Uruguay
 

Overview
Country, southeastern South America.

Area: 68,037 sq mi (176,215 sq km). Population (2005 est.): 3,256,000. Capital: Montevideo. People of European ancestry (mostly Spanish and Italian) make up about nine-tenths of the population; most of the remainder are mestizos or people of African-European descent. Few Indians remain. Language: Spanish (official). Religions: Christianity (predominantly Roman Catholic; also other Christians, Protestant), Judaism. Currency: Uruguayan peso. Uruguay is the only South American country lying entirely outside the tropics. Its topography consists mainly of low plateaus and low hilly regions. The principal waterway is the Negro River; the Uruguay River forms the country’s entire western border with Argentina. Mineral and energy resources are limited. Pastures, covering almost four-fifths of the land area, support large herds of livestock raised for meat, leather goods, and wool. Chief crops include rice, sugarcane, oranges, wheat, and corn. Other important economic activities are tourism, fishing, and the manufacture of textiles and chemicals. Uruguay is a republic with two legislative houses; its head of state and government is the president. Prior to European settlement, it was inhabited mainly by the Charrúa and Guaraní Indians. The Spanish navigator Juan Díaz de Solís sailed into the Río de la Plata estuary in 1516. The Portuguese established Colonia in 1680. Subsequently the Spanish established Montevideo in 1726, driving the Portuguese from their settlement; 50 years later Uruguay became part of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata. It gained independence from Spain in 1811. The Portuguese regained it in 1821, incorporating it into Brazil as a province. A revolt against Brazil in 1825 led to its being recognized as an independent country in 1828. It sided with Brazil and Argentina against Paraguay in the War of the Triple Alliance (1864/65–70). The economy benefited from a demand for raw material during World War II (1939–45) and the Korean War (1950–53). The office of the president was abolished in 1951 and replaced with a nine-member council. The country adopted a new constitution and restored the presidential system in 1966. A military coup occurred in 1973, but the country returned to civilian rule in 1985. The 1990s brought a general upturn in the economy, largely the result of reform measures and membership in Mercosur, the Southern Common Market (1991).

Profile
Official name República Oriental del Uruguay (Oriental Republic of Uruguay)
Form of government republic with two legislative houses (Senate [31]1; Chamber of Representatives [99])
Head of state and government President
Capital Montevideo
Official language Spanish
Official religion none
Monetary unit peso uruguayo (UYU)
Population estimate (2008) 3,350,000
Total area (sq mi) 68,679
Total area (sq km) 177,879
1Includes the vice president, who serves as ex officio presiding officer.

Main

country located on the southeastern coast of South America. The second smallest nation on the continent, Uruguay has long been overshadowed politically and economically by the adjacent republics of Brazil and Argentina, with both of which it shares many cultural and historical similarities. “On the map, surrounded by its large neighbors, Uruguay seems tiny,” writes contemporary Uruguayan historian and novelist Eduardo Galeano. “But not really. We have five times more land than Holland and five times fewer inhabitants. We have more cultivable land than Japan, and a population forty times smaller.”

This combination of open space and low population density has afforded Uruguay many opportunities for economic development. An independent country since 1828, with strong ties to the United Kingdom, France, and Italy, Uruguay developed throughout much of the 20th century as one of Latin America’s more progressive societies, notable for its political stability, advanced social legislation, and a relatively large middle class. A period of repressive military rule (1973–85) has cast a long shadow over national life, and, like other countries in the region, Uruguay has been troubled by economic decline and factional struggles in the decades since civilian democratic rule was restored. Such adversities have caused many Uruguayans to emigrate to Europe and North America; as Galeano has remarked, “We export our young.”

Almost half the people are concentrated in the metropolitan area of Montevideo, the capital; the second and third largest cities, Salto and Paysandú, are small by comparison. Facing a deep bay at the mouth of the Río de la Plata, Montevideo blends historic areas with tall office towers and well-appointed shopping centres. The old city, with its many museums, open-air markets, and restaurants, remains the heart of Montevideo and sees thousands of international visitors each year. Popular as tourist destinations, too, are beach resorts such as Piriápolis and Punta del Este, as well as the colonial masterpiece Colonia del Sacramento.

Land
The wedge-shaped country is bounded by Brazil to the north and east, by the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and by the Río de la Plata to the south, while the Uruguay River serves as its western boundary with Argentina.

Relief and soils
The Uruguayan landscape is largely characterized by gently rolling land, with an average elevation of about 383 feet (117 metres). Tidal lakes and sand dunes fringe the coastline. Elsewhere there are broad valleys, plains (pampas), low plateaus and hills, and ridges—notably Haedo Ridge (Cuchilla de Haedo) in the north and Grande Ridge (Cuchilla Grande) in the southeast—that are a southward extension of the Brazilian Highlands. Mount Catedral, which rises to 1,685 feet (514 metres) near the southeastern coast, is the highest point in the country. The valleys and coastal plains are covered with deposits of sand, clay, and fertile alluvium.

