Uruguay

__** Uruguay **__ Uruguay is a South American country with a population of about 3,000,000 people and a growth of .7% per year. With beautiful geography, a well-oiled government, a great South American economy, and bountiful culture and history, it is one of the finest countries in South America. On this page you can find Uruguay’s culture, history, government, economy and geography. (click here to hear in sound) ​media type="file" key="Finalintronoise.mp3" width="240" height="20" toc

media type="youtube" key="Wrm0IgF7IQs" height="360" width="503" align="left"

This is a video of Montevideo, the capital of Uruguay. It shows the unique architecture and deep culture of the city. the pictures show many important places in the city like the capital building..

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = Geography =



Overview
Uruguay is a mainly flat country in, well, South America. It is between 53-58 longitude and 30-35 latitude. The land is consisted mainly of mainly flat land. The more elevated areas shown on the map are on a partially elevated plateau. With 200 miles of coast, tourism is very popular

**Temperate**
Being relatively close to the Equator, comparable to Florida, they have moderately warm summers and mild winters.

**Elevation**
As you can see by the map, the highest point on the map is on the border of the Brazilian highlands. This is called Mt. Catedral, with a peak of 1,863 feet (Northern part of Uruguay). Elevation increases as you approach Brazil due to the Brazilian highlands being slightly in Uruguay.

**Rivers**
Due to the elevation increasing as you near Brazil, the river system all runs into the Rio Uruguay on the border of Argentina.

**Land Use**
75% of the land in Uruguay is used for grazing, so meat is prominent (see culture). Only 10% is used for agriculture so they import mainly agriculture (see economy). Only 5% is forested. This leaves only 10% for living space, keeping 80% of the population classified as Urban.

**Pollution**
There is extremely little pollution in Uruguay, due to the high use of land for Grazing and Agriculture. Also, there isn’t any pollutant Industries.

Landmarks
"The Hand"- A sculpture created by Mario Irrazábal in 1982. Created it in the annual international modern sculpture contest where the beach became a place where artists could create what they had in their minds. This is the most famous landmark in Uruguay. Above is a picture of the hand, which is made of plastic. (click for link)

Links

 * []**
 * []**
 * []**

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = == = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =History=

 Spaniards were the first to colonize Uruguay in 1680. The port city of Montevideo was built in 1726 by the Spanish. In 1815 they declared independence from Spain. Only a year later Brazilians attacked and annexed Uruguay after four bloody years of guerilla warfare. In 1825 they wrote a declaration of independence and finally after three more years of bloody warfare they were guarenteed independence from Brazil. In the mid 1800’s a civil war broke out among two political parties, the Blanco’s and the Colorado’s. Stability was finally achieved in the early 1900’s after the election of José Batlle y Ordóñezas president. There government has remained stable since then. media type="file" key="José Batlle y Ordóñez.mp3" width="240" height="20"

= = = = = = =[|Culture]=

Entertainment
Uruguay has a very rich culture with many traditions. One of the mast popular dances done at almost every social event is the tango, a very active and mobile dance. Theater and dance is very popular in the country. Another very distinct item in their culture is the Gaucho, or South American cowboy.

Skills
Making leather products by hand is a common skill as well. they are some of the most intricate and complicated in the world.

Cuisene
Beef is a very common meat in Uruguay because of the amount of livestockin the country. Herbal tea is a common drink to go with many meals. Unlike in America where dinner is the largest meal lunch is the largest meal of the day. Many employees even get two hour lunch break to make homecooked meals. One of the most popular snacks in the country is a crème and jelly loaded sponge cake.

Sports
Uruguay is also into soccer or as it is called in their country futball (Foot-ball). Futball is an extremely popular sport inUruguay and makes up a massive part of their culture. they are a participant in FIFA.

= Government =

** Overview **
media type="file" key="Overviewj.mp3" width="66" height="28" Uruguay has a very good government that consists of some of the South America’s oldest political parties. They have a very successful Democratic Constitutional Republic. Right now, they are at peace, but they used to be a country of turmoil.

