics 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]]''.

==History==
The first division of Uruguay into six departments occurred on 27 January 1816. In February of the same year, two more departments were formed, and in 1828 one more was added. When the [[Constitution of Uruguay#Original Constitution (1830 - 1918)|country's first constitution]] was signed in 1830, there were nine departments: Montevideo, Maldonado, Canelones, San José, Colonia, Soriano, Paysandú, Durazno and Cerro Largo. At that time, the department of Paysandú occupied all the territory north of the Río Negro, which included the current departments of Artigas, Rivera, Tacuarembó, Salto, Paysandú and Río Negro.

On 17 June 1837, this northern territory was divided in three, by the creation of the departments of Salto and Tacuarembó. At the same time, the department of Minas (which was eventually renamed to Lavalleja) was created out of parts of Cerro Largo and Maldonado. In 1856 Florida was created, and on 7 July 1880 the department of Río Negro was split from Paysandú and Rocha was split from Maldonado. In 1884, Treinta y Tres was formed from parts of Cerro Largo and Minas, while Artigas was split from Salto. The same year the department of Rivera was split from Tacuarembó, and in 1885 Flores was split from San José.
{|
| [[File:Uruguay, administrative divisions - es - colored (1830).svg|thumb|none|112px|1830]]
| [[File:Uruguay, administrative divisions - es - colored (1837).svg|thumb|none|112px|1837]]
| [[File:Uruguay, administrative divisions - es - colored (1856).svg|thumb|none|112px|1856]]
| [[File:Uruguay, administrative divisions - es - colored (1880).svg|thumb|none|112px|1880]]
| [[File:Uruguay, administrative divisions - es - colored (1884).svg|thumb|none|112px|1884-85]]
|-
| colspan=5 align="center" |Series of maps showing the gradual formation of the current 19 departments of Uruguay.
|}