Drainage
Although it is a well-watered land, no large rivers flow entirely within Uruguay. The Uruguay River and the estuary of the Río de la Plata, along the western border of the nation, are navigable for oceangoing ships until Paysandú and for smaller vessels above that point to the falls at Salto. The smaller Negro River, which traverses the country from northeast to southwest, is navigable only in its lower part, below Rincón del Bonete Lake (the Río Negro Reservoir). Among other small rivers are the Santa Lucía, Cebollatí, and Queguay Grande. Merín (Mirim) Lagoon, which lies mainly within Brazil, is the largest natural lake.

Climate
Uruguay has a generally pleasant, temperate climate. The average temperature for the midwinter month of July varies from 54 °F (12 °C) at Salto in the northern interior to 50 °F (10 °C) at Montevideo in the south. The midsummer month of January varies from a warm average of 79 °F (26 °C) at Salto to 72 °F (22 °C) at Montevideo. Frost is almost unknown along the coast. Both summer and winter weather may vary from day to day with the passing of storm fronts; a hot northerly wind may occasionally be followed by a cold wind (pampero) from the Argentine Pampas.

Uruguay has neither a decidedly dry nor a rainy season. The heaviest precipitation occurs during the autumn months (March and April), although more frequent rains occur in winter. The mean annual precipitation is generally greater than 40 inches (1,000 mm), decreasing with distance from the seacoast, and is relatively evenly distributed throughout the year. Thunderstorms occur frequently during the summer.

Plant and animal life
Tall-grass prairies once covered most of Uruguay’s land surface but now compete with enclosed, planted pastures. Only a small percentage of the land is forested, most of the trees growing in narrow stretches along watercourses. The principal species are ombu—a scrubby, treelike plant—and alder. Others include willow, eucalyptus, pine, poplar, acacia, and aloe. The algaroba (carob tree) and quebracho (whose wood and bark are utilized in tanning and dyeing) are prevalent, and indigenous palms grow in the valleys and along the southeastern coast. Common smaller plants include mimosa, myrtle, rosemary, and scarlet-flowered ceibo.

Animals native to Uruguay have largely disappeared, although pumas and jaguars are still occasionally found in remote areas. Other native mammals include foxes, deer, wildcats, armadillos (mulitas), and several types of rodents, including huge capybaras. Scorpions are rare, but venomous spiders are common. Birdlife includes tiny burrowing owls, crows, lapwings, partridges, quails, hummingbirds, and cardinals. Parakeets are plentiful in the hills, and the lagoons swarm with waterfowl, including white herons, cranes, and flamingos. Rheas are now mainly limited to semidomesticated settings. Lizards, tortoises, and venomous snakes are found in many areas. Caimans inhabit the upper waters of the Uruguay River, and seals are found on small islands off the southeastern coast, particularly on Lobos Island. A network of national parks and a wildlife reserve are dedicated to the preservation of animal and bird populations.

Preston E. James
Marvin H. Alisky
Martin Weinstein

People
Ethnic groups and languages
Uruguayans are of predominantly European origin, mostly descendants of 19th- and 20th-century immigrants from Spain and Italy and, to a much lesser degree, from France and Britain. Earlier settlers had migrated from Argentina and Paraguay. Few direct descendants of Uruguay’s indigenous peoples remain, and mestizos (of mixed European and Indian ancestry) account for less than one-tenth of the population. Blacks and mulattos make up an even smaller proportion of the total.

Spanish is spoken throughout Uruguay, although in Rivera and other borderland towns close to Brazil an admixture of Portuguese and Spanish can be heard, often in a slang called portuñol, from the words português and español.

Religion
More than three-fourths of the people are at least nominally Roman Catholic, but as many as two-fifths of Catholics are estimated to be nonreligious. Less than one-tenth of the population adheres to Mormon and other Protestant churches. Jews, mostly in Montevideo, make up a small minority, which is nevertheless one of the larger Jewish communities in South America.

Settlement patterns
When Uruguay became independent in 1828, its national territory was used almost exclusively for grazing herds of cattle on unfenced ranges; there were few permanent settlements outside of Montevideo, Colonia del Sacramento, and villages along the Uruguay River. The grazing lands along the eastern shore of the river constituted a kind of no-man’s-land between the Portuguese Brazilians and the Spanish Argentines.

After independence, Uruguay received a small influx of immigrants, chiefly from Italy and Spain. They entered through Montevideo and settled southern Uruguay in a zone along the Río de la Plata and Uruguay River. But from the early 1850s the European immigrants to the Plata region went largely to Argentina, and agriculture in Uruguay remained static. Livestock grazing thrived in the sparsely populated north, but crop farming was mostly limited to the south. By the early 20th century, rail lines and roads had extended throughout much of the country, and the area devoted to farming had grown markedly, notably with the introduction of sheep herds and pastures enclosed with barbed wire. Sheep far outnumber cattle in the northwest, but cattle are of major importance south of the Negro River. Ranches (estancias), some larger than 25,000 acres (10,000 hectares), are still common in the pastoral region.

Almost nine-tenths of Uruguayans now live in urban areas. Montevideo, the country’s dominant urban centre, has a virtual monopoly on commerce, manufacturing, and government services. Other, much smaller cities include Salto and Paysandú, both on the Uruguay River, Artigas and Rivera in the north, Melo in the east, and the southern cities of Maldonado, Minas, and Las Piedras.

