Lavalleja Department
| Lavalleja Department | |||
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| Coordinates (Minas): 34°22′S 55°14′W / 34.367°S 55.233°W | |||
| Country |
 Uruguay
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| Capital of Department | Minas | ||
| Government | |||
| • Intendant | Adriana Peña | ||
| • Ruling party | Partido Nacional | ||
| Area | |||
| • Total | 10,016 km2 (3,867 sq mi) | ||
| Population (2011 census) | |||
| • Total | 58,815 | ||
| • Density | 5.9/km2 (15/sq mi) | ||
| Demonym(s) | Serrano | ||
| Time zone | UYT (UTC-3) | ||
| ISO 3166 code | UY-LA | ||
| Website | lavalleja |
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Lavalleja is a department of Uruguay. Its capital is Minas. It is located in the southeast of the country, bordered to the north by the department of Treinta y Tres to the east with Rocha, to the south with Canelones and Maldonado, and to the west to Florida.
The department is named in honor of Brigadier Juan Antonio Lavalleja, who had distinguished military and political action in the country's independence.
The department was created on June 16, 1837, with part of Cerro Largo and Maldonado departments. It was first named as Minas. In March 1888, it was asked that the Chamber of Deputies raised the settlement hierarchy of the village of Minas to be a town and to change the department's name to Lavalleja. The first was approved. From then, and until December 26, 1927, when the name was changed to Lavalleja, widespread debates about the matter were held. There was political will to designate a department under the name of the head of the Liberation Crusade, but not at the expense of Minas, even considering creating a new department named Lavalleja, being rejected afterwards.
Most of the north border of the department is formed by the Olimar Chico River and Olimar Grande River. Most of the middle and north part of the department is crossed by many streams, flowing from northwest and south directions towards the northeast of the department, all being tributaries of Río Cebollati, which flows to the northeast and discharges into Lake Merín, a natural border with Brazil. These streams, from north to south, are: Arroyo Gutiérrez, Arroyo de los Molles, Arroyo de los Chanchos, Arroyo Polanco, Arroyo Barriga Negra, Arroyo Tapes Grande, Arroyo Marmarajá and finally Arroyo Aiguá, which forms most of the east border of the department. In the south of the department, flowing from east to west is Santa Lucía River with its tributaries, Arroyo del Soldato, Arroyo Campanero Grande and Arroyo Verdún. Another stream in the south is Arroyo Solís Grande, which forms part of the natural border with Canelones Department and flows south discharging into the Río de la Plata near Gregorio Aznárez.
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Wikipedia