User:MichikoLaffitte/Atlántida

Atlántida, Uruguay is a resort in the Uruguayan department of Canelones, 45 km (30 mi) east of Montevideo. The year-round population was 4,580 as of 2004; however, the city's population receives a large boost in the summer months, in the form of tourists from other regions of Uruguay, as well as from neighboring Argentina and Brazil.

History
At the beginning of the 20th century, the coast of Canelones was a rather inhospitable and very sparsely inhabited stretch of land, where the strong winds from the southeast and southwest blew the then ubiquitous sand dunes up to 5 km (3 mi) inland.

On May 18, 1908 a group of medicine students formed the Arborícola Uruguaya S.A., with the purpose of foresting the region with maritime pines (Pinus pinaster) for later exploitation. The company would then become the Territorial Uruguaya S.A. after the involvement of Dr. Francisco Ghigliani and the engineer Juan P. Fabini in the project. However, once the trees were growing, it became evident to the Territorial Uruguaya that the zone had great potential for tourism.

The first house of what is now Atlántida was built in lands of the Territorial Uruguaya, in 1911. By 1912 there were half a dozen houses on what is now the seaside Tomás Berreta avenue; the Atlántida Hotel opened its doors in January 1913.