Demographic trends
Uruguay is less densely populated than Argentina and Brazil; however, the neighbouring regions of southern Brazil and northeastern Argentina have roughly comparable population densities. The rates of birth and population growth in Uruguay are much lower than in other Latin American countries. About one-fourth of the population is less than 15 years old, and about one-sixth is age 60 and older.

Economy
Uruguay’s gross national product (GNP) per capita is among the highest in Latin America, and the nation has a large urban middle class. Its relatively high standard of living has historically been based on earnings from agricultural exports, notably wool and beef, which have nevertheless been subject to fluctuations in the world market. To reduce the nation’s dependence on external trade, successive governments have encouraged domestic manufacturing and services, which have become dynamic sectors of the economy. The government operates a large number of corporations that produce electricity, refine imported petroleum, manufacture alcohol and cement, and process meat and fish; the government also controls the railways and the nation’s largest telephone company. However, there have been attempts to privatize state-owned companies since the 1990s.

Agriculture, fishing, and forestry
Sheep and cattle raising are two of Uruguay’s most important economic activities. Wool and beef, as well as livestock, livestock products, and skins and hides, account for about two-fifths of Uruguay’s export income, although agriculture makes up less than one-tenth of the gross domestic product (GDP). In 2001 an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease seriously damaged the livestock industry and caused repercussions throughout the Uruguayan economy.

With the major emphasis on livestock, little arable land has been available for cultivation. Major crops include rice, wheat, corn (maize), oranges, sugarcane, and sunflower seeds. The grape harvest sustains a modest wine industry.

Uruguay’s commercial fishing expanded significantly in the 1970s and ’80s, although the fleet remains small by international standards. About half of the catch is exported. Major fishing ports include Montevideo, Piriápolis, Punta del Este, and La Paloma. Forestry in Uruguay is limited but provides for most local needs; pine and eucalyptus are the main types of trees harvested.

Resources and power
Uruguay imports most of its fuel, industrial raw materials, vehicles, and industrial machinery, because it has no domestic commercial sources of petroleum, natural gas, coal, or iron. The low, rolling countryside is not generally suited to hydroelectric development; however, hydroelectric plants on the Negro and Uruguay rivers, in production at full power by the early 1980s, now provide about one-seventh of the country’s electric power. The remainder is generated from gas- and oil-fueled thermal power plants.

Manufacturing
Since the 1980s, manufacturing has declined somewhat in importance, and it now accounts for about one-sixth of the GDP. Major manufactures include processed foods, beverages, chemical products, textiles, and tobacco products. Most factories are concentrated in and around Montevideo.

Finance
Banking and financial services account for about one-fourth of the GDP but employ a small part of the workforce. Uruguay’s banking laws shield investors from most forms of taxation, and the country has become known as an offshore financial centre. Partly because of the large volume of international banking, the vast majority of Uruguayan bank deposits are in U.S. dollars and other foreign currencies. The Central Bank of Uruguay (1967) issues currency (the Uruguayan peso), regulates foreign exchange, and oversees the country’s private banks. Other state banks include the Bank of the Eastern Republic of Uruguay, which is the country’s largest commercial bank, and the Mortgage Bank of Uruguay.

Trade
Uruguay’s balance of payments has been generally negative (producing a trade deficit) since the mid 20th century. The government has lifted many restrictions on imports since the 1980s. The main exports are animal products (notably frozen beef) and live animals, food products, wool and other textiles, and hides. The chief imports include machinery, appliances, chemical products, transport equipment, and processed foods. Brazil has long been Uruguay’s main trading partner; Argentina and the United States are also major partners.

Services
Services such as public administration, education, computer programming, and tourism account for about one-fourth of the GDP. Tourism is a growing source of foreign exchange. Resort areas, particularly on the coast, attract visitors throughout most of the year. Among these is Punta del Este, renowned as a meeting place for high-level international conferences. Uruguay’s computer software industry has become increasingly important to the economy.

Labour and taxation
Services and trade employ more than half of the Uruguayan workforce, whereas about one-fifth of workers are engaged in manufacturing. Relatively few are employed in financial institutions and agricultural enterprises. The standard workweek is 44–48 hours. Workers are legally entitled to 20 paid vacation days following one year of employment. Women comprise about half of the workforce, but most of them hold low-wage jobs, and there are few women in the upper echelons of Uruguayan corporations. Approximately one-eighth of Uruguayan workers are union members; most are members of a labour confederation called the Inter-Union Workers Assembly–National Federation of Workers.

Uruguay has not had inheritance or personal income taxes since 1974. The government’s main sources of revenue are value-added taxes and export taxes. Real estate taxes and corporate taxes are also levied.

Transportation and telecommunications
Paved roads connect Montevideo to other urban centres in the country, the main highways leading to the border and neighbouring cities. Numerous unpaved roads connect farms and small towns. Overland trade has increased markedly since the Mercosur (Southern Common Market) pact was formed in the 1990s. Most of the country’s domestic freight and passenger service is by road rather than rail. The basic railroad network, purchased from the British after World War II, also radiates from Montevideo and connects with the Argentine and Brazilian systems.

