URUGUAY

BasicFacts•  Area:68,037Sq.Mi.•  Popula7on:3,324,000•  Popula7onGrowth:0.3%•  Government:Cons7tu7onalRepublic•  CurrentPresident:TabaréVázquez•  Demonym:Uruguayan•  UrbanPopula7on:92%•  LifeExpectancy:77Years•  LiteracyRate:98%•  Religions:RomanCatholic•  OfficialLanguage:Spanish•  Currency:PesoUruguayo(UYU)•  GDPpercapita:$16,200•  GDPGrowth:3.8%

Land•  UruguaybordersBraziltothenorthandnortheast.

•  Argen7naandtheUruguayrivertothewest.•  TheRiodelaPlatatothesouth,andtheAtlan7coceantotheeastandsoutheast.

•  Hillsandplainscovermostoftheland.•  ThelargestriversysteminUruguayistheRíoNegro.AdamonthisrivercreatedtheEmbalsedelRíoNegro,thelargestlakeinthecountry.

PlantsandAnimals

•  TallprairiegrassescovermostofUruguay,andthecountryhasfewforests.

•  Na7veanimalsincludefoxes,deer,wildcats,andlargerodentscalledcapybaras.

•  SixspeciesofarmadillosliveinUruguay•  Caimans,whicharesimilartoalligators,liveintheUruguayRiver.

•  Uruguay’sbirdsincludevultures,parakeets&flamingos.

People

•  MostUruguayansaredescendedfromEuropeanimmigrantswhoarrivedinthecountryaeer1870,mainlyfromSpainandItalybutalsofromEnglandandFrance.

•  Lessthan10percentofthepopula7onisofmixedIndianandEuropeandescent.

•  Blacks,thedescendantsofAfricansslaves,makeuproughly5percentofthepopula7on.

People•  TheofficiallanguageisSpanish.–  IntheareasborderingBrazil,someofthepeoplespeakaslangcalledportuñol,amixtureofPortuguese(português)andSpanish(español).

•  Uruguayhasnoofficialstatereligion,butmostUruguayansareRomanCatholics.• Morethan50percentofthepopula7onlivesinMontevideo

ResourcesAgriculture•  ArableLand•  Hydropower•  MinorMaterials•  Fish

•  Soybeans•  Rice• Wheat•  Beef•  DairyProducts•  Fish•  Lumber•  Cellulose

Economy

GDPComparison

GDPComparisonofUruguay

Services70.3%

Industry21.6%

Agriculture8.2%

IndustryMajorExports•  FoodProcessing•  ElectricalMachinery•  Transporta7onEquipment•  PetroleumProducts•  Tex7les•  Chemicals•  Beverages

•  **Beef•  Soybeans•  Cellulose•  Rice•  Wheat•  Wood•  DairyProducts•  Wool

EarlyHistory•  UnlikemanypartsofSouthAmerica,Uruguaywassparsely

populatedun7ltheEuropeansarrive•  OnlyasmallgroupknownastheCharrúalivedintheUruguay

regionpriortothe1600s.•  1516:TheSpanisharrived–butdidnotsenle-Bandsofgauchos,

orSpanishcowboys,huntedthewildcanleintheregion–  TheSpanishcalledtheareatheBandaOrientaldelUruguay.Thenamemeans“eastbankoftheUruguayRiver..

•  1680:PortuguesesetupfirsttowntownintheBandaOriental.•  1726:TheSpanishfoundedthecityofMontevideoandanacked

thePortuguese•  1770s:TheSpanishhaddrivenoutthePortuguese.•  1810Spain’sAmericancoloniesbeganfigh7ngforindependence.

PeopleintheBandaOrientaldefeatedtheSpanish.However,BrazilsoontookovertheBandaOriental.

•  1828:AeeryearsofwartheBandaOrientalfinallywonindependence,callingthenewcountryUruguay.

ModernHistory

•  Early1900s:Uruguaybecameastabledemocracy•  1960s:aterroristgroupcalledtheTupamarosanemptedto

overthrowthegovernment.•  1973Themilitarytookcontrolofthegovernmentanddefeated

theTupamaros,butitalsoruledveryharshly. –  -Themilitarygovernmentjailed,tortured,orkilledmanypeoplewho

disagreedwithit.

•  1985:Ademocra7cgovernmentfinallyreplacedthemilitaryleaders.

•  1991:UruguayjoinedtheSouthernCommonMarket(MercadoComúndelSur,orMERCOSUR)anditseconomyandtradegrew.

•  1830s–1900s:CivilwarstartedinUruguaysoonaeerindependenceandcon7nuedforabout70years.

FunFacts•  InUruguay,cowsoutnumberpeoplefourtoone.

•  UruguayistheonlycountryinLa7nAmericawhichisen7relyoutsideofthetropics.

•  Uruguayhosted–andwon–thefirstFIFAWorldCup.

•  Uruguay’sna7onalanthem,whichlastsmorethanfiveminutes,istheworld’slongestinperformancedura7on.

•  In2009,Uruguaybecamethefirstcountryintheworldtoprovideeveryschoolchildwithafreelaptopandwifiaccess.