Uruguay
Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast, while bordering the Río de la Plata to the south and the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast. It is part of the Southern Cone region of South America. Uruguay covers an area of approximately. It has a population of almost 3.5 million people, of whom nearly 2 million live in the metropolitan area of its capital and largest city, Montevideo.
The area that became Uruguay was first inhabited by groups of hunter gatherers 13,000 years ago. The first European explorer to reach the region was Juan Díaz de Solís in 1516, but the area was colonized later than its neighbors. At the time of European arrival, the Charrúa were the predominant tribe, alongside other groups such as the Guaraní and the Chaná. However, none of these peoples were socially or politically organized in large groups, which contributed to their decline. Amid territorial disputes, the Portuguese established Colônia do Sacramento in 1680, and the Spanish founded Montevideo as a military stronghold. Uruguay secured its independence between 1811 and 1828, following a four-way struggle involving Portugal, Spain, and later the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata and the Empire of Brazil. In 1830, the country enacted its constitution and was formally established as an independent state.
During the early years following its independence, Uruguay remained subject to foreign influence and intervention, along with a series of internal conflicts and political turmoil. From the second half of the 19th century, the country saw significant waves of European migration—mainly from Spain, Italy, and France—which greatly influenced its demographics and laid the foundation for modern-day Uruguayan culture and society. National politics were dominated by two political parties: the Colorado Party and the National Party, which clashed in several civil wars during the 19th century and are collectively known as the 'Traditional Parties'. In the early 20th century, a series of pioneering economic, labor, and social reforms laid the foundations of an advanced welfare state. Combined with a period of sustained political stability, these developments earned the country the reputation of being the “Switzerland of the Americas.” A series of economic crises and the fight against far-left urban guerrilla warfare in the late 1960s and early 1970s culminated in the 1973 coup d'état, which established a civic-military dictatorship until 1985. Uruguay is today a democratic constitutional republic, with a president who serves as both head of state and head of government.
Uruguay is highly ranked in international measurements of democracy, government transparency, economic freedom, social progress, income equality, per capita income, innovation, and infrastructure. It is classified as a high-income economy. It is also highly socially liberal, and has fully legalized cannabis—the first country in the world to do so—as well as same-sex marriage, abortion and euthanasia. Uruguay is also a founding member of the United Nations, the OAS, and Mercosur.
Etymology
The country of Uruguay takes its name from the Río Uruguay in the Indigenous Guaraní language. There are several interpretations, including "bird-river". The name could also refer to a river snail called uruguá that was plentiful across its shores.One of the most popular interpretations of the name was proposed by the renowned Uruguayan poet Juan Zorrilla de San Martín, "the river of painted birds"; this interpretation, although dubious, still holds an important cultural significance in the country.
In Spanish colonial times and for some time thereafter, Uruguay and some neighboring territories were called Banda Oriental , then for a few years the Provincia Oriental.
Since its independence, the country has been known as "República Oriental del Uruguay", which literally translates to "Republic East of the Uruguay ". However, it is officially translated either as the "Oriental Republic of Uruguay" or the "Eastern Republic of Uruguay".
History
Prehistory
Human presence in the region now known as Uruguay dates back approximately 13,000 years, with evidence of hunter-gatherer communities. It is estimated that at the time of the first contact with Europeans in the 16th century, there were about 9,000 Charrúa and 6,000 Chaná and some Guaraní island settlements.There is an extensive archeological collection of man-made tumuli known as "Cerritos de Indios" in the eastern part of the country, some of them dating back to 5,000 years ago. Very little is known about the people who built them as they left no written record, but evidence has been found in place of indigenous agriculture and of extinct indigenous woolly dogs.
Colonial rule
The Portuguese were the first Europeans to enter the region of present-day Uruguay in 1512. The Spanish arrived in present-day Uruguay in 1515 but were the first to set foot in the area, claiming it for the crown. The indigenous peoples' fierce resistance to conquest, combined with the absence of valuable resources, limited European settlement in the region during the 16th and 17th centuries. Uruguay then became a zone of contention between the Spanish and Portuguese empires. In 1603, the Spanish began introducing cattle, which became a source of regional wealth. The first permanent Spanish settlement was founded in 1624 at Soriano on the Río Negro. In 1680, the Portuguese built a fort at Colonia del Sacramento.Montevideo, the current capital of Uruguay, was founded by the Spanish in 1726 as a military stronghold. Its natural harbor soon developed into a commercial area competing with Río de la Plata's capital, Buenos Aires. Uruguay's early 19th-century history was shaped by ongoing fights for dominance in the Platine region between British, Spanish, Portuguese, and other colonial forces. In 1806 and 1807, the British army attempted to seize Buenos Aires and Montevideo as part of the Napoleonic Wars. Montevideo was occupied by British forces from February to September 1807.
Independence struggle
In 1811, José Gervasio Artigas, who became Uruguay's national hero, launched a successful revolt against the Spanish authorities, defeating them on 18 May at the Battle of Las Piedras. In 1813, the new government in Buenos Aires convened a constituent assembly where Artigas emerged as a champion of federalism, demanding political and economic autonomy for each area and the Banda Oriental in particular. The assembly refused to seat the delegates from the Banda Oriental; however, Buenos Aires pursued a system based on unitary centralism.As a result, Artigas broke with Buenos Aires and besieged Montevideo, taking the city in early 1815. Once the troops from Buenos Aires had withdrawn, the Banda Oriental appointed its first autonomous government. Artigas organized the Federal League under his protection, consisting of six provinces, five of which later became part of Argentina.
