Uruguay

**Uruguay** (officially named **Oriental Republic of Uruguay**) is a country in South America. The language spoken there is Spanish. Its capital and largest city is Montevideo. Uruguay is bordered by two large neighbors, Brazil and Argentina. The only country in South America that is smaller than Uruguay is Suriname. The land is mostly flat, and there are many farms in the countryside.

The area around Uruguay was fought over by the Portuguese and Spanish Empire<nowiki/>s in the 18th century. In the 1810s it was the center of the Banda Oriental, a Federal League of states in the Río de la Plata region. Argentina and Brazil took the majority in wars, leaving Uruguay as independent.

## History

Before Europeans came to the land, no more than 10 thousand native people lived here. Spanish explorer Juan Díaz de Solís first explored the land in 1516.

## Departments

Uruguay is divided into 19 different Departments.

|align=center|Department||Capital||Area||Population (2011 census)|
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|Artigas|Artigas|||||||
|Canelones|Canelones|||||||
|Cerro Largo|Melo|||||||
|Colonia|Colonia del Sacramento|||||||
|Durazno|Durazno|||||||
|Flores|Trinidad|||||||
|Florida|Florida|||||||
|Lavalleja|Minas|||||||
|Maldonado|Maldonado|||||||
|Montevideo|Montevideo|||||||
|Paysandú|Paysandú|||||||
|Río Negro|Fray Bentos|||||||
|Rivera|Rivera|||||||
|Rocha|Rocha|||||||
|Salto|Salto|||||||
|San José|San José de Mayo|||||||
|Soriano|Mercedes|||||||
|Tacuarembó|Tacuarembó|||||||
|Treinta y Tres|Treinta y Tres|||||||
- ¹<small>Doesn't include the artificial lakes on the Rio Negro (1,199 km²).</small>

## Geography

The highest point in the country is the Cerro Catedral whose peak reaches to .

Uruguay has 660 km of coastline.

There are nine National Parks in Uruguay. Five in the wetland areas of the east, three in the central hill country and one in the west along the Rio Uruguay.
- 2nd smallest country on continent
- South America
- Sandy beaches near Montevideo
- In the north, a series of low mountains run north into the highlands of Brazil
- 176,220 square kilometers
- Mostly hills
- A lot of water rich lands
- Near Brazil and Argentina

### Agriculture

According to FAOSTAT, Uruguay is one of world's largest producers of: soybeans (9th); greasy wool (12th); horse meat (14th); beeswax (14th); quinces (17th); natural honey (19th); cattle meat (20th). On December 20, 2013, Uruguay was the first country in the world to legalize the cultivation, sale, and use of cannabis.

## Demographics

<div style="font-size: 90%">
|style="background:#f99;" colspan="2"|Colour/Race (self-reported, 2008)|
| --- | --- |
|White|95.4%|
|Black/African|3.4%|
|Indigenous|1.1%|
|Asian/Amarillo|0.1%|
</div>
Uruguayans are mostly of European origin. 88%, or 88 of 100 people, are from European descent.

## Sports

Football is the most popular sport in Uruguay. The Uruguay national football team has won the FIFA World Cup on two occasions.

## Official Websites

- Uruguay Official Portal
- Uruguay Official Presidency Website

## Infobox (country)

- **conventional long name**: Oriental Republic of Uruguay
- **common name**: Uruguay
- **image flag**: Flag of Uruguay.svg
- **image coat**: Coat of arms of Uruguay.svg
- **image map**: URY orthographic.svg
- **map width**: 220px
- **national motto**:

- **national anthem**: _National Anthem of Uruguay, Himno Nacional de Uruguay_

- **capital**: Montevideo
- **latd**: 34
- **latm**: 53
- **latns**: S
- **longd**: 56
- **longm**: 10
- **longew**: W
- **largest city**: capital
- **demonym**: Uruguayan people, Uruguayan
- **government type**: Unitary state, Unitary Presidential system, presidential constitutional republic
- **leader title1**: President of Uruguay, President
- **leader name1**: Yamandú Orsi
- **leader title2**: Vice President of Uruguay, Vice President
- **leader name2**: Carolina Cosse
- **legislature**: General Assembly of Uruguay, General Assembly
- **upper house**: Senate of Uruguay, Chamber of Senators
- **lower house**: Chamber of Deputies of Uruguay, Chamber of Deputies
- **sovereignty type**: Independence
- **established event1**: Declaration
- **established date1**: 25 August 1825
- **established event2**: 1828 Treaty of Montevideo, Recognition
- **established date2**: 28 August 1828
- **established event3**: Constitution
- **established date3**: 18 July 1830
- **area rank**: 91st
- **area km2**: 176,215
- **area sq mi**: 68,037
- **percent water**: 1.5
- **population estimate**: 3,318,535
- **population estimate rank**: 133rd
- **population estimate year**: 2011
- **population census**: 3,286,314
- **population census year**: 2011
- **population density km2**: 18.65
- **population density sq mi**: 48.3
- **population density rank**: 196th
- **gdp ppp**: $56.338 billion
- **gdp ppp year**: 2013
- **gdp ppp per capita**: $16,607
- **gdp nominal**: $55.412 billion
- **gdp nominal year**: 2013
- **gdp nominal per capita**: $16,334
- **gini year**: 2010
- **gini**: 45.3
- **hdi year**: 2023
- **hdi change**: increase
- **hdi**: 0.863
- **hdi rank**: 51st
- **currency**: Uruguayan peso
- **currency code**: UYU
- **time zone**: America/Montevideo, UYT
- **utc offset**: −3
- **time zone dst**: Daylight saving time in Uruguay, UYST
- **utc offset dst**: −2
- **drives on**: right
- **calling code**: +598
- **cctld**: .uy