The **Artigas department** (Spanish: *Departamento de Artigas*) is a department of Uruguay. The capital is the city of Artigas.

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

Name
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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
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Map of Artigas
The Artigas department is the most northern department of Uruguay; it is in the northwestern part of the country. It has an area of 11,928 km2 (4,605 sq mi), the fifth largest in the country. The population is 73,378 inhabitants (2011 census) for a population density of 6.2.

### 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.

| Places next to Artigas Department |
| --- |
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|  |  |  |
| --- | --- | --- |
|  | Brazil |  |
| Argentina | 
**Artigas**
 | Brazil |
|  | Salto department |  |

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### Rivers

The department is surrounded by three rivers:

1. *Cuareim* river (Portuguese: *Quaraí*), to the north; it makes the border with Brazil.
2. *Uruguay* river to the west; it makes the border with Argentina.
3. *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 1,381.8 mm (54.4 in). The month with the most precipitation on average is March with 142.2 mm (5.6 in) of precipitation. The month with the least precipitation on average is August with an average of 83.8 mm (3.3 in).

The average temperature for the year in Artigas is 19 °C (66 °F). The warmest month, on average, is January with an average temperature of 25.4 °C (77.7 °F). The coolest month on average is June, with an average temperature of 12.9 °C (55.2 °F).

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

**Evolution of the population in Artigas**

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

**Main towns**

| City / Town | Population(2011) |
| --- | --- |
| Artigas | 40,658 |
| Bella Unión | 12,200 |
| Las Piedras | 2,771 |
| Tomás Gomensoro | 2,659 |
| Baltasar Brum | 2,531 |
| Pintadito | 1,642 |
| Sequeira | 1,149 |

Gallery
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* Police headquarters,  Artigas.Police headquarters, Artigas.
* Carnival in Artigas.Carnival in Artigas.
* Monument to the Gloria de los Héroes.Monument to the *Gloria de los Héroes*.
* Piedra Pintada, Artigas.*Piedra Pintada*, Artigas.
* Cuareim riverCuareim river

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

Other websites
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to ***Artigas Department***.

* Intendencia Departamental de Artigas website Archived 2012-08-30 at the Wayback Machine (in Spanish)
* Statoids - Departments of Uruguay

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| Authority control: Geographic Edit this at Wikidata | 
* MusicBrainz area

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