== List of departments==
{| class="wikitable sortable"
! class="unsortable" |Flag or<br />[[Coat of arms|COA]]
! style="padding-right:15px;"|Department
! style="padding-right:15px;"|[[ISO 3166-2:UY|ISO 3166-2<br />code]]
! style="padding-right:15px;"|Formation
! style="padding-right:15px;"|Area<br />(km<sup>2</sup>)
! style="padding-right:15px;"|Population<br />(2023)<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www5.ine.gub.uy/censos2011/index.html |title=Censos 2011 |publisher=Instituto Nacional de Estadística |date=10 August 2012 |access-date=11 November 2016}}</ref>
! style="padding-right:15px;"|Density<br />(/km<sup>2</sup>)
! style="padding-right:15px;"|Capital
!Capital population
|-
|[[Image:Flag of Artigas Department.svg|45px|border]]
| [[Artigas Department|Artigas]]
| UY-AR
| 1884<br />(from Salto)
|align="right"| 11,928 ||align="right"| 77,487 || align="right" | 6.15 || [[Artigas, Uruguay|Artigas]]
|40,658
|-
|[[Image:Flag of Canelones Department.svg|45px|border]]
| [[Canelones Department|Canelones]]
| UY-CA
| 1816<br />(as Villa de Guadalupe)
|align="right"|  4,536 ||align="right"|608,956 || align="right" | 114.68 || [[Canelones, Uruguay|Canelones]]
|19,865
|-
|[[Image:Flag of Cerro Largo Department.svg|45px|border]]
| [[Cerro Largo Department|Cerro Largo]]
| UY-CL
| 1821
|align="right"| 13,648 ||align="right"| 91,025 || align="right" | 6.21 || [[Melo, Uruguay|Melo]]
|53,245
|-
|[[Image:Flag of Colonia Department.svg|45px|border]]
| [[Colonia Department|Colonia]]
| UY-CO
| 1816
|align="right"|  6,106 ||align="right"|135,797 || align="right" | 20.18 || [[Colonia del Sacramento]]{{nbsp|2}}
|26,231
|-
|[[Image:Flag of Durazno Department.svg|45px|border]]
| [[Durazno Department|Durazno]]
| UY-DU
| 1822<br />(as Entre Ríos Yí y Negro)
|align="right"| 11,643 ||align="right"| 62,011 || align="right" | 4.90 || [[Durazno]]
|34,372
|-
|[[Image:Flag of Flores Department.png|45px|border]]
| [[Flores Department|Flores]]
| UY-FS
| 1885<br />(from San José)
|align="right"|  5,144 ||align="right"| 26,271 || align="right" | 4.87 || [[Trinidad, Uruguay|Trinidad]]
|21,429
|-
|[[Image:Flag of Florida Department.png|45px|border]]
| [[Florida Department|Florida]]
| UY-FD
| 1856<br />(from San José)
|align="right"| 10,417 ||align="right"| 70,325 || align="right" | 6.44 || [[Florida, Uruguay|Florida]]
|33,640
|-
|[[Image:Flag of Lavalleja Department.svg|45px|border]]
| [[Lavalleja Department|Lavalleja]]
| UY-LA
| 1837<br />(as Minas)
|align="right"| 10,016 ||align="right"| 59,175 || align="right" | 5.87 || [[Minas, Uruguay|Minas]]
|45,638
|-
|[[Image:Flag of Maldonado Department.png|45px|border]]
| [[Maldonado Department|Maldonado]]
| UY-MA
| 1816<br />(as San Fernando de Maldonado)
|align="right"|  4,793 ||align="right"|212,951 || align="right" | 34.28 || [[Maldonado, Uruguay|Maldonado]]
|62,592
|-
| [[Image:Coat of arms of Montevideo Department.svg|45px|border]]
| [[Montevideo Department|Montevideo]]
| UY-MO
| 1816
|align="right"| 530 ||align="right"| 1,302,954 || align="right" | 2,489 || [[Montevideo]]
|1,319,108
|-
|[[Image:Flag of Paysandú Department.svg|45px|border]]
| [[Paysandú Department|Paysandú]]
| UY-PA
| 1820
|align="right"| 13,922 ||align="right"|121,843 || align="right" | 8.13 || [[Paysandú]]
|76,429
|-
|[[Image:Flag of Rio Negro Department.svg|45px|border]]
| [[Río Negro Department|Río Negro]]
| UY-RN
| 1868<br />(from Paysandú)
|align="right"|  9,282 ||align="right"| 57,334 || align="right" | 5.90 || [[Fray Bentos]]
|24,406
|-
|[[Image:Flag of Rivera Department.png|45px|border]]
| [[Rivera Department|Rivera]]
| UY-RV
| 1884<br />(as Tacuarembó)
|align="right"|  9,370 ||align="right"|109,300 || align="right" | 11.04 || [[Rivera]]
|64,465
|-
|[[Image:Flag of Rocha Department.svg|45px|border]]
| [[Rocha Department|Rocha]]
| UY-RO
| 1880<br />(from Maldonado)
|align="right"| 10,551 ||align="right"| 80,707 || align="right" | 6.45 || [[Rocha, Uruguay|Rocha]]
|25,422
|-
|[[Image:Flag of Salto Department.svg|45px|border]]
| [[Salto Department|Salto]]
| UY-SA
| 1837<br />(from Paysandú)
|align="right"| 14,163 ||align="right"|136,197 || align="right" | 8.82 || [[Salto, Uruguay|Salto]]
|104,028
|-
|[[Image:Flag of San José Department.svg|45px|border]]
| [[San José Department|San José]]
| UY-SJ
| 1816
|align="right"|  4,992 ||align="right"|119,714 || align="right" | 21.70 || [[San José de Mayo]]
|36,747
|-
|[[Image:Flag of Soriano Department.svg|45px|border]]
| [[Soriano Department|Soriano]]
| UY-SO
| 1816<br />(as Santo Domingo Soriano)
|align="right"|  9,008 ||align="right"| 83,685 || align="right" | 9.17 || [[Mercedes, Uruguay|Mercedes]]
|41,975
|-
| [[Image:Tacuarembo Department Coa.png|45px|border]]
| [[Tacuarembó Department|Tacuarembó]]
| UY-TA
| 1837<br />(from Paysandú)
|align="right"| 15,438 ||align="right"| 96,013 || align="right" | 5.83 || [[Tacuarembó]]
|54,757
|-
|[[Image:Flag of Treinta y Tres Department.svg|45px|border]]
| [[Treinta y Tres Department|Treinta y Tres]]{{nbsp|2}}
| UY-TT
| 1884<br />(from Cerro Largo and Lavalleja)
|align="right"|  9,529 || align="right" | 47,706 || align="right" | 4.97 || [[Treinta y Tres]]
|25,477
|}

