Paysandú Department

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

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

## Geography
The Paysandú department is in the western part of Uruguay, along the Uruguay river. It has an area of , the third largest department in the country, after the Tacuarembó and Salto departments. The population is 113,124 inhabitants (2011 census) for a population density of  inhabitants/km2.

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 Queguay* to the northwest, and *cuchilla de Haedo* to the southeast.

There is one protected area in the department: *Montes del Queguay* (); it is around the confluence of the Queguay Grande and Queguay Chico rivers.

### Limits
### Rivers
The main rivers in the department are:
* Uruguay, to the west and that forms the border with Argentina; and
* Queguay Grande, a tributary of the Uruguay river that flows through the department from East to West.

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

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

The average temperature for the year in Paysandú 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 Paysandú department (and of the city of Paysandú) are known, in Spanish, as *Sanduceros*.

**Evolution of the population in Paysandú**

Colors=
  id:lightgrey value:gray(0.9)
  id:darkgrey  value:gray(0.7)
  id:sfondo value:rgb(1,1,1)
  id:barra value:rgb(0.6,0.7,0.8)
ImageSize  = width:400 height:350
PlotArea   = left:50 bottom:50 top:30 right:30
DateFormat = x.y
Period     = from:0 till:120000
TimeAxis   = orientation:vertical
AlignBars  = justify
ScaleMajor = gridcolor:darkgrey increment:20000 start:0
ScaleMinor = gridcolor:lightgrey increment:10000 start:0
BackgroundColors = canvas:sfondo
BarData=
  bar:1975 text:1975
  bar:1985 text:1985
  bar:1996 text:1996
  bar:2004 text:2004
  bar:2011 text:2011
PlotData=
  color:barra width:30 align:left
  bar:1975 from:0 till: 98508
  bar:1985 from:0 till: 103763
  bar:1996 from:0 till: 111509
  bar:2004 from:0 till: 113224
  bar:2011 from:0 till: 113124

PlotData=
 bar:1975 at: 98508 fontsize:S text: 98,508 shift:(-12,8)
 bar:1985 at: 103763 fontsize:S text: 103,763 shift:(-15,5)
 bar:1996 at: 111509 fontsize:S text: 111,509 shift:(-15,5)
 bar:2004 at: 113224 fontsize:S text: 113,224 shift:(-15,8)
 bar:2011 at: 113124 fontsize:S text: 113124 shift:(-15,5)

:**Rural population**
According to the 2011 census, the Paysandú department has a rural population of 4,364.

:**Main towns**

## Gallery 

File:Basílica Nuestra Sra del Rosario y San Benito de Palermo.jpg|Basilica of Paysandú.
File:Río Queguay 02.JPG|Queguay Grande river.
File:MesetadeArtigas.jpg|Plateau of Artigas.
File:Montes Del Queguay.JPG|Montes del Queguay.

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

## References
## Other websites
* Intendencia Departamental de Paysandú website  
* Statoids - Departments of Uruguay
* Enciclopedia Geográfica del Uruguay: Paysandú