Uruguay
|
| Basic Facts |
| Country name |
conventional long form: Oriental Republic of Uruguay
conventional short form: Uruguay local long form: Republica Oriental del Uruguay local short form: Uruguay former: Banda Oriental, Cisplatine Province |
| Gevernment type | constitutional republic |
| Capital |
name: Montevideo
geographic coordinates: 34 53 S, 56 11 W time difference: UTC-3 (2 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) daylight saving time: +1hr, begins second Sunday in October; ends second Sunday in March |
| Flag description | nine equal horizontal stripes of white (top and bottom) alternating with blue; there is a white square in the upper hoist-side corner with a yellow sun bearing a human face known as the Sun of May with 16 rays that alternate between triangular and wavy |
| Currency | Uruguayan peso (UYU) |
| Internet country code | .uy |
| Ports and terminals | Montevideo, Nueva Palmira, Fray Bentos, Colonia, Juan Lacaze |
| Agriculture products | rice, wheat, corn, barley; livestock; fish |
| Industries | food processing, electrical machinery, transportation equipment, petroleum products, textiles, chemicals, beverages |
| Geography |
| Location | Southern South America, bordering the South Atlantic Ocean, between Argentina and Brazil |
| Coordinates | 33 00 S, 56 00 W |
| Continent | South America |
| Area |
total: 176,220 sq km
land: 173,620 sq km water: 2,600 sq km |
| Boundaries |
total: 1,648 km
border countries: Argentina 580 km, Brazil 1,068 km |
| Coastline | 660 km |
| Climate | warm temperate; freezing temperatures almost unknown |
| Terrain | mostly rolling plains and low hills; fertile coastal lowland |
| Natural resources | arable land, hydropower, minor minerals, fisheries |
| Natural hazards | 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 |
| People |
| Population | 3,431,932 (July 2006 est.) |
| Ethnic groups | white 88%, mestizo 8%, black 4%, Amerindian (practically nonexistent) |
| Religions | Roman Catholic 66% (less than half of the adult population attends church regularly), Protestant 2%, Jewish 1%, nonprofessing or other 31% |
| Languages | Spanish, Portunol, or Brazilero (Portuguese-Spanish mix on the Brazilian frontier) |
