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Warm temperate; freezing temperatures almost unknown
Mostly rolling plains and low hills; fertile coastal lowland
Seasonally high winds (the pampero is a chilly and occasional violent
wind that blows north from the Argentine pampas), droughts, floods;
because of the absence of mountains, which act as weather barriers,
all locations are particularly vulnerable to rapid changes from
weather fronts
Water pollution from meat packing/tannery industry; inadequate
solid/hazardous waste disposal
Second-smallest South American country (after Suriname); most of the
low-lying landscape (three-quarters of the country) is grassland,
ideal for cattle and sheep raising
White 88%
Mestizo 8%
Black 4%
Amerindian (practically nonexistent)
Roman Catholic 47.1%
Non-Catholic Christians 11.1%
Nondenominational 23.2%
Jewish 0.3%
Atheist or Agnostic 17.2%
Other 1.1% (2006)
Spanish, Portunol, or Brazilero (Portuguese-Spanish mix on the
Brazilian frontier)
(definition: age 15 and over can read and write)
Total Population: 98%
Constitutional Republic
Independence Day, 25 August (1825)
Montevideo, founded by the Spanish in 1726 as a military stronghold,
soon took advantage of its natural harbor to become an important
commercial center. Claimed by Argentina but annexed by Brazil in 1821,
Uruguay declared its independence four years later and secured its
freedom in 1828 after a three-year struggle. The administrations of
President Jose BATLLE in the early 20th century established widespread
political, social, and economic reforms that established a statist
tradition. A violent Marxist urban guerrilla movement named the
Tupamaros, launched in the late 1960s, led Uruguay's president to cede
control of the government to the military in 1973. By yearend, the
rebels had been crushed, but the military continued to expand its hold
over the government. Civilian rule was not restored until 1985. In
2004, the left-of-center Frente Amplio Coalition won national
elections that effectively ended 170 years of political control
previously held by the Colorado and Blanco parties. Uruguay's
political and labor conditions are among the freest on the continent.
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