Uruguay

, the indigenous people of Uruguay Prehistory Human presence in the region now known as Uruguay dates back approximately 13,000 years, with evidence of hunter-gatherer communities. It is estimated that at the time of the first contact with Europeans in the 16th century, there were about 9,000 Charrúa and 6,000 Chaná and some Guaraní island settlements. There is an extensive archaeological collection of man-made tumuli known as "Cerritos de Indios" in the eastern part of the country, some of them dating back to 5,000 years ago. Very little is known about the people who built them as they left no written record, but evidence has been found in place of indigenous agriculture and of extinct indigenous woolly dogs. Colonial rule first established Colonia do Sacramento in 1680. The Portuguese were the first Europeans to enter the region of present-day Uruguay in 1512. The Spanish arrived in present-day Uruguay in 1515 but were the first to set foot in the area, claiming it for the crown. The indigenous peoples' fierce resistance to conquest, combined with the absence of valuable resources, limited European settlement in the region during the 16th and 17th centuries. Montevideo, the current capital of Uruguay, was founded by the Spanish in 1726 as a military stronghold. Its natural harbour soon developed into a commercial area competing with Río de la Plata's capital, Buenos Aires. Montevideo was occupied by British forces from February to September 1807. As a result, Artigas broke with Buenos Aires and besieged Montevideo, taking the city in early 1815. The nation's first constitution was adopted on 18 July 1830. In 1843, an Argentine army overran Uruguay on Oribe's behalf but failed to take the capital. The siege of Montevideo began in February 1843 and lasted nine years. , Uruguayan troops first defeated the Brazilian Empire. , a significant event that marked the end of the independence process. In 1845, Britain and France intervened against Rosas to restore commerce to normal levels in the region. Their efforts proved ineffective, and by 1849, tired of the war, both withdrew after signing a treaty favourable to Rosas. The first railway line was assembled in Uruguay in 1867, and a branch consisting of a horse-drawn train was opened. The present-day State Railways Administration of Uruguay maintains of extendable railway network. The constitutional government of General Lorenzo Batlle y Grau (1868–72) suppressed the Revolution of the Lances by the Blancos. This establishment of the policy of co-participation represented the search for a new formula of compromise based on the coexistence of the party in power and the opposition party. This division of power lasted until President Jose Batlle y Ordonez instituted his political reforms, which caused the last uprising by Blancos in 1904 that ended with the Battle of Masoller and the death of Blanco leader Aparicio Saravia. Between 1875 and 1890, the centre of power shifted toward the military. After the Guerra Grande, there was a sharp rise in the number of immigrants, primarily from Italy and Spain. By 1879, the total population of the country was over 438,500. 20th century , built in Montevideo from 1925 to 1928, was once the tallest building in Latin America. The Colorado leader José Batlle y Ordóñez was elected president in 1903. The following year, the Blancos led a rural revolt, and eight bloody months of fighting ensued before their leader, Aparicio Saravia, was killed in battle. Government forces emerged victorious, leading to the end of the co-participation politics that had begun in 1872. In 1938, general elections were held, and Terra's brother-in-law, General Alfredo Baldomir, was elected president. Under pressure from organized labour and the National Party, Baldomir advocated free elections, freedom of the press, and a new constitution. was the major event occurring in Uruguay during World War II. In 1945, Uruguay formally signed the Declaration by the United Nations and entered World War II, leading the country to declare war on Germany and Japan. Following the end of the war, it became a founding member of the United Nations. An armed group of Marxist–Leninist urban guerrillas, known as the Tupamaros, emerged in the 1960s, engaging in activities such as bank robbery, kidnapping, and assassination, in addition to attempting an overthrow of the government. Civic-military dictatorship President Jorge Pacheco declared a state of emergency in 1968, followed by a further suspension of civil liberties in 1972. In 1973, amid increasing economic and political turmoil, the armed forces, asked by President Juan María Bordaberry, disbanded Parliament and established a civilian-military regime. According to one source, around 180 Uruguayans are known to have been killed and disappeared, with thousands more illegally detained and tortured during the 12-year civil-military rule from 1973 to 1985. Most were killed in Argentina and other neighbouring countries, with 36 of them having been killed in Uruguay. According to Edy Kaufman (cited by David Altman), Uruguay at the time had the highest per capita number of political prisoners in the world. "Kaufman, who spoke at the U.S. Congressional Hearings of 1976 on behalf of Amnesty International, estimated that one in every five Uruguayans went into exile, one in fifty were detained, and one in five hundred went to prison (most of them tortured)." Social spending was reduced, and many state-owned companies were privatized. However, the economy did not improve and deteriorated after 1980; the gross domestic product (GDP) fell by 20%, and unemployment rose to 17%. The state intervened by trying to bail out failing companies and banks. Return to democracy (1984–present) and Luis Lacalle Pou in the inauguration of the former, March 2025 A new constitution, drafted by the military, was rejected in a November 1980 referendum. Both presidents continued the economic structural reforms initiated after the reinstatement of democracy. The 1999 national elections were held under a new electoral system established by a 1996 constitutional amendment. Colorado Party candidate Jorge Batlle, aided by the support of the National Party, defeated Broad Front candidate Tabaré Vázquez. The formal coalition ended in November 2002, when the Blancos withdrew their ministers from the cabinet, In 2004, Uruguayans elected Tabaré Vázquez as president while giving the Broad Front a majority in both houses of Parliament. Vázquez stuck to economic orthodoxy. As commodity prices soared and the economy recovered from the recession, he tripled foreign investment, cut poverty and unemployment, cut public debt from 79% of GDP to 60%, and kept inflation steady. In 2009, José Mujica, a former left-wing guerrilla leader (Tupamaros) who spent almost 15 years in prison during the country's military rule, emerged as the new president as the Broad Front won the election for a second time. Abortion was legalized in 2012, followed by same-sex marriage and cannabis in the following year, making Uruguay the first country in the modern era to legalize cannabis. In 2014, Tabaré Vázquez was elected to a non-consecutive second presidential term, which began on 1 March 2015. In 2020, after 15 years of left-wing rule, he was succeeded by Luis Alberto Lacalle Pou, a member of the conservative National Party, as the 42nd President of Uruguay. On 1 March 2025, Yamandu Orsi took office as Uruguay's new president, as the left-wing coalition of the Broad Front returned to power after a five-year interruption. == Geography ==

, territorial sea, exclusive economic zone and extended continental shelf With of continental land and of territorial waters, Uruguay is the second-smallest sovereign nation in South America (after Suriname) and the third smallest territory (French Guiana is the smallest). The landscape features mostly rolling plains and low hill ranges (cuchillas) with a fertile coastal lowland. The country had a 2019 Forest Landscape Integrity Index mean score of 3.61/10, ranking it 147th globally out of 172 countries. Climate Located entirely within the southern temperate zone, Uruguay has a climate that is relatively mild and fairly uniform nationwide. Although it never gets too cold, frosts occur every year during the winter months, and precipitation such as sleet and hail occur almost every winter, but snow is very rare; it does occur every couple of years at higher elevations, but almost always without accumulation. As would be expected with its abundance of water, high humidity and fog are common. The absence of mountains, which act as weather barriers, makes all locations vulnerable to high winds and rapid changes in weather as fronts or storms sweep across the country. The country experiences extratropical cyclones but no tropical cyclones, due to the fact that the South Atlantic Ocean is rarely warm enough for their development. Both summer and winter weather may vary from day to day with the passing of storm fronts, where a hot northerly wind may occasionally be followed by a cold wind (pampero) from the Argentine Pampas. Winter temperatures range from a daily average of in the south to in the north, while summer average daily temperatures range from in the southeast to in the northwest. The southeast is considerably cooler than the rest of the country, especially during spring, when the ocean with cold water after the winter cools down the temperature of the air and brings more humidity to that region. However, the south of the country receives less precipitation than the north. For example, Montevideo receives approximately of precipitation per year, while the city of Rivera in the northeast receives . and in Melo city (14 June 1967). == Government and politics ==

