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DEFINING, ORGANIZING AND REPRESENTING THE TERRITORY OF THE NATION. JOSÉ MARÍA REYES (1803-1864), TOPOGRAPHER AND GEOGRAPHER OF THE ORIENTAL STATE OF URUGUAY

Abstract

Military engineer José María Reyes played a central role in the topographical and geographical knowledge of the territory of the Oriental State of Uruguay; he contributed to the process of internal departmentalization and participated as a commissioner in the delimitation of political borders, especially those with Brazil. He also prepared geographical maps, and dedicated himself to documentary compilation and writing descriptions of the territory. This task was not individual, but part of a path in which the Oriental State began an upward process of information collection through the creation of public entities dedicated to the maintenance of internal order, topographical surveys or health care, which sought to know characteristics and quantity of inhabitants, inventory public and private real estate, delimit the territories, and establish the main characteristics of productive development. Regional war conflicts and internal political life limited several of these tasks. Reyes was no stranger to the context; on the contrary, he was actively involved in political life, and several of his views were reflected in his geographical conception.

On this basis, the article explores Reyes’ performance and the way in which his topographic and cartographic work contributed to forming a representation of the national territory, linked to a conception of the past that was subsequently reproduced by those who continued his work, establishing a geographical imaginary that lasts until the present.

Keywords:
Uruguay; geography; topography; limits; geographical imaginary

Universidade Federal de São Paulo - UNIFESP Estrada do Caminho Velho, 333 - Jardim Nova Cidade , CEP. 07252-312 - Guarulhos - SP - Brazil
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