Oceangoing ships call mainly at Montevideo. Vessels of various sizes navigate the inland waters, and a hydrofoil service connects Buenos Aires and Montevideo across the Río de la Plata. An international airport lies near the Carrasco beach resort some 13 miles (21 km) from downtown Montevideo. The government-owned airline, Primeras Líneas Uruguayas de Navegación Aérea (PLUNA), links Montevideo with the provincial capitals and international destinations.

Telecommunications in Uruguay are more developed than in most other Latin American countries. The telephone system is totally digitized and concentrated in and around Montevideo. The system is government-owned, and since the 1990s there have been controversial proposals to privatize it, or at least to sell some of its shares.

Government and society
Constitutional framework
The government operates under the 1966 constitution, as amended following the period of military rule (1973–85). Amendments in 1996 separated municipal and national elections and changed the balloting system for the presidential election.

A president and a Council of Ministers hold executive power, and a vice president serves as president of the bicameral legislature. The president and vice president are elected to five-year terms and may not seek immediate reelection. If no candidate receives a majority vote in a presidential election, a runoff election (ballotage) is held to decide between the two leading candidates. The General Assembly consists of the 31-member Senate and the 99-member Chamber of Representatives, whose members are elected to five-year terms by direct popular vote.

Local government
Local administration is provided by the country’s 19 departamentos, each of which has a departmental board (legislature) and an intendente municipal, a chief executive who acts as a combined departmental governor and mayor for the departmental capital.

Justice
At the head of the judiciary is the Supreme Court, composed of five justices who are elected by the General Assembly to 10-year terms and are eligible for reelection five years after their previous term ends. The Appellate Tribunals, each composed of three judges, form the next-highest judicial level, followed by the Courts of Record. The Supreme Court justices select Appellate Tribunal judges for confirmation by the Senate. Prison conditions are poor yet better than those in many other Latin American countries. Some trials last for years because of delays in the justice system.

Political process
National officials in Uruguay are elected every five years. All Uruguayans 18 years of age and older are required to vote. Elections have been secret and obligatory since 1918, and a 1932 law granted women the right to vote. A nine-member Electoral Court monitors local and national elections. Elections in Uruguay are generally considered to be fair. The country has a highly regarded system for tallying ballots.

The two principal traditional political parties are the Colorado (“Red”) Party (which has had a liberal urban base) and the Blanco (“White”), or National, Party (supported by the more conservative landowners). A third party, the leftist Broad Front (Frente Amplio), also called Progressive Encounter (Encuentro Progresista), is a coalition of Christian democrats, socialists, communists, and dissident members of the two other parties.

Security
Police in Uruguay are poorly paid, and many have been accused of improper conduct. The country has no secret police. Uruguay’s small army, navy, and air force are made up of volunteers, most of whom enlist for one or two years of service. Uruguayan soldiers have participated in numerous United Nations peacekeeping missions.

Health and welfare
Since elaborate social legislation was enacted in 1912 and 1929, Uruguay has been recognized for its advanced welfare programs, offering extensive subsidized health care and numerous benefits to the unemployed, low-wage workers, and the aged. Uruguayan employees with low annual incomes may receive maternity benefits, and mothers who earn low wages can receive child-care benefits. The large Hospital de Clínicas in Montevideo has long been a low-cost medical service centre for the needy as well as a research centre. Life expectancy is relatively high, with averages of 73 years for males and 79 years for females.

Education
Uruguay has a high literacy rate, comparable to those of most developed nations. Education is compulsory for students aged 6–11 and free at all levels—primary, secondary, technical school, and university. Montevideo is the national centre for higher education. The University of the Republic (1849) has numerous faculties, including a distinguished medical school that draws students from throughout the region. The Catholic University of Uruguay (1985) is a prominent private institution. The privately supported Institute of Higher Studies (1931) is devoted to scientific research, and vocational training is given by the Labour University of Uruguay (1878).

Cultural life
Uruguayan culture reflects some of the same characteristics found in neighbouring Argentina. Both countries are strongly European (notably Spanish and Italian) in their orientation, and, unlike many Latin American countries, Uruguay is minimally influenced by indigenous culture. The tradition of the gaucho (cowboy, usually a mestizo) has been an important element in the art and folklore of both countries. Uruguay’s theatre and music are broadly based in terms of support and participation.

Daily life and social customs
Beef is fundamental to Uruguayan cuisine, and the country is one of the world’s top consumers of red meat per capita. Barbecues (parrilladas) are ubiquitous. Popular foods include beef platters, steak sandwiches (chivitos), barbecued kidneys and sausages, and pastas. Locally produced soft drinks, beer, and wine are commonly served, as is clericó, a mixture of fruit juice and wine. Uruguay and Argentina share a national drink: maté (yerba mate), a tea that is usually sipped from a gourd using a metal straw. Although some Uruguayan gauchos still dress in traditional trousers, ponchos, and wide-brimmed hats, most Uruguayans wear clothing styles that are also common to Europe and North America.

Uruguay’s main holidays are New Year’s Day (January 1), Epiphany (January 6), Labour Day (May 1), and Christmas (December 25). Among the major patriotic holidays are Constitution Day (July 18), Independence Day (August 25), and the commemoration (April 19) of the arrival in 1825 of anticolonial leader Juan Antonio Lavalleja and his band of 33 fighters.