Government Uruguay is a representative democratic republic with a presidential system. The Executive branch is exercised by the president of the Republic who serves both as head of state and head of government, along with a Council of Ministers of 14 members. The Legislative branch is constituted by the General Assembly, a bicameral legislature made up of the Chamber of Representatives and the Chamber of Senators. The former consists of 99 members representing the 19 departments, elected for a five-year term based on proportional representation, while the latter comprises 31 members—30 elected for five-year terms by proportional representation—and the Vice President, who presides over the chamber and has the right to vote. The Court functions as the highest appellate body and the court of last resort, while also reviewing the constitutionality of laws. Below it are the Courts of Appeals—each composed of three members—and the Lawyer Judges and the Justices of the Peace, the latter two being single-member courts, with all appointed by the Supreme Court. Uruguay adopted its current constitution in 1967, with the most recent reform occurring in 1997. Drawing on Switzerland and its use of the initiative, the Uruguayan Constitution allows citizens to propose bills, call for referendums to repeal laws, and submit constitutional reform proposals, which are ultimately decided in a nationwide referendum. For most of Uruguay's history, the country was characterized by a two-party system between the Colorado and National parties, although the former held power for longer periods. At certain times, Uruguay has had periods of collegial executive governance. The earlier period, under the National Council of Administration (1919–1933), was a diarchic system in which the Council shared executive power with the President and Cabinet. The later period, under the National Council of Government (1952–1967), authority was largely concentrated in the Council itself, which acted as the sole executive body. In 2024, Uruguay was classified as a "full democracy" by The Economist’s Democracy Index, ranking 15th globally and first in Latin America. Latinobarómetro surveys consistently place the country among the highest in terms of public support for democracy and satisfaction with it. Moreover, according to the 2023 V-Dem Democracy Indices, Uruguay ranked 31st in the world for electoral democracy and 2nd globally—behind Switzerland—for citizen-initiated direct democracy. Administrative divisions . Uruguay is divided into 19 departments whose local administrations replicate the division of the executive and legislative powers. Uruguay has traditionally had strong political and cultural ties with its neighbouring countries and with Europe, and its international relations have been guided by the principles of non-intervention and multilateralism. The country is a founding member of international organizations such as the United Nations, the Organization of American States, the Southern Common Market, and the Latin American Integration Association. The headquarters of the latter two are located in its capital Montevideo, for which the role of the city has been compared to that of Brussels in Europe. (second from left) at the 65th Mercosur Summit, alongside European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, 2024 Uruguay has two uncontested boundary disputes with Brazil, over Isla Brasilera and the Invernada River region near Masoller. The two countries disagree on which tributary represents the legitimate source of the Quaraí/Cuareim River, which would define the border in the latter disputed section, according to the 1851 border treaty between the two countries. The country has friendly relations with the United States since its transition back to democracy. It also rejoined the Inter-American Treaty of Reciprocal Assistance (TIAR or "Rio Pact") in 2020. Military The Uruguayan Armed Forces are constitutionally subordinate to the president of the Republic, through the minister of defence. 6,000 for the Navy, and 3,000 for the Air Force. Since May 2009, homosexuals have been allowed to serve in the military after the defence minister signed a decree stating that military recruitment policy would no longer discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation. In the fiscal year 2010, the United States provided Uruguay with $1.7 million in military assistance, including $1 million in Foreign Military Financing and $480,000 in International Military Education and Training. == Economy ==