In 1816, 10,000 Portuguese troops invaded the Banda Oriental from Brazil; they took Montevideo in January 1817. After nearly four more years of struggle, the Portuguese Kingdom of Brazil annexed the Banda Oriental as a province under the name of "Cisplatina". The Brazilian Empire became independent of Portugal in 1822. In response to the annexation, the Thirty-Three Orientals, led by Juan Antonio Lavalleja, declared independence on 25 August 1825, supported by the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata. This led to the 500-day-long Cisplatine War. Neither side gained the upper hand, and in 1828, the Treaty of Montevideo, fostered by the United Kingdom through the diplomatic efforts of Viscount John Ponsonby, gave birth to Uruguay as an independent state. 25 August is celebrated as Independence Day, a national holiday. The nation's first constitution was adopted on 18 July 1830.
19th century
At the time of independence, Uruguay had an estimated population of just under 75,000. The political scene in Uruguay became split between two parties: the conservative Blancos, headed by the second President Manuel Oribe, representing the agricultural interests of the countryside, and the liberal Colorados, led by the first President Fructuoso Rivera, representing the business interests of Montevideo. The Uruguayan parties received support from warring political factions in neighboring Argentina, which became involved in Uruguayan affairs.The Colorados favored the exiled Argentine liberal Unitarios, many of whom had taken refuge in Montevideo, while the Blanco president Manuel Oribe was a close friend of the Argentine ruler Manuel de Rosas. On 15 June 1838, an army led by the Colorado leader Rivera overthrew President Oribe, who fled to Argentina. Rivera declared war on Rosas in 1839. The conflict would last 13 years and become known as the Guerra Grande. In 1843, an Argentine army overran Uruguay on Oribe's behalf but failed to take the capital. The siege of Montevideo began in February 1843 and lasted nine years. The besieged Uruguayans called on resident foreigners for help, which led to a French and an Italian legion being formed, the latter led by the exiled Giuseppe Garibaldi.
File:Battle of Sarandi, Juan Manuel Blanes.jpg|thumb|In 1825, in the Battle of Sarandí, Uruguayan troops first defeated the Brazilian Empire.
In 1845, Britain and France intervened against Rosas to restore commerce to normal levels in the region. Their efforts proved ineffective, and by 1849, tired of the war, both withdrew after signing a treaty favorable to Rosas. It appeared that Montevideo would finally fall when an uprising against Rosas, led by Justo José de Urquiza, governor of Argentina's Entre Ríos Province, began. The Brazilian intervention in May 1851 on behalf of the Colorados, combined with the uprising, changed the situation, and Oribe was defeated. The siege of Montevideo was lifted, and the Guerra Grande finally came to an end. Montevideo rewarded Brazil's support by signing treaties that confirmed Brazil's right to intervene in Uruguay's internal affairs.
In accordance with the 1851 treaties, Brazil intervened militarily in Uruguay as often as it deemed necessary. In 1865, the Triple Alliance was formed by the emperor of Brazil, the president of Argentina, and the Colorado general Venancio Flores, the Uruguayan head of government whom they both had helped to gain power. The Triple Alliance declared war on the Paraguayan leader Francisco Solano López. The resulting Paraguayan War ended with the invasion of Paraguay and its defeat by the armies of the three countries. Montevideo was used as a supply station by the Brazilian navy, and it experienced a period of prosperity and relative calm during the war.
The first railway line was assembled in Uruguay in 1867, and a branch consisting of a horse-drawn train was opened. The present-day State Railways Administration of Uruguay maintains of extendable railway network.
The constitutional government of General Lorenzo Batlle y Grau suppressed the Revolution of the Lances by the Blancos. After two years of struggle, a peace agreement was signed in 1872 that gave the Blancos a share in the emoluments and functions of government through control of four of the departments of Uruguay. This establishment of the policy of co-participation represented the search for a new formula of compromise based on the coexistence of the party in power and the opposition party. Despite this agreement, the Colorado rule was threatened by the failed Tricolor Revolution in 1875 and the Revolution of the Quebracho in 1886.
The Colorado effort to reduce Blancos to only three departments caused a Blanco uprising of 1897, which ended with creating 16 departments, of which the Blancos now had control over six. Blancos were given ⅓ seats in Congress. This division of power lasted until President Jose Batlle y Ordonez instituted his political reforms, which caused the last uprising by Blancos in 1904 that ended with the Battle of Masoller and the death of Blanco leader Aparicio Saravia.
Between 1875 and 1890, the military became the center of power. During this authoritarian period, the government took steps toward the organization of the country as a modern state, encouraging its economic and social transformation. Pressure groups were organized and had a strong influence on the government. A transition period followed, during which politicians began recovering lost ground, and some civilian participation in government occurred. After the Guerra Grande, there was a sharp rise in the number of immigrants, primarily from Italy and Spain. By 1879, the total population of the country was over 438,500. The economy reflected a steep upswing in livestock raising and exports. Montevideo became a major financial center of the region and an entrepôt for goods from Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay.