List of cities in Uruguay Facts for Kids

Uruguay is a country in South America, known for its beautiful landscapes and vibrant culture. Like many countries, Uruguay has different types of populated places, and some of them are officially called "cities." This list helps us understand which places have earned that special "city" status. Even some smaller towns can be quite big, but only those officially named "Ciudad" are on this list. The numbers you see for population are just for the city itself, not including any surrounding areas.

An enlargeable relief map of the Oriental Republic of Uruguay

An enlargeable basic map of Uruguay

What Makes a City?

In Uruguay, a place becomes a "city" (called "Ciudad" in Spanish) through an official decision. This is different from just growing big. Sometimes, a place might have many people but still not be a city. Other times, a smaller place might get city status because it's important for history or its region.

The year next to each city in the list below shows when it officially became a "city." If a place was already a city before Uruguay became independent, or if it was declared a "Villa" (which means "Town") a long time ago, that original date is sometimes shown in parentheses or with an asterisk (*).

Uruguay's Main Cities

Here is a list of the cities in Uruguay, ranked by how many people live there. You can see how their populations changed between the 2004 and 2011 censuses. Each city also belongs to a specific "Department," which is like a state or province in other countries.

Rank	City	Year	Population 2004 Census	Population 2011 Census	Change	Department
1	Montevideo	(1724)	1,269,648	1,319,108	&10000000000000003895567+3.90%	Montevideo
2	Salto	1863	99,072	104,028	&10000000000000005002422+5.00%	Salto
3	Ciudad de la Costa	1994	83,399	95,176*	&10000000000000014121272+14.12%	Canelones
4	Paysandú	1863	73,272	76,412	&10000000000000004285402+4.29%	Paysandú
5	Las Piedras	1925	69,222	71,258	&10000000000000002941261+2.94%	Canelones
6	Rivera	1912	64,426	64,465	&10000000000000000060534+0.06%	Rivera
7	Maldonado	(1755)	54,603	62,590	&10000000000000014627401+14.63%	Maldonado
8	Tacuarembó	1912	51,224	54,755	&10000000000000006893253+6.89%	Tacuarembó
9	Melo	1895	50,578	51,830	&10000000000000002475384+2.48%	Cerro Largo
10	Mercedes	1857	42,032	41,974	Template:Number table sorting/negative−0.14%	Soriano
11	Artigas	1915	41,687	40,658	Template:Number table sorting/negative−2.47%	Artigas
12	Minas	1888	37,925	38,446	&10000000000000001373764+1.37%	Lavalleja
13	San José de Mayo	1856	36,339	36,743	&10000000000000001111753+1.11%	San José
14	Durazno	1906	33,576	34,368	&10000000000000002358827+2.36%	Durazno
15	Florida	1894	32,128	33,639	&10000000000000004703062+4.70%	Florida Department
16	Barros Blancos	2006	13,553	31,650	&10000000000000133527632+133.53%	Canelones
17	Ciudad del Plata	2006	0000000000000000000♠	31,145	0000000000000000000♠NA	San José
18	San Carlos	1929	24,771	27,471	&10000000000000010899842+10.90%	Maldonado
19	Colonia del Sacramento	1809*	21,714	26,213	&10000000000000020719351+20.72%	Colonia
20	Pando	1920	24,004	25,947	&10000000000000008094484+8.09%	Canelones
21	Treinta y Tres	1915	25,711	25,477	Template:Number table sorting/negative−0.91%	Treinta y Tres
22	Rocha	1894	25,538	25,422	Template:Number table sorting/negative−0.45%	Rocha
23	Fray Bentos	1900	23,122	22,406	Template:Number table sorting/negative−3.10%	Río Negro Department
24	Trinidad	1903	20,982	21,429	&10000000000000002130397+2.13%	Flores
25	La Paz	1957	19,832	20,524	&10000000000000003489310+3.49%	Canelones
26	Canelones	1916	19,631	19,865	&10000000000000001191992+1.19%	Canelones
27	Carmelo	1920	16,866	18,041	&10000000000000006966678+6.97%	Colonia
28	Dolores	1923	15,753	17,174	&10000000000000009020504+9.02%	Soriano
