Some facts of Uruguay

Name of the country: República Oriental del Uruguay
Capital: Montevideo
Borders: 579 km with Argentina, 985 km with Brasil, 660 beaches.
Highest mountain: 514 meter (Cerro Catedral)
Area: 176215 km2
Country`s population: 3.399.239, from which 1.750.100 are in Montevideo.
Language: Spanish
Religion: 66% catholics, 2% protestant, 1% jews, others 31%.
Politics: Constitutional Republic Country is divided into 19 departments
President: Dr. Tabare Vazquez
Coin: Uruguayan peso
Main exportations: (milk, meat, wool, rice, leather)
Main importations: (machines, chimics, cars, oil)
Main business partners: Brasil, Argentina, United States, Germany, Italy and Venezuela
Telephone: to call to Uruguay you have to dial 00 598 + city 2 (Montevideo).
Weather: Uruguay doesn`t have extreme climates as very cold or very hot. We could call a typical oceanique temperate weather. The hottest weather is in January and the coldest is july. Be prepared for quick changes of weather.
Seasons: spring and autumn are really nice time to visit Uruguay. Summer, if you are happy to swet a little, it can be very nice too. Winter is not icy or snowy, in Uruguay never snows, only in mid july, you can see ice on top of the grass.
Security: even though at Montevideo, there are crimes and thiefs Uruguay is one of the safest countries in South America.
Water: you can drink it any where from the tab.

24 years after columbus arrived in America, Juan Díaz de Solís, the Spanish expeditionary discovered Uruguayan territory. In 1617, the governor Fernando Arias de Saavedra,realizes that the real richness of this region was the abundant natural prairies and the inexhaustible water supply. This gave rise to extraordinary cattle and sheep farming development. The first cows and sheep were introduced to Uruguay at that time and rapidly flourished to become one of the world"s most prosperous cattle breeding economies, reaching 9 million cows and 25 million sheep by the year 1990. The population of Uruguay is 3 million, inhabiting a territory of 176.214km2

Historical dates

10.000 AC 1525 DC: Charruas
1525: discover of the River Plate
1680: Portuguese found Colonia del Sacramento
1777: jesuits are expulsed from america
1726: Montevideo was founded by the Spanish
1807: We were invaded by the English
1813: Provisory Government directed by Jose Artigas (our national hero)
1815: Argentines leave Uruguay
1816: Portuguese back in Uruguay
1828: Independence of Uruguay
1830- 2008 democratic governments except for 2 periods 1875-1880 and 1975 to 1985 where we had militars dictatorships.