Bienvenido a Punta del Este Uruguay!!!

Punta del Este

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Punta del Este
—  City  —
Port of Punta del Este
Punta del Este Location in Uruguay
Coordinates: 34°58′0″S 54°57′0″WCoordinates: 34°58′0″S 54°57′0″W
Country	Uruguay
Department	Maldonado Department
Founded	1907
Government
• Mayor(Alcalde)	Martín Laventure (National Party (Uruguay))
Population (2004)
• Total	7,298
• Demonym	Puntaesteño
Time zone	UTC -3
postal code	20100
Area code(s)	+598 42

Punta del Este is a resort town on the Atlantic Coast in the Maldonado Department of southeastern Uruguay. It is located on the intersection of Route 10 with Route 39, directly southeast of the department capital Maldonado and about 140 kilometres (87 mi) east of Montevideo. Although the city has a year-round population of about 7,300,^[1] the summer tourist boom often boosts the population by an extra 150,000.^[2]

Contents 1 History 2 Climate 3 Demographics 3.1 Population 4 The Beach 5 Main Sites 5.1 Casapueblo 5.2 Punta del Este Lighthouse 5.3 Gorriti Island 6 Transportation 7 Twin towns – Sister cities 8 See also 9 References 10 External links

History

The first Europeans to set foot in what is now Punta del Este were the Spanish at the beginning of the 16th century. However, the colonization of the area actually began around Maldonado at the end of the 18th century due to Portuguese expansionism.^{[citation needed]} Punta del Este and its surroundings (Maldonado and Punta Ballena for example) at the end of the 19th century were kilometers of sand and dunes, but in 1896 Antonio Lussich bought 4,447 acres (1800 hectares) of uninhabited land and there he started a botanic garden and planted trees and plants from all over the world.^{[citation needed]} Later the trees started to spread on their own, and now the area is full mostly of Pines, Eucalyptus, Acacias and various species of bushes. Its status was elevated to "City" category 2 July 1957 by decree Ley No. 12.397.^[3]
Punta del Este hosted an American Summit in 1967 attended by U.S. President Lyndon Johnson.^[4] In September 1986, Punta del Este played host to the start of the Uruguay Round of international trade negotiations. These negotiations ultimately led to the creation of the World Trade Organization in 1994.