In 1991, the country experienced an increase in strikes to obtain wage compensation to offset inflation and to oppose the privatizations desired by the government of Luis Alberto Lacalle. A general strike was called in 1992, and the privatization policy was widely rejected by the referendum. In 1994 and 1995, Uruguay faced economic difficulties caused by the liberalization of foreign trade, which increased the trade deficit. The Montevideo Gas Company and the Pluna airline were turned over to the private sector, but the pace of privatization slowed down in 1996. Uruguay experienced a major economic and financial crisis between 1999 and 2002, principally a spillover effect from the economic problems of Argentina. The Frente Amplio government, while continuing payments on Uruguay's external debt, also undertook an emergency plan to attack the widespread problems of poverty and unemployment. The economy grew at an annual rate of 6.7% during the 2004–2008 period. Uruguay's export markets have been diversified to reduce dependency on Argentina and Brazil. Unemployment reached a record low of 5.4% in December 2010 before rising to 6.1% in January 2011. While unemployment is still at a low level, the IMF observed a rise in inflationary pressures, According to IMF estimates, Uruguay was probably to achieve growth in real GDP of between 8% and 8.5% in 2010, followed by 5% growth in 2011 and 4% in subsequent years. Gross public sector debt contracted in the second quarter of 2010, after five consecutive periods of sustained increase, reaching $21.885 billion US dollars, equivalent to 59.5% of the GDP. Uruguay was ranked 68th in the Global Innovation Index in 2025. The number of union members has quadrupled since 2003, rising from 110,000 to more than 400,000 in 2015 for a working population of 1.5 million. According to the International Trade Union Confederation, Uruguay has "ratified all eight core ILO labour Conventions". The growth, use, and sale of cannabis were legalized on 11 December 2013, by former president José "Pepe" Mujica, making Uruguay the first country in the world to fully legalize marijuana. The law was voted on at the Uruguayan Senate on the same date with 16 votes to approve it and 13 against. Agriculture In 2010, Uruguay's export-oriented agricultural sector contributed to 9.3% of the GDP and employed 13% of the workforce. According to FAOSTAT, Uruguay is one of the world's largest producers of soybeans (9th), wool (12th), horse meat (14th), beeswax (14th), and quinces (17th). Most farms (25,500 out of 39,120) are family-managed; beef and wool represent the main activities and main source of income for 65% of them, followed by vegetable farming at 12%, dairy farming at 11%, hogs at 2%, and poultry also at 2%. Uruguay is the Latin American country that receives the most tourists in relation to its population. In 2023, 3.8 million tourists entered Uruguay, of which the majority were Argentines and Brazilians, followed by Chileans, Paraguayans, Americans and Europeans of various nationalities. of Colonia del Sacramento was declared as the first Uruguayan UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1995.Cultural experiences in Uruguay include exploring the country's colonial heritage, as found in Colonia del Sacramento. Historical monuments include Torres García Museum and Estadio Centenario. One of the main natural attractions in Uruguay is Punta del Este, situated on a small peninsula off the southeast coast of Uruguay. Its beaches are divided into Mansa, or tame (river) side and Brava, or rugged (ocean) side. Punta del Este adjoins the city of Maldonado, while to its northeast along the coast are found the smaller resorts of La Barra and José Ignacio Another popular tourist attraction is Cabo Polonio, a seaside resort located in the municipality of Castillos, in the Rocha Department of Uruguay. This seaside resort is part of Cabo Polonio National Park. It lies a short distance from the resort town of Valizas and features three small islands off its coast, known as the Torres Islands: Isla Rasa, Isla Encantada, and El Islote. Transportation , located at the mouth of the Río de la Plata Basin serves as a hub for high sea and inland navigation in the region. in Montevideo is the main airport of the country. The Port of Montevideo is one of the major container terminal ports; it handles over 1.1 million containers annually. Its quay can handle vessels. Nine straddle cranes allow for 80 to 100 movements per hour. Air Carrasco International Airport was initially inaugurated in 1947, and in 2009, Puerta del Sur, the airport owner and operator, commissioned Rafael Viñoly Architects to expand and modernize the existing facilities with a spacious new passenger terminal with an investment of $165 million. The airport can handle up to 4.5 million users per year. The Punta del Este International Airport, located from Punta del Este in the Maldonado Department, is the second busiest air terminal in Uruguay, built by the Uruguayan architect Carlos Ott. It was inaugurated in 1997. In 1949, the government nationalized the railways, along with the electric trams and the Montevideo Waterworks Company. Most of the country's domestic freight and passenger service is by road rather than rail. The country has several international bus services connecting the capital and frontier localities to neighbouring