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.
Whatever the origins of de Solis, both Portugal and Spain were scrambling for “ownership” of Uruguay. If you’ve been to Portugal, they trumpet their explorer’s history, notably in a maritime museum that beings with a big map of the world on the wall. The map hearkens back to the 1494 Treaty of Tordesillas. After Columbus brought back information about the “new world,” Pope Julius II split the Atlantic between colonies to be “owned” by Spain and those for Portugal. The line went through Brazil, which is why it ended up Portuguese along with Africa, where Henry the Navigator was sending ships. The New World “went” to Spain, although Uruguay would have been in a disputed area, being conceptually close to the dotted line. Even in this ridiculous notion of a world division, there would be border disputes (with no one asking any of the indigenous people, naturally).
They called it Banda Oriental del Rio Uruguay: the strip to the east of the Uruguay River (Uruguay referring to a local bird). A military base/capital was situated on Montevideo in Uruguay. No one is sure why it was named this, other than it was on a hill (monte). The best explanation is “hill that looks like a hat.”
The Spanish, Portuguese, and British tussled back and forth until the 1820s. A core group in Uruguay were first to throw out the Europeans at the Battle of the Stones (1811). The Argentinians took longer, but they allied with the Uruguay folks, and under the leadership of the local hero Jose Artigas, sought independence through a group called the Thirty-Three Orientals. Over the next 150 years, the region became independent from the Spanish, pushed away from Argentina, then seesawed back and forth under various dictators until 1985.
Since 1985, Uruguay has stayed independent and small. Even though it underwent a series of military coups, leaders early in the twentieth century instituted social reforms for the benefit of the population, i.e., socialism, which has earned it the label of “welfare state.” Although some of the military leaders jailed or executed their opponents, some of these benefits continued, and when free elections finally returned, Uruguay flourished both in business and its treatment of its people.
Thus, Uruguay is called the “Switzerland of South America,” apparently because it might be a nice place to live–politically stable, strong economy, large prosperous middle class. (I had to look up “welfare state” but my read on this is heavy taxes but great benefits. How did we get to the point where benefits for us is a bad thing? Brainwashing! As opposed to the US where we pay corporations a high cost to receive very little benefits. And so ends my editorial.)
Meanwhile, Uruguay and Argentina have this joined-at-the-hip sibling rivalry going on. Part of can be seen in their modern flags. Similar colors of blue and white stripes with a big yellow sun. For Uruguay, the Sol de May, the sun symbolizes it breaking through the clouds in 1810, when they declared independence. The sun’s human face represents Inti, a sun god of the Incas because the flag designer was an Inca descendant, even though the Incas were never in Uruguay. The flag has 16 rays to reflect European traditions, where the “sun in splendor” alternates straight and wavy rays. Argentina’s flag has 32 rays, deliberately twice as much because they wanted to lord it over their neighbors, or maybe wanted to be better than Europeans, same difference.
That rivalry between the two countries naturally spilled over into sport. The Big sport for both countries is, of course, fútbol. Argentina, home to the famed Lionel Messi, has won World Cups, Olympic medals, and many of the South American tournaments. However, Uruguay “punches above its weight” for their beloved sport given how much smaller they are. They nevertheless have won the Copa América only one fewer time than Argentina. The long-tie rivalry is called the Clásico del Río de la Plata, kind of like the Giants/Dodgers in Spanish.
Naturally, I was excited to see–an Olympic connection! Uruguay’s first entry into the Games was Paris 1924, and they won the football gold medal back-to-back. South America had never fielded a team before, and they came with a style that was fluid and fast, shredded all the European teams. This, despite the wrong anthem being played and their flag flown upside down, because no one had ever heard of Uruguay before. Knowing that the Yugoslavians (fierce Olympians) were watching their training practice, they played badly on purpose, then beat the Yugoslavs 7-0. Their star was José Leandro Andrade, dubbed “La Merveille Noire”–the Black Marvel–by the French press. One story said he dribbled the ball down one length of the pitch using only his head.
Reportedly, Jules Rimet, the president of FIFA, was so impressed by their style of play, that he started plans for a World Cup so that a world version of the game could be played in addition to the Olympic Games. Quite a claim to fame for the tiny little country east of the river!