Fast Facts
- Named for: The full name is the Oriental Republic of Uruguay because it is the country called “bird-river” east of the “bird-river” river. Is that River cubed?
- Capital: Montevideo
- Long/Lat: 34.5 S/56.1 E, 6,000 miles east of Castro Valley, 10 hours.
- Population: 3.5 million or 53 Castro Valleys
- Size: 68,000 sq mi or 3700 Castro Valleys
- Avg temp in April: 75 F/22 C, getting cooler since winter is coming in June
- Median income: $25,000 annual
- Ethnicity: 86% white, 10% Black, 6% indigenous (White ~ probably mixed)
- Main industries: Cattle & Sheep, telecom, energy production
Uruguay is the South American country that I always forget. It’s neither land-locked nor mountainous, like Paraguay or Bolivia. It wasn’t the site of ancient pyramids or the discovery of the potato, like Peru. It’s just hanging out there between those giants, Brazil and Argentina. As we’ve seen with many of these small countries, they often act as a buffer zone, a between area that is influenced by its giant neighbors.
The early Uruguay people included extensive settlements built by the Charrúa, Chaná, and Guaraní tribes, whose villages dated back at least 13,000 years. There are barrows called tumuli sprinkled throughout the country, which has rolling hills and greenery. The people lived in lands of plenty, but lacking gold or ores which Europeans sought. When the Spanish and Portuguese came–with they both did–the colonizers focused more on Brazil and Argentina.
Still, they did establish colonies in Uruguay. The first European to get credit was Juan Díaz de Solís. Curiously, there are debates about whether he was Spanish or Portuguese; both countries claim him and spell his name two different ways. One story also suggests that when his ship left home, his wife was found dead, so maybe he was using an alias.
Continue reading “U is for Uruguay”
