City on the Río de la Plata.
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Montevideo is spacious community with broad boulevards, it is Uruguay's capital, largest city and its principal economic, administrative, and cultural center. Population (1996) 1,378,707
Most of Uruguay's meat- and wool-processing plants and other manufacturing establishments are located in the metropolitan area.
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The city also has a large fishing industry, and its port handles the bulk of the nation's foreign trade.
plazafuertehotel.com : Many tourists visit the city and nearby beach resorts. Ministry of tourism (turismo.gub.uy).
Montevideo was founded by the Spanish governor of Buenos Aires in 1726 to secure the
area against Portuguese infiltration from Brazil. It changed hands frequently during the
Spanish-Portuguese rivalry of the early 19th century, until, partly through British
intervention, it became the capital of independent Uruguay, established in 1828 as a
buffer state between Spanish Argentina and Portuguese Brazil. It was besieged for nine
years (1843-1851) during Uruguay's civil war but at the same time became one of the
principal ports of South America.
Large numbers of Europeans, especially Spaniards and Italians, migrated to the city in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Thereafter, Montevideo continued to grow as a result of internal migration from rural Uruguay to the capital region.
Landmarks include:
- the Cerro (hill) for which Montevideo (from the Portuguese “Monte vide eu,” “I see a hill”) is named;
- the mausoleum of José Gervasio Artigas, the Uruguayan national hero;
- the Cabildo, formerly the seat of the national legislature;
- an ornate cathedral (1790-1804).
In Montevideo are the University of the Republic (1849), the Institute of Higher Studies (1928), the National Historical Museum (1900), and the National Museum of Fine Arts (1911).
Academia : rau.edu.uy
Major cities near Montevideo to :
