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Fray Bentos

File:Glorieta_kiosco_-_Pergola_Plaza_Pueblo_-_Fray_Bentos_-_Rio_Negro_-_Uruguay.JPG · Wikimedia Commons · See Wikimedia Commons

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Fray Bentos

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capital city of the Río Negro Department, southwestern Uruguay

OverviewAI-generated

Fray Bentos is a city and border town located in the Río Negro Department of Uruguay. It serves as the capital of the department and was established on April 16, 1859. The city has a population of 26,951 residents and 10,816 households. Its area measures 10.805984, and it sits at an elevation of 23 meters above sea level. The local demonym for its inhabitants is fraybentino.

The city is a member of the Organization of World Heritage Cities. It uses the postal code 65000 and operates in the America/Montevideo time zone. Fray Bentos is described in the Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary.

Synthesized by Vinony from 50 facts across 7 sources: Wikidata, Open Meteo, Openweathermap, OpenStreetMap, GeoNames, Vinony graph, Geo. Generated from structured data (not the Wikipedia text) and checked against those facts — may still contain errors.

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via Open-Meteo

Place details

Locality
Fray Bentos
Region
Río Negro
Country
Uruguay
Population
23,279
Timezone
America/Montevideo

via OpenStreetMap · GeoNames

Air quality

22US AQIGood
PM2.5
5.3 µg/m³
PM10
7.8 µg/m³
As of 2026-08-11 00:00 · Open-Meteo

Key facts

Country
Uruguay
Department
Río Negro Department
Total
10.8 km (4.2 sq mi)
Elevation
23 m (75 ft)
Density
2,430/km (6,310/sq mi)
Demonym
fraybentino
Time zone
UTC –3
Dial plan
+598 456 (+5 digits)
Climate
Cfa
Website
enfraybentos .com
Official name
Fray Bentos Industrial Landscape
Criteria
Cultural: (ii), (iv)
Inscription
2015 (39th Session )
Area
273.8 ha (677 acres)
Buffer zone
2,127.7 ha (5,258 acres)

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Instance of
border city
Demonym
fraybentino
Country
Uruguay
Population
24406
Area
10.805984
Elevation
23
Official website
www.enfraybentos.com
Image
Quiosco Glorieta.JPG
Households
10816
Show 9 more facts
Commons category
Fray Bentos
topic's main category
Category:Fray Bentos
category for people born here
Q22181373
category of associated people
Category:People from Fray Bentos
postal code
65000
inception
1859-04-16
P8168
Lužany
Sources (5)

via Wikidata · CC0

Travel guide

Understand

thumbnail|300px|The factory area The town of Fray Bentos has historically been a very important center of meat and meat extract production, as reflected in the world heritage listed plants that are here.

Get in

Buses arrive at the at the corner of Juan Manuel Blanes and 18 de Julio. There are about 12 daily buses from Montevideo, the ride taking 4-7 hours depending on the route. Less frequent buses are also available from other Uruguayan cities such as Colonia and Salto. The bus terminal has a tourist office, a convenience store, a cafe, and ATMs.

As this is the southernmost road bridge between Uruguay and Argentina, you'll likely pass near the city if you travel between these two countries overland. The city is less than 50 km from Gualeguaychú in Argentina.

Get around

Within the downtown area, it's easy to walk around. It's possible to walk to the Anglo Neighborhood as well, though it takes about a half-hour. Driving or biking is faster. To get to the Anglo Neighborhood, just head west on Brasil or the rambla (waterfront path).

Buy

Because this is a border town, some places will accept Argentinian pesos and even US dollars.

Go next

Gualeguaychú – across the bridge in Argentina Colonia – home to Uruguay's other World Heritage Site, a colonial city founded by the Portuguese

Travel guide from Wikivoyage (CC BY-SA 4.0)

~6 min read

Encyclopedic overview

Fray Bentos ( Spanish pronunciation: [fɾaj ˈβentos]) is the capital city of the Río Negro Department, in south-western Uruguay, at the Argentina-Uruguay border, near the Argentine city of Gualeguaychú. Its port on the Uruguay River is one of the nation's most important harbours. The city hosts the first campus of the Technological University, beside the historically relevant industrial complex Anglo, a World Heritage Site, however, the Port is mainly famous for giving the name to the world renowned Fray Bentos pies.

One of the biggest pulp mills in the world is situated close to Fray Bentos and the Libertador General San Martín Bridge; it was the center of the largest political dispute between Uruguay and Argentina during the 21st century.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Fray Bentos” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.

Gallery (2)

On the map