Estancia Ninnette

Uruguay

General Information
Uruguay, officially the Eastern Republic of Uruguay or the Republic East of the Uruguay (River) (Spanish: República Oriental del Uruguay), is a nation located in the southeastern part of South America.  It is bordered by Brazil to the northeast, the Uruguay River to the west, the estuary of the Río de la Plata (literally "River of the Silver", but commonly known in English as "River Plate") to the southwest, with Argentina on the other bank of both, and finally the South Atlantic Ocean to the southeast. About half of its people live in the capital and largest city, Montevideo, just 530 Km². The nation is the second smallest independent country in South America, larger only than Suriname (it is also larger than French Guiana, which is an overseas department of France). It is the most politically and economically stable and the second least corrupt country in Latin America (right after Chile).

History

MontevideoCapital of the country, A view of pedestrian street in the Ciudad Vieja, former spanish citadelThe only inhabitants of Uruguay before European colonization of the area were various tribes of hunter gatherer native Americans, the most well known being the Charrúa Indians, a small tribe driven south by the Guaraní Indians of Paraguay. The name “Uruguay” comes from Guaraní. It has many possible meanings since Guaraní is a highly agglutinative language. Two of them are “river of the urus” (uru is a kind of bird) and “river of colorful or ‘painted’ chinchillas”.

The Spanish arrived in the territory of present-day Uruguay in 1516, but the Indians' fierce resistance to conquest, combined with the absence of gold and silver, limited settlement in the region during the 16th and 17th centuries. In the 17th century, Uruguay became a zone of contention between the Spanish and the Portuguese empires.  The first permanent settlement on the territory of present-day Uruguay was founded by the Spanish in 1624 at Soriano on the Río Negro.  In 1669-71, the Portuguese built a fort at Colonia del Sacramento.

The capital Montevideo was founded by the Spanish in the early 18th century as a military stronghold; its natural harbor soon developed into a commercial center competing with Argentina's capital, Buenos Aires.

 

Politics

Uruguay's politics takes place in a framework of a presidential representative democratic republic, whereby the President of Uruguay is both head of state and head of government, and of a pluriform multi-party system.  The Executive power is exercised by the government.  The Legislative power is vested in both the government and the two chambers of the General Assembly of Uruguay.  The Judiciary power is independent of the Executive and the Legislature powers.

For most of Uruguay's history, the Colorado and National parties have alternated in power.  The elections of 2004, however, brought the Encuentro Progresista – Frente Amplio – Nueva Mayoría, a coalition of socialists, former Tupamaros, communists and social democrats among others to power with majorities in both houses of parliament and the election of President Tabaré Vázquez Rosas by an absolute majority.

Geography

Satellite image of Uruguay. (c)NASAAt 176.214 square kilometers of Continental Land and 142.199 square kilometers of jurisdictional waters and small river islands.  The landscape features mostly rolling plains and low hill ranges (cuchillas) with a fertile coastal lowland.  The major internal river is the Black River or Río Negro.  The highest point in the country is the Cerro Catedral at 513.66 meters (1,685 ft 3 in) in the “Carape” mountain range.

Climate
The climate in Uruguay is template: Warm summers and cold winters.  The predominantly gently undulating landscape is also somewhat vulnerable to rapid changes from weather fronts.  It receives the periodic influence of the polar air.  Without mountains in the zone that act of barrier, the air masses freely move by the territory, causing fast variations of the climate.  The coolest month is June, while the warmest is January.  The rainfall is equally distributed throughout the year, but tends to be a bit more frequent in the autumn months.  There can be frequent thunderstorms in the summer.

Economy
Uruguay has a middle income economy, mainly dominated by the services sector, an export-oriented agricultural sector and an industrial sector, Uruguay relies heavily on trade, particularly in agricultural products, leaving the country particularly vulnerable to slumps in commodity prices and global economic slowdowns.

Natural resources and agriculture

  1. Cattle were introduced in Uruguay by Hernando Arias de Saveedra in 1603.  Beef exports in 2006 amounted around a 37% of Uruguayan exports.
  2. Wool is a traditional product exported mainly to China, followed by the UK and India.
  3. Rice: Fine varieties are produced in the lowlands in the east of the country close to Merin Lake on the Uruguay-Brazil border.
  4. Mineral products, including gold, granite and quartz.
  5. Wood, cork and derivative products.

Services

 Punta del Este Air viewTourism in Uruguay: Several seaside resorts, including Punta del Este, regarded as a jet set destination in South America, is one but not the only attraction of Uruguay.  International cruises call at Montevideo from October to March every year.  Also, Uruguay hosts many year-round international conferences.

Montevideo is home to the headquarters (secretariat) of Mercosur, the Common Market of the South, whose full members are Uruguay, Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Venezuela, associate members Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru.

Software and consulting: Uruguay's well-educated workforce and lower-than-international wages have put Uruguay on the IT map.  Both local and international companies operate in the country, some of them with offices worldwide.

Banking & Finance: Despite the recent downturn the banking sector is recovering, many private banks in Uruguay having operated without disruption during the 2002 crisis.

Agriculture

A heartland of historic estancias: Estancia San Eugenio, Casupá, southern department of Florida.Agriculture played such an important part in Uruguayan history and national identity until the middle of the twentieth century that the entire country was then sometimes likened to a single huge estancia (agricultural estate) centered near Montevideo, where the wealth generated in the hinterland was spent, as its Casco or administrative head.  As another saying went, “Uruguay es la vaca y el Puerto” (“Uruguay is the cow and the port”).

Today, agriculture contributes roughly 10% to the country’s GDP and is still the main foreign exchange earner, putting Uruguay in line with other agricultural exporters like Brazil, Canada and New Zealand.  Uruguay’s agriculture has relatively low inputs of labor, technology and capital in comparison with other such countries, which results in comparatively lower yields per hectare but also opens the door for Uruguay to market its products as “natural” or “ecological”.

Demographics
Uruguay is heavily populated by people of European origin.  According to a study done in 1997, 94% of its population is of white European descent, Spaniards, followed closely by Italians, including numbers of British, Germans, French, Swiss, Russians, Portuguese, Poles, Hungarians, Greeks, Scandinavians, Irish, and Armenians.

Uruguay also characterizes for being the only country in the Americas where Amerindians are non existent. The remaining 6% are of either African or Asian descent.

Uruguay has a literacy rate of 96.79% (1996 est), it has a large urban middle class.

The birth rate is lower than neighboring countries Argentina (16.73 births/1000 population).

Religion
Church and state are officially separated. Most Uruguayans adhere to the Roman Catholic faith (62%), with smaller Protestant (4%) and Jewish (3%), as well as a large non-professing group (31%).

Uruguayan food

Asado made over the ParrillaUruguayan Food is traditionally based on its European roots; Mediterranean foods, especially from Italy, Spain, France and Germany.  Many foods from those countries such as pasta, sausages, and desserts are common in the nation's diet.  The Uruguayan barbecue, asado, is one of the most exquisite and famous in the world.  A sweet paste, Dulce de Leche is the national obsession; the national drink is the Grappamiel

A traditional thing is an infusion called mate. The dried leaves and twigs of the yerba mate plant (Ilex paraguariensis) are placed in a small cup. The drink is sipped through a metal or cane straw called bombilla. Hot water is poured into the gourd at near-boiling point so as to not burn the herb and spoil the flavour.