Río Negro Department
The
Rio Negro Department (
Spanish:
Departamento de Rio Negro), with an area of 9,282 km² (3,585 square miles) and 53,989 inhabitants, is located to the West of
Uruguay. Its capital is
Fray Bentos.
Neighbouring departments are
Paysandú to the North,
Tacuarembó to the East,
Durazno to the Southeast, and
Soriano to the South. To the West it limits with
Argentina, from which it is separated by the
Uruguay RiverThe
Río Negro runs just South from it, marking the limit between this department and Durazno and Soriano. The main creeks of the department are:
Tres Árboles,
Grande,
Don Esteban (the three of them tributaries to the Río Negro), and
NegroThe department has two hill ranges, 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.
The department was created in
1868 from a part of the old territory of Paysandú.
Agriculture is the main source of industry in the western part of the department. The main products are
flax,
sunflower,
wheat,
maize,
grains,
grapes, and other crops. The eastern half of the department has many pastures which produce a part of its
GDP. Amongst its main industries are 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.
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):
| total population: | 75.97 years |
| male: | 72.52 years |
| female: | 79.56 years
*Average Family Size: 2.60 children/woman
*Urban per capita income (cities of 5,000 inhabitants or more): 3,521.1 pesos/monthMain Urban Centres(Towns or cities with 1,000 or more inhabitants listed - data from the 2004 census,
unless noted otherwise)* Cellulose plant conflict between Argentina and Uruguay
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