This department has a varied geography with low hills and valleys. In turn, it is the ‘owner’ of seven islands with jungle vegetation on the border with Argentina.
Located 612 km from Montevideo, Artigas is the only Uruguayan department that borders both Brazil and Argentina. With an area of almost 12 thousand square meters it has a population of 79,000 inhabitants according to the last census. Artigas has spectacular scenery. To the west, the Río Uruguay flows down from the amazon and joins course with the Cuareim River, generating unmissable scenery. This department has a varied geography with low hills and valleys. In turn, it is the ‘owner’ of seven islands with jungle vegetation on the border with Argentina, which form part of the so-called missionary jungle. Artigas is also a land with a great cultural mix, rich in diverse musical rhythms such as samba, polka, waltz, maxixa, habanera, chotis and milonga. The department is rich in deposits of amethyst and agate, semiprecious stones that are shaped in workshops in the city of Artigas, and which constitute one of the export riches of the department. Uruguayan agates are considered, along with Indian ones, to be among the finest in the world. It is, therefore, impossible to resist the stone crafted pieces which are sold in the department. Amethysts and agates seduce visitors looking for opportunities for a good deal in the place of origin of these varieties of quartz. The department of Artigas can also be considered to be the most ‘Guarani’ of any department in Uruguay. Its rivers such as the Cuaró (Occupied Cave), Ñaquiñá (Cicada) or the Itacumbú (Exploding Stone) are just some of the examples. Its flora and fauna also reflect the influence of the Guarani language.