URUGUAY

Description: nine horizontal white and blue stripes with white square in the upper left corner and a yellow sun with a human-type face, which is known as the Sun of May with 16 rays that are triangular and curvy.

NAME: La República Oriental del Uruguay (Eastern Republic of the Uruguay)

POPULATION: 3,500,000 (2008); 3,300,000 (2014)

CAPITAL: Montevideo (1,500,000)

OFFICIAL LANGUAGE: Spanish

GOVERNMENT: Democratic constitutional republic

ETHNIC GROUPS: white 88%, mestizo 8%, black 4%, Amerindian (none)

LIFE EXPECTANCY: men, 72; women, 79

LITERACY: 98%

MONEY: Uruguayan Peso (UYU) )(24.0 = 1 $USD)

INDUSTRIES: Cattle, rice, leather, wool, fish, dairy products

INTERNET CODE: .uy

HISTORY:

1000-1500 Charrúas Indians

1516 First Spanish explorers arrive in Charrúa (present-day Uruguayan) territory

1527 Sebastián Gaboto constructed first Spanish fortification on the eastern bank of the Río de la Plata near the Paraná River.

1574 Juan Ortiz de Zárate founded the first Spanish town near present-day Dolores.

1624 Jesuit missionaries founded a mission reservation on the Río Negro near the Río Uruguay. It was called Santo Domingo Soriano.

Uruguay was called the Banda Oriental (eastern shore)

1726 Montevideo was founded (etymology uncertain)

1749 Spain sends first governor to Uruguay.

1806 – 1807 England invades Montevideo (and Buenos Aires), but England was repulsed.

1811 By the Grito de Asencio the war for independence from Spain began.

José Gervasio Artigas is the hero of Uruguayan independence.

1821 The Provincia Oriental del Río de la Plata, or Banda Oriental, was annexed by Brazil.

1825 Independent Argentinians invade Brazil's new province, expel the Brazilians, and Uruguay joins Argentina as the Provincias Unidas del Río de la Plata (nowadays, Argentina).

1830 First Uruguayan constitution, even though Brazil still occupies mucho f the country.

1830 – 1852 Conflicts between Argentinian and Brazilian factions and incursions in Uruguayan territory.

1876 Uruguay begins to modernize

1877 Modern education law promulgated

1931 – 1937 Dictatorial president rules: Gabriel Terra

1973 – 1985 Guerra sucia by military dictatorship against leftist rebels including the Tupamaros.

1985 Uruguay returns to civilian democracy under president Julio María Sanguinetti

1985 – 2007 Free democratic elections

2004 Tabaré Vázquez elected president for the left-leaning political party: Encuentro Progresista-Frente Amplio-Nueva Mayoría (first time in 174 years that the Partido Colorado—origins in Argentina—does not dominate Uruguayan politics).

2010 José (Pepe) Mujica Cordano elected president of the Frente Amplio (Broad Front) political party (coalition of a number of parties)

MAJOR INTELLECTUALS:

Poetry: Julio Herrera y Reissig (1875 – 1910): second Modernist generation of poets

Prose fiction and essay: Teresa Porzecanski (b. 1945). She is a Jewish (Ashkenazi and Sephardic) Uruguayan writer and anthropologist whose works focus on Jewish themes about life in Uruguay—especially Montevideo—but with roots in Middle Eastern Jewish myths, legends, and customs. Her writing is especially lucid regarding women’s eroticism, food and food preparation. Her works have been translated into a number of languages. Highly recommended is her novel Perfumes de Cartago (1994). She is a professor at the Catholic University of Uruguay.

Essay: José Enrique Rodó (1872 – 1917): Modernist essayist, Ariel (1900).