== Statutory framework ==
=== Establishment of departments ===
The [[General Assembly of Uruguay|General Assembly]] has the powers to create new departments, requiring a [[supermajority]] vote of two thirds in both chambers, as provided by the Constitution in article 85. The General Assembly can also define their borders, requiring the same majority.<ref name=IMPOConst85 />

=== Politics and governance ===
The basic statutory framework of departments is defined by Section XVI of the Constitution. Each department has executive and legislative branches, in the form of the Intendant and the Departmental Board respectively. The Municipal Organic Law No. 9515 regulates more specific details of these rules.<ref name=IMPOConst262 />

=== Finances ===
The sources of financial resources of the departmental governments are detailed in article 297 of the Constitution, being the departmental taxes, national taxes whose administration is granted to departments, earnings from services or incomes, money obtained from [[Sanctions (law)|sanctions]], donations, inheritances and [[bequest]]s received and accepted, and their own part of the national budget that they were granted by budget laws.<ref name=IMPOConst297 />

==Municipalities==
{{main|Municipalities of Uruguay}}
Since 2009 (Law No. 18567 of 13 September 2009),<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.presidencia.gub.uy/_web/leyes/2009/09/CM831.pdf |title=Ley Nº 18.567 del 13 de septiembre de 2009 |access-date=2013-08-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091222101444/http://www.presidencia.gub.uy/_web/leyes/2009/09/CM831.pdf |archive-date=2009-12-22 |url-status=dead }}</ref> the Uruguayan departments have been subdivided into [[municipalities]]. This system has been widely criticized as a waste of resources, due to Uruguay's small population of 3.4 million. The inaugural [[2010 Uruguayan municipal elections|municipal elections were held in 2010]], with municipal officials assuming office later in the year. Currently there are 136 municipalities.

==See also==
*List of postal codes in Uruguay
*[[ISO 3166-2:UY]]

==References==
<references>
<ref name=IMPOConst85>{{cite web|url=https://www.impo.com.uy/bases/constitucion/1967-1967/85|title=Constitution of Uruguay - Article 85|language=es|publisher=IMPO|access-date=15 September 2020}}</ref>

<ref name=IMPOConst262>{{cite web|url=https://www.impo.com.uy/bases/constitucion/1967-1967/262|title=Constitution of Uruguay - Article 262|language=es|publisher=IMPO|access-date=15 September 2020}}</ref>

<ref name=IMPOConst297>{{cite web|url=https://www.impo.com.uy/bases/constitucion/1967-1967/297|title=Constitution of Uruguay - Article 297|language=es|publisher=IMPO|access-date=15 September 2020}}</ref>
</references>

==External links==
{{commons category}}
* [http://www.ci.gub.uy Congreso Nacional de Intendentes] {{in lang|es}}

{{Departments of Uruguay}}
{{Articles on first-level administrative divisions of South American countries}}
{{Americas topic|Administrative divisions of}}
{{Uruguay topics}}
{{South America topic|Departments of}}
{{Americas topic|Departments of}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Departments of Uruguay| ]]
[[Category:Subdivisions of Uruguay]]
[[Category:Lists of administrative divisions|Uruguay, Departments]]
[[Category:First-level administrative divisions by country|Departments, Uruguay]]
[[Category:Uruguay geography-related lists]]