Canelones is noteworthy for being, after Montevideo, the country’s most populous department and one of the most strategic from a geopolitical perspective. Located in the south of the country, it is the communication bridge between the capital and the countryside, in addition to receiving foreign visitors at Carrasco International Airport.
It has an area of over 4.500 m2 and a population in excess of 520,000 people. Its territory, slightly undulating and full of plains, has a number of rivers from the Santa Lucía River Basin, a rich source of drinking water for the entire south of the country, which then feed into the shores of Río de la Plata. There are also some large lakes, ponds or reservoirs and wells dug to store water during winter for summer irrigation. Canelones is also a key department when it comes to understanding the history of the country. According to the instructions given by General José Gervasio Artigas in 1816, Canelones would constitute one of the six jurisdictions into which the Oriental Province would be divided. Its capital, founded on June 10, 1782 with the name "Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe" (Our Lady of Guadalupe), would also host the first local government in 1813.

Source: Municipality of Canelones