The arts
José Enrique Rodó, a modernist, is considered Uruguay’s most significant literary figure. His book Ariel (1900), which stresses the importance of upholding spiritual over materialistic values, as well as resisting cultural dominance by Europe and the United States, continues to influence young writers. Outstanding among Latin American playwrights is Florencio Sánchez; his plays, written around the beginning of the 20th century and dealing with contemporary social problems, are still performed. From about the same period and somewhat later came the romantic poetry of Juan Zorrilla de San Martín, Juana de Ibarbourou, and Delmira Agustini and the short stories of Horacio Quiroga. The psychological stories of Juan Carlos Onetti have earned widespread critical praise, as have the writings of Mario Benedetti. Uruguay’s best-known contemporary writer is Eduardo H. Galeano, author of Las venas abiertas de América Latina (1971; The Open Veins of Latin America) and the trilogy Memoria del fuego (1982–87; Memory of Fire). Uruguayans of many classes and backgrounds enjoy reading historietas, comic books that often blend hunour and fantasy with thinly veiled social criticism.

The folk and popular music of Uruguay shares with Argentina not only its gaucho roots but also the tango, a musical and dance style that originated in Argentina. One of the most famous tangos, La cumparsita (1917), was written by the Uruguayan composer Gerardo Matos Rodríguez. The candombe is a folk dance performed at Carnival mainly by Uruguayans of African ancestry. The guitar is the preferred musical instrument; and, in a popular contest called the payada, two singers, each with a guitar, take turns improvising verses to the same tune. Numerous radio stations and musical events reflect the popularity of rock music (mainly imported from the United States and Europe, though some Uruguayan bands enjoy wide followings) and Caribbean genres known as música tropical (“tropical music”). Early classical music in Uruguay showed heavy Spanish and Italian influence, but since the 20th century a number of composers of classical music, including Eduardo Fabini, Vicente Ascone, and Héctor Tosar, have made use of Latin American musical idioms.

The 19th-century painter Juan Manuel Blanes, whose works depict historical events, was the first Uruguayan artist to gain widespread recognition. The Post-Impressionist painter Pedro Figari achieved international renown for his pastel studies of subjects in Montevideo and the countryside. Blending elements of art and nature, the work of the landscape architect Leandro Silva Delgado has also earned international prominence.

Uruguay has a small but growing film industry, and movies such as Marcelo Bertalmío’s Los días con Ana (2000: “Days with Ana”) have earned international honours. New work is highlighted at the annual International Film Festival of Uruguay, held in Montevideo.

Cultural institutions
Montevideo, the cultural heart of the country, is home to Uruguay’s principal cultural institutions, including the National Library and the national museums of history, anthropology, natural history, and art. Several regional museums, such as the Museum of the Indian and Gaucho in Tacuarembó, have well-maintained historical collections. The government supports two symphony orchestras, the National Theatre, and schools of dramatic arts, fine arts, and ballet. Private dramatic and musical groups also perform in Montevideo and other cities.

Sports and recreation
Football (soccer) is a national obsession in Uruguay, and the country holds one of the most storied histories in the game. Uruguay first competed at the Olympic Games in 1924 in Paris, where it won the gold medal in football. In 1930 Montevideo’s Centenario stadium hosted the inaugural World Cup, which was won by Uruguay. In 1950 the country defeated Brazil in Rio de Janeiro to become one of the few teams to win more than one Cup. Uruguay has captured more world titles than any other nation, and its players are recruited around the world. Other popular spectator sports include basketball, rugby football, boxing, and horse racing, the latter notably at Las Piedras. Tennis, bicycling, and fishing are also widely enjoyed. Carnival, the most important festival, is held during the week preceding Lent.

Media and publishing
Most Uruguayan daily newspapers are published in Montevideo, and several have national circulations. Many of the major dailies are owned by or affiliated with the principal political parties. El Día was the nation’s most prestigious paper until its demise in the early 1990s; it was founded in 1886 by the Colorado leader and (later) president José Batlle y Ordóñez. El País, the paper of the rival Blanco Party, has the largest circulation. El Observador Económico is a respected independent daily, and many consider the weekly newspaper Búsqueda to be the best newspaper in the country. Two glossy magazines, Tres and Posdata, have raised the print media’s level of sophistication.

Both government and private radio and television stations operate in Uruguay. Radio broadcasting began as a daily service in 1922, and the first television station started broadcasting in 1956. Use of the Internet has grown rapidly since the mid 1990s.

Marvin H. Alisky
Martin Weinstein

History

The following discussion focuses on Uruguayan history from the time of European settlement. For treatment of the nation in its regional context, see Latin America, history of.

Early period
Before the arrival of Europeans, the territory that is now Uruguay supported a small population estimated at no more than 5,000 to 10,000. The principal groups were the seminomadic Charrúa, Chaná (Chanáes), and Guaraní Indians. The Guaraní, who were concentrated in the subtropical forests of eastern Paraguay, established some settlements in northern Uruguay. The Charrúa moved to the shore in summer to fish and gather clams, fruits, and roots and moved inland in winter to hunt deer, rheas, and smaller game with bolas (stones connected by short ropes that are thrown to ensnare prey) and bows and arrows. Bands of eight to 12 families under a chief lived in villages of five to six houses made of matted windscreens. The Charrúa were known for their ferocity in battle, which they exploited to expand hunting grounds and capture women and children from other villages.