Type
media type="file" key="Type.mp3" width="240" height="20" Uruguay has a Democratic Constitutional Republic government type. It is more closely related to Switzerland’s Government. This type has three branches (Executive, Judicial, and Legislative). The Executive Branch has a president who is elected by the people, via. Popular vote, and serves for five years. The same outline goes for the Legislative Branch. Each Representative serves a five year term. There are two sections in the Legislative Branch. There is the Senate (30 Members) and The House (99 Members). They are also elected to office by popular vote. The third branch is the judicial branch. They are in charge of all the courts in the land with the Supreme Court as the highest in the land.

Political Parties
media type="file" key="Political .mp3" width="145" height="38" Uruguay has the two oldest political parties in South America, the Colorados (red) and the Blancos (Whites). These parties are over 150 years old! These parties used to have their own people in their own tribes and they were at war. This war is called the “Guerra Grande”, or the Great War. The Colorados had control of the Capitol, Montevideo. The Blancos were trying to overthrow the Colorados. Eventually, Brazil stepped in and stopped the Blancos. The Blancos probably would have succeeded if Brazil didn’t help the Colorados, because the Colorados crushed them after that. In total this war lasted 9 years (1843- 1852). Now these parties are at peace, leading Uruguay to a better tomorrow.

media type="file" key="Presidentures.mp3" align="right" width="489" height="39"To learn More about the Great War, [|Click Here]



** Capital **
The capital of Uruguay is Montevideo**.** It is in the southern portion of the country. This is the only city in Uruguay to have a population of over 1 million people. Montevideo has a very big port by the coast called the Port of Montevideo. This city also has three minor airports and one major airport. There is also a series of rail systems. This is a pretty industrialized city. The capital building is very tall. In fact it is the second tallest building in Uruguay and it used to be the tallest in Uruguay. The capital is also the most toured place in Uruguay. Currently the president of Uruguay is Tabare Vasquez.

= = = = = = = = media type="youtube" key="GSobtuf9cmI" height="385" width="480" align="center"

__Here is a Video to Learn More about Montevideo__ =media type="file" key="Capital Pic.mp3" align="left" width="240" height="20" = = = = = = = = = =Economy= media type="file" key="economy.mp3" width="239" height="23" Uruguay is one of the weathiest contries in Latin America with a GDP of 9.2 billion USD and a GDP per capita of 2,970 USD. [|US department of state's veiw of Uruguay's economy]

Type
Uruguay has a market economy. Some main exports are meat, rice, leather products, wool, fish, and dairy products. Some main imports are agricultural products, electricity, and oil.

Recession
Their Recession Started in 1981, after their economy had been greatly helped by beef and wool exportation in the 1900-30 they couldn’t find enough products to replace their beef and wool, so they went into a recession. This happened until 1987 when the government found new exports like dairy, and rice. It took them a while to come out because they had a dependence on those few agricultural products which is South America’s levels of foreign and domestic trade. The sudden rise in trade income caused the creation of an advanced welfare state in which the government redistributed wealth and protected workers.

Exchange rate
They use Uruguay Peso 1 Uruguay peso = 5 cents

​

Fun Facts
They don't many electronics. they have an average GDP growth of .7%. 9th highest GDP in South America

media type="file" key="peso.mp3" align="center" width="484" height="28"



Uruguay's economy was thriving around 2000, as you can see by the chart, but with the world depression it fell greatly to 3,000 per capita income.

=Sources used on this page...= " Google Image Result for http://www.mapsofworld.com/physical-map/maps/uruguay-physical-map.jpg." //Google//. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 May 2010. .//

// "Uruguay - Climate." //Country Studies//. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 May 2010. "Uruguay - The Economy." Country Studies. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 May 2010. [].  the world factbook." central Intelligence agency. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 May 2010. . "Uruguay - The Great War, 1843-52." // Country Studies//. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 May 2010. . 31--, line: Tom Cherveny Dec.. " Montevideo Facts, information, pictures | Encyclopedia.com articles about Montevideo ."// Encyclopedia - Online Dictionary | Encyclopedia.com: Get facts, articles, pictures, video //. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 May 2010. []. " YouTube - montevideo ."// YouTube - Broadcast Yourself. //. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 May 2010. [].

"Uruguay: Interesting facts and information."// Uruguay: Interesting facts and information//. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 May 2010. .

"Latest Military News."// World Forums//. N.p., 15 May 2010. Web. 12 May 2010. .