Salto Department

The Salto department () is a department of Uruguay. The capital is the city of Salto.
Its code is UY-SA.
Name.
The name of the department and of its capital city comes from the presence of small waterfalls () in the Uruguay river.
History.
The Salto department was made on 17 June 1837; then, the department included the present Artigas Department. Its final borders were defined on 1 October 1884, when the Artigas department was separated from Salto.
Geography.
The Salto department is in the northwestern part of the country. It has an area of , the second largest in the country after the Tacuarembó department. It is the fourth department with more people living in it, with a population of 124,878 inhabitants (2011 census) for a population density of .
There are two chains of low and rounded hills in the department. These chains of are known as "cuchillas" in the country. The two "cuchillas" in the department are the "cuchilla de los Arapeyes" to the north, and the "cuchilla del Daymán" that runs across the department from the southeast to the northeast. Between these two chains is the valley of the Arapey Grande river.
Rivers.
The main rivers in the department are:
Climate.
The Köppen climate classification type for the climate in the city of Salto is a "Humid subtropical climate" and of the subtype Cfa.
The average amount of precipitation for the year in Salto is . The month with the most precipitation on average is March with of precipitation. The month with the least precipitation on average is August with an average of .
The average temperature for the year in Salto is . The warmest month, on average, is January with an average temperature of . The coolest month on average is June, with an average temperature of .
Demographics.
The inhabitants of the Salto department (and of the city of Artigas) are known, in Spanish, as "Salteños" (women: "Salteñas".
Evolution of the population in Salto
According to the 2011 census, the Artigas department has a rural population of 7,849.