The first European to explore Uruguay was the Spanish navigator Juan Díaz de Solís in 1516, who, along with several of his men, was killed and eaten by Charrúa or Guaraní warriors. Ferdinand Magellan anchored at the future site of Montevideo in 1520, and Sebastian Cabot led a Spanish expedition up the Río de la Plata in 1526, but they found the Banda Oriental del Río Uruguay (“East Bank of the Uruguay River”) unattractive for settlement because of a lack of mineral wealth and the absence of Indians who could be readily enslaved or compelled to serve European interests. Jesuit and Franciscan missions were not established in Uruguay until the 1620s. By that time, however, the indigenous population had begun to collapse, as European diseases killed thousands.

Cattle from neighbouring regions, allowed to roam freely in Uruguayan territory, multiplied over the years until their numbers reached the millions. This process is said to have originated in 1603, when a governor of Paraguay, Hernando Arias de Saavedra, shipped a number of cattle and horses downstream from Asunción and the animals were landed on the Uruguayan riverbank. They were subsequently hunted for their hides by transient gauchos of mestizo ancestry. Groups of bandeirantes (explorers and slave hunters) from Portuguese Brazil also made incursions into the region and occasionally attacked the missions there. In 1680 the Portuguese established Colônia do Sacramento (Spanish: Colonia del Sacramento) on the Río de la Plata opposite Buenos Aires. There they carried on a contraband trade with Spanish settlers, who were collecting great quantities of silver from the mines of Upper Peru (now Bolivia). Spanish authorities countered this move by founding San Felipe de Montevideo as a fortified city in 1726 and attacking Colonia, which subsequently changed hands several times before being ceded to Spain in 1777. Montevideo became the major Spanish port of the South Atlantic, and the process of dividing the Banda Oriental into huge unfenced ranches began. In 1776 the Banda Oriental became part of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata, the capital of which was Buenos Aires; however, Montevideo was still allowed to send shipments directly to Spain rather than clearing them first at Buenos Aires.

By 1800 there were approximately 10,000 people in Montevideo and another 20,000 elsewhere in Uruguay. About one-third of the total were African slaves, most of whom worked on estancias (ranches), in saladeros (meat-salting operations), and in households. Uruguay’s small but growing middle class included petty merchants, artisans, and military officers of mestizo and European ancestry. At the apex of society were wealthy traders, bankers, estancieros (ranch owners), and high-ranking government officials. Most of the elite originated from—or principally resided in—Catalonia, the Basque Country, the Canary Islands, and other Spanish European lands. Few Indian groups survived into the 19th century; the last large-scale massacre of Indian peoples occurred at Salsipuedes in 1831, and by mid century scant vestiges of indigenous culture remained.

The struggle for national identity
Montevideo, with its Spanish military and naval contingents, was a royalist stronghold when a movement for independence broke out in Buenos Aires in 1810. In the interior of the Banda Oriental, the fight against Spain was led from 1811 by José Gervasio Artigas, commander of the Blandengues, a mounted corps that the Spaniards had originally created to police the region. Artigas’s small army, which soon included a battalion of freed African slaves, was supported by rural inhabitants, antiroyalist Montevideo leaders, and an army from Buenos Aires. Following victories in the interior and in Montevideo, Artigas promoted a loose confederation of provinces of la Plata, but he also considered forming a rival confederation centring on Montevideo. These plans, coupled with Artigas’s growing power and egalitarian policies (including redistributing estanciero land to freed slaves and other poor Uruguayans), made him a threat to elites in Uruguay and centralists in Buenos Aires, who acquiesced when Portuguese Brazilian forces took over the Banda Oriental in 1820, and Artigas was driven into exile.

“Brazilianization” was resisted within the Banda Oriental and by Uruguayan exiles as well. Argentines felt increasingly threatened by the Brazilian presence, and their government was compelled to support Juan Antonio Lavalleja, one of Artigas’s exiled officers, and his “33 orientales” when they crossed the river to free their homeland in 1825. The ensuing war was a stalemate, but British diplomats mediated a settlement in 1827, and in 1828 a treaty was ratified creating Uruguay as a separate state and a buffer between Brazil and Argentina; the nation’s strategic location also served British interests by guaranteeing that the Río de la Plata would remain an international waterway. On July 18, 1830, when the constitution for the Oriental State of Uruguay was approved, the country had scarcely 74,000 inhabitants.

