ARTIGAS

city, northwestern Uruguay. The city lies along the Cuareim River (Quara River in Brazil) across from Quara, Brazil, in the Santa Ana Hills (Santana Hills in Brazil). It was founded in 1852 as San Eugenio and was renamed in honour of Jos Gervasio Artigas, the national hero of independence. It is now a commercial and manufacturing centre for the surrounding agricultural and pastoral lands. Principal exports include cattle, jerked beef, wool, cereals, and fruit. The city has a television and a radio station. Artigas is linked by railroad and highway to Salto, and it has an airport. Artigas is situated in one of the least densely populated regions in the nation. Like most of Uruguay, the surrounding area is ranching country. Its rolling, somewhat rocky pastures are good but subject to damaging droughts. There is some agriculture, with sugarcane, oranges, grapes, and corn (maize) being the principal crops. Black slaves were imported into northwestern Uruguay in the 18th and 19th centuries. When slavery was abolished in the 19th century, most of the slaves were sold to Brazil, and the few remaining did not form a distinct ethnic community. By 1850, owing to intermarriage and warring with white settlers, the pure-blooded Indian population had also vanished. Pop. (1985) 35,119.