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Uruguay The Littoral
Stretching west along the Río de la Plata from
Montevideo are
the agricultural and dairying departments of San José and
Colonia. To the north along the Río Uruguay lie the
departments
of Soriano, Río Negro, and Paysandú. Their western halves
form
part of the littoral, a region that is somewhat more
developed
than the interior. Here soils are alluvial and more
fertile,
favoring crop production and farms of more modest size
than in
the interior. Citrus cultivation for export has increased
in the
departments along the Río Uruguay. The department of
Colonia,
some of which was settled by the Swiss, was famous for the
production of milk, butter, cheese, and dulce de
leche (a
dessert made from concentrated milk and sugar). Most wheat
(in
which Uruguay was self-sufficient) also was produced in
this
region.
Construction with Argentina of the Salto Grande Dam
across
the Río Uruguay north of Salto was a major boost to the
development of the northern littoral in the 1970s. By
contrast,
the closure of the famous meat-packing plant at Fray
Bentos in
the department of Río Negro transformed it into a virtual
ghost
town. Farther south, the littoral economy had benefited
from
completion of the General Artigas Bridge across the Río
Uruguay
from Paysandú to the Argentine province of Entre Ríos.
However,
the advent of a convenient (if circuitous) land route from
Montevideo to Buenos Aires via the new bridge reduced
freight and
passenger traffic through the small port of Colonia on the
Río de
la Plata just opposite the Argentine capital. To
compensate, the
Uruguayan government encouraged the architectural
restoration of
Colonia, which was originally built by the Portuguese in
colonial
times. In 1990 Colonia had became one of Uruguay's most
historic
tourist attractions, and many of its houses had been
bought by
vacationers from Buenos Aires.
Data as of December 1990
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