Maldonado
Maldonado
Maldonado is a department in the southeastern corner of Uruguay (2005 population 144,107), on the Atlantic Ocean. The major town is Maldonado (2004 population 54,603), 80 miles from Montevideo and famous for its several monuments dating to colonial times. The town has been overshadowed by the dramatic development of the neighboring sea resort Punta Del Este (population 7,200 in 2007), which the New York Times called "the Hamptons of South America" in 2007. Elites from across South America, and especially Buenos Aires, spend the winter months on the beaches of Playa Mansa and Playa Brava. In this coastal area of Maldonado, the major economic activity is tourism. Sheep graze in the rugged hills of the interior, and on the flatter terrain, vegetables, sugar beets, and wheat are grown. A cement factory as well as granite and marble quarries add extractive industries to the economic profile of Maldonado.
See alsoLivestock; Punta del Este.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Elzear Giuffra, La república del Uruguay (Montevideo, 1935).
Additional Bibliography
Delgado Clavijo, Daniel. Canarios en la región de Maldonado: Primera mitad del siglo XIX. Montevideo: Torre del Vigía Ediciones, 2005.
Martínez Rovira, Eduardo. A pie y a caballo: Apuntes del campo de Maldonado (R.O. del Uruguay). 2nd ed. Montevideo: A.M.D.G. Ediciones, 2002.
Nicoletti, Marisol C. Así es Maldonado. Punta del Este, Uruguay: Mar y Sol Ediciones, 2000.
CÉsar N. Caviedes