Tacuarembó

Sister cities

• Medellín

History

On 24 October 1831, a presidential decree by Fructuoso Rivera ordered the creation of a city in the region. The task was entrusted to the President's brother, Colonel Bernabé Rivera. Colonel Rivera left Montevideo on a three-month journey with a caravan of wagons and families, towards the shore of the Tacuaremboty River, which in the Guaraní language means "river of the reeds". The area was surveyed and divided into blocks for settlement. On January 21, 1832, Coronel Rivera founded the town under the name "San Fructuoso", after Saint Fructuosus of Tarragona (whose Saint's Day is January 21) and after his (Benjamin's) brother. By 1837, San Fructuoso was a growing town. It had more than 500 residents, a justice of the peace, a military commander, a parish priest, a mayor, and a Public Works Commission. On 16 June 1837, the Tacuarembó Department was created (along with Salto and Paysandú), and San Fructuoso was named the capital. Over time, the community continued to grow. According to the Act of Ley Nº 2.389, on 17 July 1895 it held the status of "Villa" (town). Its name changed to "Tacuarembó", and on 24 June 1912, its status was elevated to "Ciudad" (city) by the Act of Ley Nº 4.031. This event celebrates gaucho culture in Uruguay and attracts thousands of visitors from both Uruguay and neighboring countries.

Geography

The city is located on Km. 390 of Route 5, south-southwest of Rivera, the capital city of the Rivera Department. Routes 26 and 31 also meet Route 5 within the city limits. The stream Arroyo Tacuarembó Chico, a tributary of Río Tacuarembó, flows through the north part of the city. As of the census of 2011, it is the eighth most populated city of the country. Tacuarembó has a humid subtropical climate, described by the Köppen climate classification as Cfa. Summers are warm to hot and winters are cool, with frequent frosts and fog. The precipitation is evenly distributed throughout the year, with an average of 1,165 mm (45.87 in), and the annual average temperature is 18 °C (64.4 °F).

Most-observed species

• Rufous Hornero

  Furnarius rufus (Gmelin, 1788) · Aves
  147
• Rufous-collared Sparrow

  Zonotrichia capensis (P.L.S.Müller, 1776) · Aves
  129
• Great Kiskadee

  Pitangus sulphuratus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  128
• Buff-necked Ibis

  Theristicus caudatus (Boddaert, 1783) · Aves
  126
• Picazuro Pigeon

  Patagioenas picazuro (Temminck, 1813) · Aves
  111
• Turkey Vulture

  Cathartes aura (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  109
• Eared Dove

  Zenaida auriculata (Des Murs, 1847) · Aves
  96
• Southern Lapwing

  Vanellus chilensis (Molina, 1782) · Aves
  95