The Uruguayan departments are subdivided into municipalities and, as of 2025, there are 136 municipalities. This second level administrative division system was created by Law No. 18567 of 13 September 2009 and the first municipalities were created (or converted from Local Boards in the previous system) in March 2010. In the municipal elections of 2010 municipal authorities were elected for the first time and they assumed office months later.
Each municipality is governed by a local council, made up of 5 members. The chairperson of the local council is known as alcalde (mayor) and the remaining members are the councilors.
The Montevideo, Canelones and Maldonado departments are completely covered by municipalities, while the other departments have areas not included in any municipality.
The municipalities' system was created by Law No. 18567 of 13 September 2009. The current system is ruled by Law No. 19272 of 18 September 2014. This regulation provided that in settlements with more than 2,000 inhabitants a municipality was to be created including their surrounding territories, as long as it consisted in a social and cultural unit with their own common interests, that justified the creation of this kind of political entity. Settlements with less than 2,000 inhabitants were allowed to establish a municipality if the Departmental Board voted for it after the Intendant proposal, or by popular initiative of at least the 15% of voters in the settlement. Municipalities in departmental seats were only allowed to be created by Departmental Boards after the Intendant's proposal.
The municipalities are governed by a local council made up by five members, whose chairperson is known as alcalde (mayor) and the other four members are known as concejales (councilors). They are elected by direct vote each municipal elections, at the same time the departmental authorities are elected.
There is an ongoing debate regarding this system, due to the high cost and low quality of public services, ambiguous mandates for citizen participation, and inefficient bureaucracy. Critics highlight, particularly in Montevideo, issues like slow responses to local infrastructure needs, excessive personnel, and a lack of effective horizontal coordination between different municipal jurisdictions.