Uruguay’s first years of independence were disastrous. Twenty years of war and depredation had greatly reduced cattle numbers, and the lands and fortunes of many colonial families had been destroyed. Both Argentina and Brazil still coveted Uruguay. The factions of the first and second presidents, José Fructuoso Rivera and Manuel Oribe, battled each other in what became known as the Guerra Grande (“Great War”). Oribe’s adherents, who displayed white colours, became the Blanco (“White”) Party and controlled the interior. Rivera and his followers used red colours and became the Colorado (“Red”) Party, based in Montevideo. The Blancos, supported by armies of the Argentine dictator Juan Manuel de Rosas, besieged Montevideo during the period 1843–51. The Colorados were aided first by France and England, then by Brazil. When in 1851 the Guerra Grande ended without a clear victory for either side, the Uruguayan interior was devastated, the government was bankrupt, and the disappearance of an independent Uruguay had become a real possibility. Intellectuals wanted to abolish the political parties that had brought the country to such a low point, but the war had made too deep an impact on ordinary Uruguayans, who had become polarized into Colorados or Blancos. In 1865 the Colorados, aided by a Brazilian army, ousted the Blancos from power; however, the Paraguayan dictator, seeing that action as a threat to the regional balance of power, sparked the War of the Triple Alliance (1864/65–70), in which Brazil, Uruguay, and Argentina combined to defeat Paraguay. Uruguayan commerce was disrupted by the war, as well as by persistent political disputes, a civil war known as the Revolution of the Lances (1868–72), and Brazilian and Argentine involvement in Uruguayan affairs.

Modernization and reform
Development accelerated during the latter part of the 19th century as increasing numbers of immigrants established businesses and bought land. Partly through their efforts, sheep were introduced to graze together with cattle, ranches were fenced, and pedigreed bulls and rams were imported to improve livestock. Earnings from wool (which became the leading export in 1884), hides, and dried beef encouraged the British to invest in railroad building and also helped to modernize Montevideo—notably in its public utilities and transportation system—which thereby encouraged additional immigration. In 1876 the Uruguayan armed forces took over the government and, aided by improved communications, began to establish firmer control over the interior. However, public support for the regime eventually waned because of the brutality and corruption of some of its leaders, and a civilian Colorado government returned to power in 1890.

Blanco demands for a larger role in government escalated into the Revolution of 1897, led by Aparicio Saravia, which ended when the Colorado president, Juan Idiarte Borda, was killed by an assassin not associated with the Blancos. Although conflicts between Colorados and Blancos continued to impede economic development, by 1900 Uruguay’s population grew to one million—a 13-fold increase over the level of 1830. The Colorado leader José Batlle y Ordóñez was elected president in 1903. The following year the Blancos led a rural revolt, and eight bloody months of fighting ensued before Saravia was killed in battle and government forces emerged victorious. In 1905 the Colorados won the first largely transparent legislative election in 30 years, and domestic stability was finally attained.

Batlle, who had become a Colorado hero, took advantage of the nation’s stability and growing economic prosperity to institute major reforms, including increasing state intervention in economic matters. His administration helped expand cattle ranching, reduce the nation’s dependence on imports and foreign capital, improve workers’ conditions through far-reaching social reforms, and expand education. In addition Batlle abolished the death penalty, allowed women to initiate divorce proceedings, augmented the rights of children born out of wedlock, and reduced the political influence of the Roman Catholic church—reflecting growing trends toward social liberalization and secularization in Uruguay.

Batlle had two terms (1903–07 and 1911–15) in which to initiate his policies, but, realizing that his program might be reversed by a future president or dictator, he promoted a constitutional reform to end the presidency and replace it with a plural executive, the colegiado. Batlle’s audacious plan split the Colorados and reinvigorated the Blanco opposition, and in 1916 the colegiado was defeated in the country’s first election by secret ballot. Batlle retained a significant amount of prestige and support, however, which allowed him to strike a compromise that partly rescued the colegiado; thus, in a constitution promulgated in 1918, executive responsibility was split between the president and a National Council of Administration.

A consensus government emerged with policies that were more cautious than innovative, except in social legislation. Higher living standards were supported by a ranching economy that had stopped growing, a dilemma hidden by the high export prices of the late 1920s.

Economic and political uncertainties
In 1930 the Colorado presidential candidate, Gabriel Terra, successfully maneuvered through the political vacuum created by the death in 1929 of Batlle, who had held an increasingly complex political and governmental structure together. When the effects of the Great Depression hit Uruguay, President Terra first blamed the plural executive’s economic policies and then, supported by Blanco leader Luis Alberto de Herrera, carried out a coup in March 1933 that abolished the National Council and concentrated power in the hands of the president. Terra’s dictatorship, followed by the presidency of his brother-in-law General Alfredo Baldomir during the period 1938–42, formulated a conservative response to the Great Depression. The state interfered with labour unions, postponed social legislation, preserved as much as it could of the British market for Uruguayan meat, and halted government attempts to nationalize foreign, mainly British, enterprises in Uruguay. The government advocated free-market principles but was compelled to play a more direct role in the economy. It apportioned scarce foreign exchange, built a hydroelectric dam, and tried to ease unemployment and maintain political support by hiring public employees under a system of political quotas. Hard times also sped migration from the interior to Montevideo, where industrial development was encouraged. As a result of these factors, Uruguay emerged from the 1930s with a more urban population and a larger government bureaucracy.

At the onset of World War II, European nations began eagerly to buy Uruguay’s meat, wool, and hides, bringing a period of genuine prosperity. A new constitution in 1942 allowed all political parties to operate freely. The war also strengthened Uruguay’s manufacturing sector, which employed nearly 100,000 people by 1945. Increasing numbers of urban workers joined labour unions, and corporatist “salary councils” arranged for higher wages. The presidential election of 1946 was won by Tomás Berreta, a Batllista (member of the Colorado Batllista Party, founded by Batlle in 1919). After his sudden death, Vice President Luis Batlle Berres, Batlle’s nephew, became president.

