Tacuarembó

Tacuarembó
—  Capital city  —
Tacuarembó
Coordinates: 31°44′0″S 55°59′0″W
Country	Uruguay
Department	Tacuarembó Department
Founded	January 21, 1832
Founder	Bernabé Rivera
Government
• City Manager	Wilson Ezquerra Martinotti
Elevation	137 m (449 ft)
Population (2004)
• Total	51,224
• Rank	8th
• Demonym	tacuaremboense
Time zone	UTC -3
Postal code	45000
Area code(s)	+598 463

Tacuarembó is the capital city of the Tacuarembó Department in north-central Uruguay. It is located on Km. 390 of Route 5, 113 kilometres (70 mi) south-southwest of Rivera, the capital city of the Rivera Department. Routes 26 and 31 also meet Route 5 within the city limits. The stream Arroyo Tacuarembó Chico, a tributary of Río Tacuarembó, flows through the north part of the city.

History

On October 24, 1831, a presidential degree by Fructuoso Rivera ordered the creation of a city in the region. The task was entrusted to the President's brother, Colonel Bernabé Rivera.

Plaza 19 de Abril

Colonel Rivera left Montevideo on a three-month journey with a caravan of wagons and families, towards the shore of the Tacuaremboty River, which in the Guaraní language means "river of the reeds". The area was surveyed and divided into blocks for settlement. On January 21, 1832, Coronel Rivera founded the town under the name "San Fructuoso", after Saint Fructuosus of Tarragona (whose Saint's Day is January 21).

By 1837, San Fructuoso was a growing town. It had more than 500 residents, a justice of the peace, a military commander, a parish priest, a mayor, and a Public Works Commission. On June 16, the Tacuarembó Department was created (along with Salto and Paysandú), and San Fructuoso was named the capital.

Over time, the community continued to grow. On June 17, 1912, San Fructuoso was elevated to city status and changed its name to "Tacuarembó".

Population

In 2004, Tacuarembó had a population of 51,224.

Year	Population
1963	41,521
1975	37,692
1985	40,511
1996	45,891
2004	51,224

Source: Instituto Nacional de Estadística de Uruguay

Climate

Tacuarembó has a humid subtropical climate, described by the Köppen climate classification as Cfa. Summers are warm to hot and winters are cool, with frequent frosts and fog. The precipitation is evenly distributed throughout the year, with an average of 1,165 mm (45.87 in), and the annual average temperature is 18 °C (64.4 °F).

Tacuarembó
Climate chart (explanation)
J F M A M J J A S O N D     123   30 20     102   28 19     111   26 17     106   22 14     90   18 10     92   15 7     95   15 7     85   17 8     90   18 10     99   22 13     90   25 15     82   27 18 Average max. and min. temperatures in °C Precipitation totals in mm Source: Zoover (in Portuguese)
Imperial conversion J F M A M J J A S O N D     4.8   86 68     4   82 66     4.4   79 63     4.2   72 57     3.5   64 50     3.6   59 45     3.7   59 45     3.3   63 46     3.5   64 50     3.9   72 55     3.5   77 59     3.2   81 64 Average max. and min. temperatures in °F Precipitation totals in inches

Notable residents

Writers Circe Maia, Mario Benedetti, Tomás de Mattos,and Jorge Majfud are from Tacuarembó, as is José Núñez, 19th century Nicaraguan politician. Tango musician Carlos Gardel purportedly was born near Tacuarembó, in the village of Valle Edén.

See also

• Cerro Batoví

References

This article incorporates information from the equivalent article on the Spanish Wikipedia.

External links

• Municipal website
• DelTacua.com.uy Community
• Article on the Laguna de Lavaderas of the city's park, Official Portal of Uruguayan Government
• "Fundamentos Culturales de Tacuarembó" Washington Benavides, Ciudadano Ilustre de Tacuarembó.
• INE map of Tacuarembó