Artigas Department

The **Artigas department** () is a department of Uruguay. The capital is the city of Artigas.

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

## Name 
The department and its capital city are named after José Gervasio Artigas (1764–1850), leader of the *Orientales* (inhabitants of the *Banda Oriental*, the Eastern side of the Uruguay river) during the wars of independence of Uruguay.

## Geography
The Artigas department is the most northern department of Uruguay; it is in the northwestern part of the country. It has an area of , the fifth largest in the country. The population is 73,378 inhabitants (2011 census) for a population density of .

### Limits
* To the north and east: Brazil, separated by the *Cuareim* river.
* To the south: Salto department.
* To the west: Argentina, separated by the Uruguay river.

Artigas is the only Uruguayan department that borders two other countries: Brazil and Argentina.

### Rivers
The department is surrounded by three rivers:
# *Cuareim* river (), to the north; it makes the border with Brazil.
# *Uruguay* river to the west; it makes the border with Argentina.
# *Arapey Chico* river to the south; it separates the Artigas and Salto departments.

### Climate
The Köppen climate classification type for the climate at Artigas is a "Humid subtropical climate" and of the subtype **Cfa**.

The average amount of precipitation for the year in Artigas is . The month with the most precipitation on average is March with  of precipitation. The month with the least precipitation on average is August with an average of .

The average temperature for the year in Artigas is . The warmest month, on average, is January with an average temperature of . The coolest month on average is June, with an average temperature of .

## Demographics
The inhabitants of the Artigas department (and of the city of Artigas) are known, in Spanish, as *Artiguenses*.

**Evolution of the population in Artigas**

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  bar:1985 text:1985
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  bar:1975 from:0 till: 57947
  bar:1985 from:0 till: 69145
  bar:1996 from:0 till: 75059
  bar:2004 from:0 till: 78019
  bar:2011 from:0 till: 73318

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 bar:1996 at: 75059 fontsize:S text: 75,059 shift:(-15,5)
 bar:2004 at: 78019 fontsize:S text: 78,019 shift:(-15,8)
 bar:2011 at: 73318 fontsize:S text: 73,318 shift:(-15,5)

:**Rural population**
According to the 2011 census, the Artigas department has a rural population of 3,524.

:**Main towns**

## Gallery 

File:Jefatura de Policía 1.jpg|Police headquarters,  Artigas.
File:W 004.jpg|Carnival in Artigas.
File:Obelisco a la Gloria de los Héroes.jpg|Monument to the *Gloria de los Héroes*.
File:Piedra Pintada 3.jpg|*Piedra Pintada*, Artigas.
File:Balneario Municipal Artigas.JPG|Cuareim river

## Related pages
* Departments of Uruguay
* ISO 3166-2:UY

## References
## Other websites
* Intendencia Departamental de Artigas website  
* Statoids - Departments of Uruguay