During the early 1950s the Korean War stimulated high wool prices on the U.S. market, creating another economic boom for Uruguay. The resulting prosperity enabled the government of Batlle Berres to purchase the British-owned railroads and public utilities, inaugurate new state enterprises, encourage industrialization, subsidize agriculture, and reduce food prices. Unemployment virtually disappeared. A constitutional reform in 1951 replaced the presidency with a nine-member plural executive, the traditional cornerstone of the Batllista program. During this period Uruguay combined a strong democracy with the highest income per capita in Latin America. However, in the mid 1950s, when the end of the Korean War lowered wool prices, Uruguay’s ranching economy declined, as did the standard of living. Politicians, responding to voters’ demands, tried to keep consumption up, first by spending Uruguay’s foreign exchange, then by taking out foreign loans and devaluing the peso. Economic conditions deteriorated: annual inflation rates rose above 60 percent, public services broke down, industries closed, and large numbers of labourers and professionals emigrated.

Voter dissatisfaction brought the Blancos to power in 1958 for the first time since 1865. Although reelected for a second term, the Blanco administration failed to improve conditions, and in 1966 a new constitution was ratified, returning the country to the presidential system. Elections in that year brought new leadership under Colorado conservatives, but inflation and a production slump continued to grip the country, precipitating increasingly stronger protests followed by a government crackdown on students and unions. During this period guerrilla attacks were initiated in Montevideo by the Tupamaros, a leftist group named for Tupac Amaru II, an 18th-century Inca who had rebelled against Spanish rule. When the police could not stop the Tupamaros, the government unleashed the military, which defeated them in a systematic and brutal counterinsurgency campaign. Economic problems persisted, however, and in 1973 the military wrested control of the government from the nation’s discredited politicians.

The military regime
The military acted with a ferocity and thoroughness previously unknown to Uruguay. Thousands of people were arrested—reputedly giving the nation the highest ratio of political prisoners to population in the world—and numerous human rights abuses were perpetrated, including torture, killings, and disappearances. The junta also outlawed political parties, dissolved unions, and heavily censored the media in order to strengthen its hold on power and force a new economic outlook on the citizenry. The regime held wages down, forbade strikes, attracted capital from foreign banks and lenders by setting high interest rates, and encouraged industrialists and ranchers to borrow and modernize. Though real wages fell and many businesses failed because they could not compete with cheap imports, the policy had some successes, including an increase in manufactured exports, a building boom, and Montevideo’s reemergence as a banking and financial centre; in addition the government built roads and other public works. In 1980 voters rejected the military’s proposed new constitution in a plebiscite—much to the military leaders’ surprise, because they controlled the media and severely restricted the political opposition. The plebiscite greatly damaged the regime’s legitimacy.

Economic conditions also deteriorated. In the 1980s foreign loans became more difficult to acquire, and Uruguayan trade was limited when Argentina’s economy suffered a downturn, caused partly by the Falkland Islands War (1982). The military government, despite previous assurances, was compelled to let the exchange rate of the Uruguayan peso fall. Businesses, ranchers, and the government saw their debts dramatically increase. With Uruguay’s economic crisis worsening, the military reluctantly negotiated a return to democratic rule.

Civilian government
Julio María Sanguinetti, a Colorado Batllista, was elected president in November 1984 and inaugurated the following March. Sanguinetti attempted to appease the military—and to safeguard against a coup—by sponsoring a general amnesty (1986), despite calls for criminal trials. Uruguay’s enormous foreign debt inhibited economic recovery, but Sanguinetti refused to embark on dramatic economic programs that would have entailed high risks. A referendum in April 1989 upheld the amnesty law, but the Colorado Party lost the subsequent presidential election to the Blanco candidate, Luis Alberto Lacalle.

The Lacalle administration (1990–95) carried out economic reforms and made Uruguay a member of the Southern Common Market (Mercosur) in 1991. Although economic growth accelerated under Lacalle, his policies were seen as a threat to Uruguay’s long-standing welfare system, and voters in a referendum rejected his plan to privatize the state-owned telephone company. This defeat, coupled with charges of government corruption, brought about a roughly three-way split in the 1994 elections between the Colorados, the leftist coalition Broad Front (Frente Amplio), and the Blancos. Sanguinetti was elected to a second nonconsecutive term (1995–2000), and a constitutional amendment in 1996 simplified the method for electing the president (the old “double simultaneous voting” system, which had effectively combined primaries and final elections, had unfairly favoured the traditional parties). The Colorados retained the presidency in 2000 following the election of Jorge Batlle Ibáñez, son of Batlle Berres and great nephew of José Batlle y Ordóñez. Meanwhile the Broad Front held onto the mayoralty of Montevideo, which it had controlled for a decade.

Uruguay’s economy grew markedly during the mid 1990s, largely because of trade with its Mercosur partners; however, the nation became even more vulnerable to economic shifts in Brazil and Argentina. In the early 21st century there was growing pressure to investigate disappearances, murders, and other crimes committed under military rule.

Milton I. Vanger
Martin Weinstein