Uruguay

Statistics

Capital: Montevideo Largest City: Montevideo Official Language: Spanish Government: Democratic Republic President: Tabar Vazquez Declared Independence: August 25, 1825 Independence Recognized: August 28, 1828 Area: 68,039 sq mi Percent of Area is Water: 1.5% Population: (2006) 3,431,932 Population Density: 50/sq mi GDP: (2006 est.) $54.58 billion GDP Per Capita: $16,000 Currency: Uruguayan Peso Time Zone: UTC -3 Internet TLD: .uy Calling Code: +598 Major Universities:

Geography

Uruguay lies in the eastern border of the Atlantic Ocean surrounded by Brazil to the north, the Uruguay River to the west, and the Rio de la Plata to the southwest; Argentina is across the Rio de la Plata to the south. The third smallest nation in South America, Uruguay has a lush landscape of rolling plains, low hill ranges, and fertile lowland ideal for raising cattle and sheep. The only river within Uruguay's borders is the Uruguay River; the only water is its coastal borders. The climate is temperate with temperatures rarely reaching freezing. The land is susceptible to rapid weather changes and the pampero (a chilly and sometimes violent wind from the pampas plains of Argentina).

Culture

The culture of Uruguay is rich, reflecting the amalgam between people of European, African and Indigenous origins dating back to the 16th century. Juan Manuel Blanes, Uruguay's most famous 19th century artist, painted large canvases depicting the life of the gaucho. The realistic sculptures of Jose Belloni) can be seen in public parks and plazas in Montevideo. Uruguayans enjoy music such as tango, folk and waltz, as well as local forms such as murga, candombe and milonga. Uruguay's annual Carnival is a major event with many unique features distinguishing it from those of its neighbors. Rock, jazz, pop and other Euro-American styles also enjoy great popularity in Uruguay. For sports, soccer is immensely popular and is most noted for winning the soccer portion of the Olympics several times.

One of Uruguay's most famous works of literature is Ariel by Jose Enrique Rode. Written in 1900, the book deals with the need to maintain spiritual values while pursuing material and technical progress. Florencio Sanchez wrote plays about social problems that are still performed today. Modern Uruguayan writers include Juan Carlos Onetti (author of No Man's Land and The Shipyard), novelist Mario Benedetti and Jorge Majfud. As for food, Uruguayans are known to eat a lot of meat. The parrillada (beef platter), chivito (a substantial steak sandwich), and pasta are the national dishes. The latter is due to Uruguay's many Italian immigrants in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Other Uruguayan dishes include morcilla dulce, a type of blood sausage cooked with ground orange peel and walnuts, and milanesa, a breaded veal cutlet.

Religion

Uruguay is South America's most secular country. It has no official religion and church and state are separate. Religious freedom is guaranteed. Sixty-six percent of Uruguayans are Roman Catholics, a legacy of European colonization. Most Uruguayans baptize their children and marry in churches but less than half attend church on a regular basis. There is a small Jewish community in Montevideo (about 1% of the population) as well as several evangelical Protestant groups (about 2%). Macumba and Umbanda, religions of Afro-Brazilian origin, are the currently fastest-growing in the Uruguay.

History

Before the European conquerors, the only inhabitants of modern Uruguay were the speakers of Guaran, where the name Uruguay derives from (meaning "river of the painted birds"). Europeans arrived on the coast in the early 16th century and fought over by both Spain and Portugal; Spain was victorious. Montevideo, the capital of Uruguay, was founded in the early 18th century and was the rival of Buenos Aires. Montevideo was considered by the Spanish to be the military city versus the commerciality of Buenos Aires. By the early 19th century the people of Uruguay began to revolt against Brazil, its most recent owners, finally gaining independence in 1828, using the Treaty of Montevideo. Around this same time, the native Charra were decimated and its culture lost.

Modern Uruguay throughout the 20th century to be on par economically with much of Europe; it came to be known as "the Switzerland of the Americas" due to its advanced social system and stable democracy. President Jose Batlle y Ordez is considered the major reason for Uruguay's stability while he reigned in the early 20th century. Unfortunately, by the 1960s, the Uruguayan economy began to drop drastically as the Tupamaros, a radical leftist group, responded to the crisis with violence, which triggered government repression that ended with the suspension of individual rights by the president, Jorge Pacheco Areco, and his successor, Juan Mara Bordaberry. Finally, in 1973, the army seized power ushering in eleven years of military dictatorship in what was once one of the most stable democracies in the region. In 1984, democracy was finally restored with the election of Julio Mara Sanguinetti.

Economy

Much of Uruguay's economy stems from its agricultural exports, largely to Argentina and Brazil. Despite Argentina and Brazil's lowering quantity of trade, Uruguay's finances remained more stable than its struggling neighbors - the nation's reputation among traders and investments was dependable. Unfortunately, the dropping economy is felt among its workers as unemployment rose drastically in the late 1990s. The public began to be less supportive of free market policies of the government of the 1990s that led to popular rejection of proposals for privatization of the state petroleum company in 2003 and of the state water company in 2004. The newly elected Frente Amplio government, while pledging to continue payments on Uruguay's external debt, has also promised to undertake a crash jobs programs to attack the widespread problems of poverty and unemployment.

Study Abroad

• ISEP-Direct Uruguay
• The Scholar Ship
• Study Abroad in Uruguay