The climate in Uruguay is temperate: it has 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 in winter, and tropical air from Brazil in summer. Without mountains in zone that act as a barrier, the air masses freely move by the territory, causing abrupt weather changes.
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. Although snow is not very common, it snowed in 1913, 1918, 1930, 1962, 1963, 1975, 1980, 1989, 1991, 1992, and 2007. One of the coldest winter (from 1951) was 2007: Tºjuly average 7,6ºC Montevideo-Carrasco airport , Tºjuly average 6,8ºC Florida city.
National extreme temperatures sea level are, Paysandú city 44.0ºC (01-20-1943) and Melo city -11.0ºC (06-14-1967)
Peso è il nome della valuta dell'Uruguay già dal 1835. La valuta attuale, nota come peso uruguayo (codice ISO 4217: UYU) è in circolazione dal 1993 ed è suddivisa in 100 centésimos.
At 176,214 square kilometres (68,036 square miles) of continental land and 142,199 square kilometres (54,903 sq mi) of jurisdictional waters and small river islands,[14] Uruguay is the second smallest sovereign nation in South America (after Suriname) and the third smallest territory (French Guiana is the smallest). The landscape features mostly rolling plains and low hill ranges (cuchillas) with a fertile coastal lowland. A dense fluvial network covers the country, consisting of four river basins or deltas; the Río de
The highest point in the country is the Cerro Catedral at
Borders
Uruguay shares borders with Argentina and Brazil.
With Argentina:
Uruguay River to the west and Río de
With Brazil:
Chuy Stream
The 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 population is estimated at no more than 5,000 to 10,000.[6]
The Plaza Independencia ("Independence Square"), in Montevideo, hosts the tomb of José Artigas, late leader of the Provincia Oriental and the Liga Federal. In front of the square, the Palacio Salvo can be seen.Europeans arrived in the territory of present-day Uruguay in the year 1536, but the absence of gold and silver limited settlement in the region during the 16th and 17th centuries. Uruguay became a zone of contention between the Spanish and the Portuguese empires. In 1603 the Spanish began to introduce cattle, which became a source of wealth in the region.[7] The first permanent settlement on the territory of present-day Uruguay was founded by the Spanish in 1624 at Villa Soriano on the south-western coast of the Río Negro. In 1680 the Portuguese built a fort at Colonia del Sacramento. Spanish colonization increased as Spain sought to limit Portugal's expansion of Brazil's frontiers.
Another segment of colonial Uruguay's population consisted of people of African descent. Colonial Uruguay's African community grew in number as its members escaped harsh treatment in Buenos Aires. Many relocated to Montevideo, which had a larger black community, seemed lest hostile politically than Buenos Aires, and had a more favorable climate with lower humidity.
As a province of the Viceroyalty of
Uruguay's 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. Uruguay's early 19th century history was shaped by ongoing conflicts between the British, Spanish, Portuguese, and colonial forces for dominance in the Argentina-Brazil-Uruguay region.[9] In 1806 and 1807, the British army attempted to seize Buenos Aires as part of their War with Spain. As a result, at the beginning of 1807, Montevideo was occupied by a 10,000-strong British force who held it until the middle of the year when they left to attack Buenos Aires.
The Uruguayans' road to independence was much longer than those of other countries in the Americas. Early efforts at attaining independence focused on overthrow of Spanish rule, a process begun by Jose Gervasio Artigas in 1811 when he led his forces to victory against the Spanish in the battle of Las Piedras on May 18,
Le feste religiose seguono il tradizionale calendario cristiano: Pasqua, il Lunedì di Pasqua e il Venerdì Santo le cui date variano di anno in anno; Natale, il 25 dicembre; Santo Stefano, il 26 dicembre.Particolari festeggiamenti sono previsti soprattutto per
The overwhelming majority of Uruguay's population is of predominantly white European descent: Spaniards, and Italians being the most prevalent, followed by French, Germans, Portuguese, British, Swiss, Russians, Poles, Bulgarians, Hungarians, Ukrainians, Lithuanians, Estonians, Latvians, Lebanese, Dutch, Belgians, Croatians, Austrians, Serbians, Greeks, Scandinavians, Irish, Romanians, and Armenians. There are also numbers of Argentines, Chileans, Paraguayans, Brazilians, Bolivians, Israeli, and Lebanese. According to the 2006 National Survey of Homes by the Uruguayan National Institute of Statistics: 94.6% chose European ancestry, 9.1% chose Afro/Black ancestry, and 4.5% chose native-American ancestry (people surveyed were allowed to choose more than one option).
Many of the European immigrants arrived in Uruguay in the late 1800s and have heavily influenced the architecture and culture of Montevideo and other major cities. For this reason, Montevideo and life within the city are reminiscent of parts of Europe.
Some colonies such as Colonia Valdense -a Waldensian colony-, Colonia Suiza -also named Nueva Helvecia- a mainly Swiss colony with some German and Austrian settlers, were founded in the department of Colonia. There are also towns founded by early British settlers such as Conchillas and Barker. A Russian colony called San Javier was founded in the department of Río Negro. Mennonite colonies can also be found in the department of Río Negro and in the department of Canelones. One of them, called El Ombú, is located near the city of Young.
Uruguay has a large urban middle class and a literacy rate of 96.79% (1996 est).During the 1970s and 1980s, an estimated 600,000 Uruguayans emigrated, mainly to Spain, Italy, Argentina and Brazil. Other Uruguayans went to various countries in Europe, to the USA, Canada, and Australia.
Capital
(and largest city) Montevideo
34°53′S, 56°10′W
Official languages Spanish
Demonym Uruguayan
Government Republic (presidential system)
- President Tabaré Vázquez Rosas
- Vice President Rodolfo Nin Novoa
Independence from Brazil
- Declaration 25 August 1825
- Constitution Jury 18 July 1830
Area
- Total 176.215 km² (90th)
68,037 sq mi
- Water (%) 1.5%
Population
- July 2008[1] estimate 3,477,778 (134)
- 2002 census 3,399,236
- Density 19/km² (19)
50/sq mi
GDP (PPP) 2006[1] estimate
- Total $37,18 billion (USD)
- Per capita $11,621(USD)
Gini (2003) 44.9 (high)
HDI (2007) ▲ 0.852 (high) (46th)
Currency Uruguayan peso ($, UYU ) (UYU)
Time zone UYT (UTC-3)
- Summer (DST) UYST (UTC-2)
Internet TLD .uy
Calling code +598
Italiano
English