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The Uruguay Portal

Uruguay, officially theOriental Republic of Uruguay, is a country inSouth America. It shares borders withArgentina to its west and southwest andBrazil to its north and northeast, while bordering theRío de la Plata to the south and theAtlantic Ocean to the southeast. It is part of theSouthern Cone region ofSouth America. Uruguay covers an area of approximately 176,215 square kilometers (68,037 sq mi). It has a population of almost 3.5 million people, of whom nearly 2 million live inthe metropolitan area of its capital andlargest city,Montevideo.

The area that became Uruguay was first inhabited by groups ofhunter gatherers 13,000 years ago. The first European explorer to reach the region wasJuan Díaz de Solís in 1516, but the area was colonized later than its neighbors. At the time ofEuropean arrival, theCharrúa were the predominant tribe, alongside other groups such as theGuaraní and theChaná. However, none of these groups were socially or politically organized, which contributed to their decline. Amid territorial disputes, the Portuguese establishedColônia do Sacramento in 1680, and the Spanish foundedMontevideo as a military stronghold. Uruguay secured its independence between 1811 and 1828, following a four-way struggle involving Portugal, Spain, and later theUnited Provinces of the Río de la Plata and theEmpire of Brazil. In 1830, the country enacted itsconstitution and was formally established as an independent state.

During the early years following its independence, Uruguay remained subject to foreign influence and intervention, along with a series of internal conflicts and political turmoil. From the second half of the 19th century, the country saw significantwaves of European migration—mainly fromSpain,Italy, andFrance—which greatly influenced itsdemographics and laid the foundation for modern-dayUruguayan culture and society. National politics were dominated by two political parties: theColorado Party and theNational Party, which clashed in several civil wars during the 19th century and are collectively known as the 'Traditional Parties'. In the early 20th century, a series of pioneering economic, labor, and socialreforms that laid the foundations of an advancedwelfare state. Combined with a period of sustained political stability, these developments earned the country the reputation of being the “Switzerland of the Americas.” A series ofeconomic crises and the fight againstfar-lefturban guerrilla warfare in the late 1960s and early 1970s culminated in the1973coup d'état, which established acivic-military dictatorship until 1985. Uruguay is today ademocraticconstitutional republic, with a president who serves as bothhead of state andhead of government.

Uruguay is highly ranked in international measurements of democracy, government transparency, economic freedom, social progress,income equality,per capita income, innovation, and infrastructure. It is classified as ahigh-income economy and hasfully legalized cannabis—the first country in the world to do so—as well assame-sex marriage,abortion andeuthanasia. Uruguay is also a founding member of theUnited Nations, theOAS, andMercosur. (Full article...)

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