The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. Columbia Encyclopedia World Factbook American Heritage Coll. It is one of the major ports of South America and the governmental, financial, and commercial center of Uruguay.
Tourism is also important.
Montevideo's origins lay in the colonial rivalry of the Spanish and Portuguese. Captured by the Spanish in 1724, the fort became the nucleus of the settlement founded in 1724 by the governor of Buenos Aires. Montevideo became the capital of Uruguay in 1828. It suffered during Uruguay's 19th-century civil wars and was besieged from 1843 to 1851. Today Montevideo is spacious, modern, and attractive, with broad, tree-lined boulevards, numerous beautiful parks, and fine buildings and residences.