countries. These include 17 destinations in Argentina, 12 destinations in Brazil, and the capital cities of Chile and Paraguay. Telecommunications The telecommunications industry is more developed than in most other Latin American countries, being the first country in the Americas to achieve complete digital telephone coverage in 1997. The system is government-owned, and there have been controversial proposals to partially privatize it since the 1990s. The mobile phone market is shared by the state-owned ANTEL and two private companies, Movistar and Claro. The ANTEL has the largest market share at 49% of Uruguay's mobile lines. ANTEL has launched a commercial 5G network in April 2019 with still continual development. While Movistar and Claro have only 30% and 21% of the market share, respectively. The Google Search engine accounted for 95% of total search engine market share in 2023–2024. Energy In 2010, the Ministry of Energy, Mining and Industry of Uruguay approved Decree 354 on the Promotion of Renewable Energies. In 2021, Uruguay had, in terms of installed renewable electricity, 1,538 MW in hydropower, 1,514 MW in wind power (35th largest in the world), 258 MW in solar power (66th largest in the world), and 423 MW in biomass. In 2023, 98% of Uruguay's electricity comes from renewable energy. The dramatic shift, taking less than ten years and without government funding, lowered electricity costs and slashed the country's carbon footprint. Most of the electricity comes from hydroelectric facilities and wind parks. Uruguay no longer imports electricity. In 2022, 49% of the country's total carbon dioxide emissions came from the burning of diesel fuel, followed by gasoline, with a 25% share. == Demographics ==

Uruguayans are of predominantly European origin, with 86.0% of the population claiming "white" as their dominant ancestry self-identified in the 2023 census, a decrease from 87.7% over the 2011 census. Most Uruguayans of European ancestry are descendants of 19th and 20th century immigrants from Spain and Italy, Overall, the ethnic composition is similar to neighbouring Argentine provinces as well as Southern Brazil. From 1963 to 1985, an estimated 320,000 Uruguayans emigrated. The most popular destinations for Uruguayan emigrants are Argentina, followed by the United States, Australia, Canada, Spain, Brazil, Italy, France and Portugal. Metropolitan Montevideo is the only large city, with around 1.9 million inhabitants, or more than half the country's total population. The rest of the urban population lives in about 30 towns. A 2017 IADB report on labour conditions for Latin American nations ranked Uruguay as the region's leader overall in all but one subindexes, including gender, age, income, formality, and labour participation. Largest cities Language Spanish is the de facto national language. Uruguayan Spanish, as a variant of Rioplatense, employs both and (with or ) and has a great influence of the Italian language and its different dialects since it incorporates lunfardo. In the border areas with Brazil in the northeast of the country, Uruguayan Portuguese is spoken, which consists of a mixture of Spanish with Brazilian Portuguese. It is a dialect without formally defined orthography and without any official recognition. English is the most widely known foreign language among the Uruguayan people. Russian Mennonites living in Uruguay may also speak Plautdietsch. As few indigenous people exist in the population, no indigenous languages are thought to remain in active use in the country. Historically, Guaraní and Chaná were spoken in rural areas, although their speakership has all but vanished. Another spoken dialect was the Patois, which is an Occitan dialect. The dialect was spoken mainly in the Colonia Department, where the first pilgrims settled, in the city called La Paz. There are still written tracts of the language in the Waldensians Library (Biblioteca Valdense) in the town of Colonia Valdense, Colonia Department. Patois speakers arrived to Uruguay from the Piedmont. Originally, they were Vaudois who become Waldensians, giving their name to the city Colonia Valdense, which translated from the Spanish to mean "Waldensian Colony". In 2001, Uruguayan Sign Language (LSU) was recognized as an official language of Uruguay under Law 17.378. Among the sizeable Armenian community in Montevideo, the dominant religion is Christianity, specifically Armenian Apostolic. Uruguay's secularization began with the relatively minor role of the church in the colonial era, compared with other parts of the Spanish Empire. The small numbers of Uruguay's indigenous peoples and their resistance to proselytism reduced the influence of the ecclesiastical authorities. In 1837, civil marriage was recognized, and in 1861, the state took over the running of public cemeteries. In 1907, divorce was legalized, and in 1909, all religious instruction was banned from state