Río Negro Department

The Río Negro Department ( _es. Departamento de Río Negro) is an administrative division of Uruguay located in the west of the country. It has 53,989 inhabitants and an area of 9,282 km² (3,585 sq mi). Its capital is Fray Bentos.

Geography and climate

Neighbouring departments are Paysandú to the North, Tacuarembó to the East, Durazno to the Southeast, and Soriano to the South. To the West is Argentina, from which the department is separated by the Uruguay River

The Río Negro runs along the southern border, marking the limit between Río Negro and the departments of Durazno and Soriano. There are four main creeks in the department. They are: Tres Árboles, Grande, Don Esteban (all of which are tributaries to the Río Negro), and Negro

The department has two ranges of hills, the most important of which is the Haedo Hill Range which runs from northeast to the southwest. The second range is the de Navarro Hill Range.

History

The department was created in 1868 from a part of the old territory of Paysandú.

Economy

Agriculture is the main source of industry in the western part of the department. The main agricultural products are flax, sunflower, wheat, maize, grains, grapes, amognst others. The eastern half of the department has many pastures for the grazing of sheep and cattle which are an important contributor to the economy of the department. The main industries are again based around agro-industry the most prominent being wineries and dairies. The department also has a fluvial port located in Fray Bentos.

Tourism is becoming popular in the department especially in the thermal spas around the area of Las Cañas.

Botnia

Botnia S.A., a subsidiary of Finnish corporation Botnia, is currently building a large cellulose factory in Fray Bentos to produce bleached eucalyptus pulp. The investment in the project is about 1 billion USD and the factory will directly or indirectly employ more than 8,000 people. The project, however, is not without opponents. On 30 April 2005 about 40,000 Argentinians from Entre Ríos, along with environmental groups from both countries, blocked an international bridge and demanded the Argentine government to intercede before the Uruguayan one to stop the building of the factory, claiming it will gravely pollute the Uruguay River. On 20 December 2005 a World Bank study concluded that the factory would not have a negative impact on the environment or tourism in either country, however, this was not accepted by the environmental groups, who blocked again the bridge (partially blocking the bridge near Paysandu, as well) several times near the end of 2005.

Population and Demographics

As of the census of 2004, there were 53,989 people and 15,786 households in the department. The average household size was 3.3. For every 100 females, there were 105.2 males.
*Population growth rate: 0.509% (2004)
*Birth Rate: 17.91 births/1,000 people (2004)
*Death Rate: 7.95 deaths/1,000 people
*Average age: 29.3 (29.0 Males, 29.7 Females)
*Life Expectancy at Birth (2004):
*Average Family Size: 2.60 children/woman
*Urban per capita income (cities of 5,000 inhabitants or more): 3,521.1 pesos/month

Noted local person

* Guillermo Stirling (1937-) was the Colorado Party's Presidential candidate in 2005.

Main Urban Centres

(Towns or cities with 1,000 or more inhabitants listed - data from the 2004 census,

unless noted otherwise)

ee also

* Cellulose plant conflict between Argentina and Uruguay