Río Negro Department

The **Río Negro department** () is a department of Uruguay. The capital is the city of Fray Bentos.

Its ISO 3166-2 code  is **UY-RN**.

## History

The Río Negro department was created on 20 March 1880. Before that time, its territory was part of the Paysandú department.

## Geography

The Río Negro department is in the western part of Uruguay, along the Uruguay river. It has an area of . The population is 54,765 inhabitants (2011 census), one of the departments with fewest inhabitants, for a population density of  inhabitants/km<small>2</small>.

There are two chains of low hills in the department. These chains of low and rounded hills are named _cuchillas_ in the country. The two _cuchillas_ in the department are _cuchilla de Navarro_ to the south and forming the border with the Durazno department, and _cuchilla de Haedo_ that goes from the northeast to the southwest.

There are two protected areas in the department: _National Park Esteros de Farrapos e islas del río Uruguay_ () and the _Esteros y algarrobales del río Uruguay_.

### Limits

- To the north: Paysandú department.
- To the east: Tacuarembó department.
- To the southeast: Durazno department, separated by the Río Negro river.
- To the south: Soriano department, separated by the Río Negro river.
- To the west: Argentina, separated by the Uruguay river.

### Rivers

The main rivers in the department are:
- Uruguay, to the west and that forms the border with Argentina; and
- Río Negro that flows along the southern border of the department, forming the natural border with the departments of Durazno to the southeast and Soriano to the south.

## Demographics

The inhabitants of the Río Negro department (and of the city of Paysandú) are known, in Spanish, as _Rionegrenses_.

**Evolution of the population in Río Negro**

- **Rural population**
According to the 2011 census, the Río Negro department has a rural population of 5,212, that represents  of the total population of the department.

- **Main towns**

|City / Town||Population <small>(2011)</small>|
| --- | --- | --- |
|Fray Bentos|24,406||
|Young|16,756||
|Nuevo Berlín|2,450||
|San Javier|1,781||

## Related pages

- Departments of Uruguay
- ISO 3166-2:UY

## Other websites

- Intendencia de Río Negro website
- Statoids - Departments of Uruguay
- Enciclopedia Geográfica del Uruguay: Río Negro

## Infobox (settlement)

- **name**: Río Negro
- **type**: Departments of Uruguay, Department
- **image skyline**: San Javier - Hommage aux immigrants russes.jpg
- **image alt**: San Javier, Plaza de la Libertad - Homage to Russian inmigrants.
- **image caption**: San Javier, Plaza de la Libertad - Homage to Russians Immigrants, inmigrants.
- **image flag**: Flag of Rio Negro Department.svg
- **image shield**: Coat of arms of Rio Negro Department.png
- **shield size**: 70px
- **image map**: Rio Negro in Uruguay.svg
- **map caption**: Location of Río Negro, in red, in Uruguay
- **subdivision type**: Country
- **established title**: Creation
- **established date**: 20 March 1880
- **seat type**: Capital city, Capital
- **seat**: Fray Bentos
- **leader title**: Intendant
- **leader name**: Oscar Terzaghi
- **unit pref**: Metric
- **area total km2**: 9282
- **population total**: 54765
- **population as of**: 2011
- **population density km2**: auto
- **timezone1**: UYT
- **utc offset1**: -03
- **iso code**: ISO 3166-2:UY, UY-RN
- **website**: [http://www.rionegro.gub.uy/ Official website]