schools. Uruguay's capital has 12 synagogues and a community of 20,000 Jews as of 2011. With a peak of 50,000 during the mid-1960s, Uruguay has the world's highest rate of aliyah as a percentage of the Jewish population. Education , founded 1849|alt= Education in Uruguay is secular, free, and compulsory for 14 years, starting at the age of 4. Public education is managed by three main institutions: the Ministry of Education and Culture, which coordinates national policies; the National Administration of Public Education, responsible for early childhood through secondary education; and the University of the Republic, which oversees higher education as the nation's leading institution. In 2023, the government invested 4.9% of GDP in education. Uruguay is part of the One Laptop per Child project, and in 2009 it became the first country in the world to provide a laptop for every primary school student as part of the Plan Ceibal. Over the 2007–2009 period, 362,000 pupils and 18,000 teachers were involved in the scheme; around 70% of the laptops were given to children who did not have computers at home. The OLPC project represents less than 5% of the country's education budget. == Culture ==

Uruguayan culture is predominantly European. The 19th-century painter Juan Manuel Blanes, whose works depict historical events, was the first Uruguayan artist to gain widespread recognition. The Post-Impressionist painter Pedro Figari did pastel studies in Montevideo and the countryside. Most of the paintings were part of the abstract trend, not muralism. Uruguay has many art museums, most of which are in Montevideo, such as the Torres García Museum and the Gurvich Museum. The Torres García Museum was dedicated in honor of the Uruguayan artist Joaquín Torres-García. Music singers at the Carnival The folk and popular music of Uruguay shares its gaucho roots with Argentina and the tango. When tango singer Carlos Gardel was 29 years old, he changed his nationality to be Uruguayan, saying he was born in Tacuarembó. Nevertheless, a Carlos Gardel museum was established in 1999 in Valle Edén, near Tacuarembó. Rock and roll was first introduced into Uruguay with the arrival of the Beatles and other British bands in the early 1960s. A wave of bands appeared in Montevideo, including Los Shakers, Los Iracundos, Los Moonlights, and Los Malditos, of which all became major figures in the so-called Uruguayan Invasion of Argentina. Popular Uruguayan rock bands include La Vela Puerca, El Cuarteto de Nos, and Cursi. In 2004, the Uruguayan musician and actor Jorge Drexler won an Academy Award for composing the song "Al otro lado del río" from the movie The Motorcycle Diaries, which narrated the life of Che Guevara. Literature José Enrique Rodó (1871–1917), a modernist, is considered Uruguay's most significant literary figure. Freedom of speech and media are guaranteed by the constitution, with qualifications for inciting violence or "insulting the nation". Uruguayans have access to more than 100 private daily and weekly newspapers, more than 100 radio stations, and some 20 terrestrial television channels, and cable TV is widely available. Sports in Russia Association Football (Spanish: Fútbol, USA: Soccer) is the most popular sport in Uruguay. The first international match outside the British Isles was played between Uruguay and Argentina in Montevideo in July 1902. Football was introduced to Uruguay by English sailors and workers in the 19th century alongside rugby and cricket. Uruguay won gold at the 1924 Paris Olympic Games and again in 1928 in Amsterdam. Its national football team has won the FIFA World Cup on two occasions. Uruguay won the inaugural tournament on home soil in 1930 and again in 1950, famously defeating home favourites Brazil in the final match. Despite their early success, they missed three World Cups in four attempts from 1994 to 2006. Uruguay reached the semifinal for the first time in 40 years in the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Diego Forlán was presented with the Golden Ball award as the best player of the 2010 tournament. Uruguay exported 1,414 football players during the 2000s, almost as many players as Brazil and Argentina. In 2010, the Uruguayan government enacted measures intended to retain players in the country. In the rankings for June 2012, Uruguay was ranked the second best team in the world, according to the FIFA world rankings, their highest ever point in football history, falling short of the first spot to the Spain national football team. Another popular sport is basketball. Its national team qualified for the Basketball World Cup seven times, more often than other countries in South America, except Brazil and Argentina. Uruguay hosted the official Basketball World Cup for the 1967 FIBA World Championship and the official Americas Basketball Championship in 1988 and 1997, and is a host of the 2017 FIBA AmeriCup. == See also ==