Fray Bentos

River port and capital of Rio Negro department, western Uruguay, situated on the east bank of the Uruguay River, 270 km/168 mi northwest of Montevideo; population (1996 est) 22,600. It is linked by a bridge (built in 1976) over the Uruguay with Puerto Unzué in Argentina. Meat packing and the manufacture of meat extracts were the main economic activities since Uruguay's first meat extract plant opened here in 1864. However, meat packing has declined in importance since health worries about beef developed in the 1980s. The large meat packing plant has recently become an industrial museum.