29	Young	1963	15,759	16,756	&10000000000000006326543+6.33%	Río Negro Department
30	Santa Lucía	1925	16,425	16,742	&10000000000000001929984+1.93%	Canelones
31	Progreso	1981	15,775	16,244	&10000000000000002973058+2.97%	Canelones
32	Paso de Carrasco	1973	15,028	15,908	&10000000000000005855735+5.86%	Canelones
33	Río Branco	1953	13,456	14,604	&10000000000000008531510+8.53%	Cerro Largo
34	Paso de los Toros	1953	13,231	12,985	Template:Number table sorting/negative−1.86%	Tacuarembó
35	Juan Lacaze	1953	13,196	12,816	Template:Number table sorting/negative−2.88%	Colonia
36	Bella Unión	1963	13,187	12,200	Template:Number table sorting/negative−7.48%	Artigas
37	Nueva Helvecia	1952	10,002	10,630	&10000000000000006278744+6.28%	Colonia
38	Libertad	1963	9,196	10,166	&10000000000000010548064+10.55%	San José
39	Rosario	1920	9,311	10,085	&10000000000000008312748+8.31%	Colonia
40	Nueva Palmira	1953	9,230	9,857	&10000000000000006793066+6.79%	Colonia
41	Chuy	1981	10,401	9,675	Template:Number table sorting/negative−6.98%	Rocha
42	Punta del Este	1957	7,298	9,277	&10000000000000027117018+27.12%	Maldonado
43	Piriápolis	1960	7,899	8,830	&10000000000000011786302+11.79%	Maldonado
44	Salinas	1982	6,574	8,626	&10000000000000031213872+31.21%	Canelones
45	Parque del Plata	1969	5,900	7,896	&10000000000000033830508+33.83%	Canelones
46	Lascano	1952	6,994	7,645	&10000000000000009307978+9.31%	Rocha
47	Castillos	1952	7,649	7,541	Template:Number table sorting/negative−1.41%	Rocha
48	Tranqueras	1994	7,284	7,235	Template:Number table sorting/negative−0.67%	Rivera
49	Sarandí del Yí	1956	7,289	7,176	Template:Number table sorting/negative−1.55%	Durazno
50	San Ramón	1953	6,992	7,133	&10000000000000002016590+2.02%	Canelones
51	Tarariras	1969	6,070	6,632	&10000000000000009258649+9.26%	Colonia
52	Pan De Azúcar	1961	7,098	6,597	Template:Number table sorting/negative−7.06%	Maldonado
53	Sauce	1973	5,797	6,132	&10000000000000005778851+5.78%	Canelones
54	Sarandí Grande	1956	6,362	6,130	Template:Number table sorting/negative−3.65%	Florida Department
55	Atlántida	1967	4,580	5,562	&10000000000000021441048+21.44%	Canelones
56	José Pedro Varela	1967	5,332	5,118	Template:Number table sorting/negative−4.01%	Lavalleja
57	Tala	1960	4,939	5,089	&10000000000000003037052+3.04%	Canelones
58	Guichón	1964	5,025	5,039	&10000000000000000278606+0.28%	Paysandú
59	Cardona	1963	4,689	4,600	Template:Number table sorting/negative−1.90%	Soriano
60	San Jacinto	1976	3,909	4,510	&10000000000000015374776+15.37%	Canelones
61	Toledo	1995	4,028	4,397	&10000000000000009160873+9.16%	Canelones
62	Vergara	1994	3,985	3,810	Template:Number table sorting/negative−4.39%	Treinta y Tres
63	Santa Rosa	1972	3,660	3,727	&10000000000000001830601+1.83%	Canelones
64	Florencio Sánchez	1995	3,526	3,716	&10000000000000005388542+5.39%	Colonia
65	La Paloma	1982	3,202	3,495	&10000000000000009150530+9.15%	Rocha
66	San Gregorio de Polanco	1994	3,673	3,415	Template:Number table sorting/negative−7.02%	Tacuarembó
67	Ombúes de Lavalle	1984	3,451	3,390	Template:Number table sorting/negative−1.77%	Colonia
68	Colonia Valdense	1982	3,087	3,235	&10000000000000004794298+4.79%	Colonia
69	Cerrillos	1971	2,080	2,508	&10000000000000020576923+20.58%	Canelones
70	Aiguá	1956	2,676	2,465	Template:Number table sorting/negative−7.88%	Maldonado
71	Migues	1970	2,180	2,109	Template:Number table sorting/negative−3.26%	Canelones
72	San Bautista	1993	1,880	1,973	&10000000000000004946808+4.95%	Canelones

* Sometimes, the way populations are counted can be a bit tricky. For example, in the 2011 census, some areas near Ciudad de la Costa were counted with it. This made its population seem larger. However, this list uses the number that matches the official boundaries of the city.

Source: National Institute of Statistics of Uruguay

List of cities in Uruguay facts for kids

What Makes a City?

Uruguay's Main Cities

See also