Municipalities of Uruguay


The Uruguayan departments are subdivided into municipalities and, as of 2025, there are 136 municipalities. This second level administrative division system was created by Law No. 18567 of 13 September 2009 and the first municipalities were created in March 2010. In the municipal elections of 2010 municipal authorities were elected for the first time and they assumed office months later.
Each municipality is governed by a local council, made up of 5 members. The chairperson of the local council is known as alcalde and the remaining members are the councilors.
The Montevideo, Canelones and Maldonado departments are completely covered by municipalities, while the other departments have areas not included in any municipality.

Description

Establishment of the system and creation of municipalities

The municipalities' system was created by Law No. 18567 of 13 September 2009. The current system is ruled by Law No. 19272 of 18 September 2014. This regulation provided that in settlements with more than 2,000 inhabitants a municipality was to be created including their surrounding territories, as long as it consisted in a social and cultural unit with their own common interests, that justified the creation of this kind of political entity. Settlements with less than 2,000 inhabitants were allowed to establish a municipality if the Departmental Board voted for it after the Intendant proposal, or by popular initiative of at least the 15% of voters in the settlement. Municipalities in departmental seats were only allowed to be created by Departmental Boards after the Intendant's proposal.

Election of authorities and government

The municipalities are governed by a local council made up by five members, whose chairperson is known as alcalde and the other four members are known as concejales. They are elected by direct vote each municipal elections, at the same time the departmental authorities are elected.

List of municipalities by department

Artigas">Artigas Department">Artigas

#MunicipalityPopulationAreaMajorFoundation
1Baltasar Brum km2Juan Marticorena 15 March 2010
2Bella Unión km2William Cresseri 15 March 2010
3Tomás Gomensoro km2Federico Arbiza 15 March 2010

Canelones">Canelones Department">Canelones

#MunicipalityPopulationAreaMajorFoundation
118 de Mayo km2Adriana Sánchez 20 March 2013
2Aguas Corrientes km2Marcelo Delgado 15 March 2010
3Atlántida km2Gustavo González 15 March 2010
4Barros Blancos km2Julián Rocha 15 March 2010
5Canelones km2Darío Pimienta 15 March 2010
6Ciudad de la Costa km2Sonia Misirian 15 March 2010
7Colonia Nicolich km2Líber Moreno 15 March 2010
8Empalme Olmos km2Jorge Álvarez 15 March 2010
9La Floresta km2Néstor Erramouspe 15 March 2010
10La Paz km2Bruno Fernández 15 March 2010
11Las Piedras km2Gustavo González 15 March 2010
12Los Cerrillos km2Néstor Roncio 15 March 2010
13Migues km2Nahuel Jorge 15 March 2010
14Montes km2Rodolfo Salvarrey 15 March 2010
15Pando km2Alcides Pérez 15 March 2010
16Parque del Plata km2Tania Vecchio 15 March 2010
17Paso Carrasco km2Verónica Veiga 15 March 2010
18Progreso km2Claudio Duarte 15 March 2010
19Salinas km2Óscar Montero 15 March 2010
20San Antonio km2Damaso Pani 15 March 2010
21San Bautista km2Roberto Siriani 15 March 2010
22San Jacinto km2Cristian Ferraro 15 March 2010
23San Ramón km2Gonzalo Melogno 15 March 2010
24Santa Lucía km2Leonardo Mollo 15 March 2010
25Santa Rosa km2Ramiro Azor 15 March 2010
26Sauce km2Juan Ottonello 15 March 2010
27Soca km2Roberto Rodríguez 15 March 2010
28Suárez km2Carlos Nalerio 15 March 2010
29Tala km2Leonardo Pérez 15 March 2010
30Toledo km2José Gini 15 March 2010