The earliest records of Croatian settlers in Uruguay date back to the 18th century, referring to
sailors who abandoned
Venetian and
Spanish ships and settled in the
Río de la Plata region. The oldest known testimony on this matter is the will of Šimun Matulić from 1790, in which he states that he was born on the island of
Brač, during the Republic of Venice, and bequeaths his property in
Montevideo to several individuals with Croatian surnames to care for his holdings. At the end of the 19th century, within the framework of Uruguay's open
immigration policy, there was a more significant influx of Croatians to Uruguay, primarily from the
Dalmatia region. Most settled in Montevideo, although small communities were established in places like
Conchillas and
Carmelo in the
Colonia Department, where they engaged in
maritime transportation. In 1928, the
Hogar Croata de Montevideo (English: Croatian Home of Montevideo) was founded, an association aimed at promoting Croatian culture, language, and traditions, as well as bringing together immigrants and their descendants. However, for much of the 20th century, the
Sociedad Yugoslava Bratstvo del Uruguay (English: Yugoslav Brotherhood Society of Uruguay) was composed mainly of ethnic Croats, along with
Montenegrins,
Serbs,
Bosnians, and
Slovenes, but ceased operations in the 1990s due to the
Yugoslav Wars. Politically, much of the Croatian community in Uruguay opposed the
Independent State of Croatia since the
treaties of Rome ceded the Dalmatia region—where most Croatian immigrants in Uruguay originated—to
Fascist Italy. Additionally, following the
Tito–Stalin split in the years after
World War II, members of the
Hogar Croata de Montevideo sided with
Josip Broz Tito, the Leader of Yugoslavia from 1945 to 1980, while those of the
Sociedad Yugoslava Bratstvo del Uruguay supported
Joseph Stalin. ==Notable people==