For the food brand of the same name, see Liebig's Extract of Meat Company and Premier Foods.

Fray Bentos
—  Capital city  —
Fray Bentos
Coordinates: 33°08′0″S 58°18′0″W / 33.133333°S 58.3°W / -33.133333; -58.3Coordinates: 33°08′0″S 58°18′0″W / 33.133333°S 58.3°W / -33.133333; -58.3
Country	Uruguay
Department	Río Negro Department
Founded	1858
Population (2004)
- Total	23,122
- Demonym	fraybentino
Time zone	UTC -3
Postal code	65000
Area code(s)	+598 456

Fray Bentos is the capital of the Río Negro Department of western Uruguay and it is a port on the Uruguay River.It is located close to the border with Argentina and about 160 kilometres (99 mi) due north of Buenos Aires.

History

Historically, Fray Bentos' main industry has been meat processing. The Liebig Extract of Meat Company closed there in 1979 after 117 years in operation. A local history museum opened on the site in March 2005. The town was originally founded in 1859 as 'Independencia'. Its current name, meaning "Friar Benedict", is derived from a reclusive priest.

Fray Bentos was the location of the tragic accident of Austral Flight 2553, where 74 people were killed (69 passengers and 5 crew) on October 10, 1997.

Population

In 2004 it had a population of 23,122.

Source: Instituto Nacional de Estadística de Uruguay

Economy

Botnia S.A., a subsidiary of Finnish corporation Metsä-Botnia, has built a large cellulose factory in Fray Bentos to produce bleached eucalyptus pulp; production started in November 2007, first shipments in December 2007 from oversea port of Nueva Palmira. The investment in the project was about 1 billion USD and the factory directly or indirectly employs about 8,000 people. The project, however, is not without opponents. On 30 April 2005 about 40,000 Argentines from Entre Ríos, along with environmental groups from both countries, demonstrated in the bridge linking both countries; and since then, around ten to fifteen argentinians are blocking the international bridge to put pressure on the Uruguayan government to stop the factory claiming it will gravely pollute the Uruguay River. On 20 December 2005 a World Bank study concluded that the factory would not have a negative impact on the environment or tourism in either country. The paper mill started operating in November 2007 (see Pulp mill conflict between Argentina and Uruguay).

In 1899 a company called "Anglo" began making corned beef there, which was sold as "Fray Bentos Corned Beef" in the UK. Fifty years later the Fray Bentos company diversified into soups, meatballs and tinned fruit. During the 1990s the focus shifted to pies and puddings and Fray Bentos were taken over by the Campbell Soup Company, however, in 2006, 'Campbells UK' was acquired by Premier Foods. In 2008, Brazilian-owned Marfrig Group announced the reopening of the Liebig factory and the export of meat products, though at a lower capacity than the original factory.

Museums

Fray Bentos has a museum in its former meat processing factory. This was a factory of the Liebig Extract of Meat Company. It also has a museum for the artist Luis Alberto Solari who was born in the city.

In fiction

The title character of Borges' short story "Funes el memoriso" was from Fray Bentos.

See also

• Uruguay River
• Funes the Memorious
• List of diplomatic missions in Uruguay#Consulate in Fray Bentos

Río Negro Department of Uruguay Capital: Fray Bentos Towns and villages Algorta  • Barrio Anglo  • Fray Bentos  • Grecco  • Nuevo Berlín  • San Javier  • Young Sights Esteros de Farrapos National Park