Nuevo Berlín

Nuevo Berlín
Town

Memorial with stone from the Berlin Wall
Nuevo Berlín
Coordinates: 32°58′45″S 58°3′10″W / 32.97917°S 58.05278°W / -32.97917; -58.05278Coordinates: 32°58′45″S 58°3′10″W / 32.97917°S 58.05278°W / -32.97917; -58.05278
Country  Uruguay
Department Río Negro Department
Population (2011)
  Total 2,450
Time zone UTC -3
Postal code 65002
Dial plan +598 4568 (+4 digits)

Nuevo Berlín (New Berlin) is a town in the Río Negro Department of western Uruguay.

Location

It is located on the east bank of Uruguay River 7 kilometres (4.3 mi) northwest of the junction of Route 24 with Route 20. South of the town flows the stream Arroyo de la Yeguada and to its west, in the Uruguay River, is the island Isla del Burro. Its distance from the capital of the department Fray Bentos is 42 kilometres (26 mi) via Route 42 and Route 2.

History

In the 19th century, some German settlements were created next to the river, mostly composed by farmers. The brothers Richard and Karl Wendelstandt migrated from Germany around 1850 and bought the farm "El Curupí" in the Department of Soriano. Some years later, they bought properties in Paysandú which they renamed as Nueva Melhem (New Melhem). This new farm, with some 27,000 hectares was surrounded by 32 “positions”, 31 of which were occupied by other German families.

Meanwhile, the Wendelstandt family in Germany decided to invest in their relatives' properties in Uruguay. With these investments, the surroundings of farm "Nueva Melhem" became the village Nuevo Berlín around 1865-1868, with the approval of the brothers Wendelstandt, who requested Mr. Fridolin Quincke to design it. The task was finished by the end of 1874.

On 16 March 1875, it was declared a "Pueblo" (village)[1] and on 19 December 1974 its status was elevated to "Villa" (town) by the Act of Ley Nº 14.326.[2]

Population

In 2011 Nuevo Berlín had a population of 2,450.[3]

Year Population
1908 1,454
1963 1,912
1975 2,659
1985 2,097
1996 2,366
2004 2,438
2011 2,450

Source: Instituto Nacional de Estadística de Uruguay[1]

Aviation accident

On 10 October 1997 Austral Líneas Aéreas Flight 2553, a Douglas DC-9-32, registration LV-WEG, en route from Posadas to Buenos Aires, crashed near Nuevo Berlín,[4] Uruguay, after entering a storm, resulting in the death of all 74 occupants, of whom 69 were passengers.

Notable people

References

  1. 1 2 "Statistics of urban localities (1908–2004)" (PDF). INE. 2012. Retrieved 5 September 2012.
  2. "Ley Nº 14.326". República Oriental del Uruguay, Poder Legislativo. 1974. Retrieved 5 September 2012.
  3. "Censos 2011 Cuadros Río Negro". INE. 2012. Retrieved 25 August 2012.
  4. "75 Die in Crash of Argentine Plane in Uruguay". The New York Times. 12 October 1997. Retrieved 20 February 2011.

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Monday, March 28, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.