Harman Patil (Editor)

Rivera

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Country
  
Uruguay

Time zone
  
UTC -3

Dial plan
  
+598 462 (+5 digits)

Department
  
Rivera Department

Postal code
  
40000

Climate
  
Cfa

Rivera

Rivera is the capital of Rivera Department of Uruguay. The border with Brazil joins it with the Brazilian city of Santana do Livramento, which is only a street away from it. Together, they form an urban area of around 200,000 inhabitants. As of the census of 2011, it is the sixth most populated city of Uruguay.

Contents

Location

The city is located on the border with Brazil at the north end of Route 5.

History

On 21 March 1860 a pueblo (village) named Pereira was created by the Act of Ley Nº 614.

On 7 May 1862, it was substituted by the villa (town) named Ceballos and founded by the Act of Ley Nº 704, in honour of the Spanish viceroy Pedro de Cevallos. In July 1867 it took on the official name Rivera and was recognized as a villa. The Brazilian town Santana do Livramento already existed just across the border. On 1 October 1884, it became capital of the Department of Rivera by the Act of Ley Nº 1.757. Its status was elevated to ciudad (city) on 10 June 1912 by the Act of Ley Nº 4.006.

In 1943, the Plaza Internacional Rivera-Livramento (see photo) was built to celebrate the Fifth Conference of the Commission Mixta for Mixed Limits and as a hope for the future integration of the two towns, claimed to be the only international square in the world. From 1851 to this day, inhabitants of both communities are free to move in both sides. Customs and checkpoints are located outside the cities. Today, duty-free shops are one of the main economic resources of Rivera.

Population

In 2011, Rivera had a population of 64,465

Source: Instituto Nacional de Estadística de Uruguay

Places of worship

  • Church of the Immaculate Conception (Roman Catholic)
  • Parish Church of St. Dominic (Roman Catholic)
  • Parish Church of the Sacred Heart (Roman Catholic)
  • St. Peter Parish Church (Roman Catholic)

    • Consular representation

    Brazil keeps a Consulate in Rivera, located at 1159 Calle Ceballos.

    Notable local people

  • Aparicio Méndez, from Rivera, was President of Uruguay from 1976 to 1981. He was never elected democratically and was chosen by the military dictatorship.
  • Rodrigo Mora, a current football player for Club Atlético River Plate, was born in Rivera.

    • Transportation

    There are regular bus services to Montevideo. A rail service to Tacuarembó has been run intermittently. There is an airport which receives light aircraft and an irregular service by a Brazilian airline to Porto Alegre.

    Rivera is served by Pres. Gral. Óscar D. Gestido International Airport.

    Sports

    The Estadio Atilio Paiva Olivera holds 27,115 people and was used in the 1995 Copa América.

    Thee Skatepark of Rivera is on Presidente Viera Street

    References

    Rivera Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA