Portal:Uruguay

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The Uruguay Portal

Sun of May of Uruguay
Sun of May of Uruguay
Location of Uruguay

Uruguay (/ˈjʊərəɡw/ YOOR-ə-gwy, Spanish: [uɾuˈɣwaj] ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay (Spanish: República Oriental del 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 176,215 square kilometres (68,037 sq mi) and has a population of around 3.4 million, 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 predominant tribe at the moment of the arrival of Europeans was the Charrúa people, while there were also other tribes, such as the Guaraní and the Chaná, when the Portuguese first established Colónia do Sacramento in 1680; Uruguay was colonized by Europeans later than its neighboring countries.

The Spanish founded Montevideo as a military stronghold in the early 18th century due competing claims over the region, while Uruguay won its independence between 1811 and 1828, following a four-way struggle between Portugal and Spain, and later Argentina and Brazil. It remained subject to foreign influence and intervention throughout the first half of the 19th century. From the late 19th century to the early 20th century, numerous pioneering economic, labor and social reforms were implemented, which led to the creation of a highly developed welfare state, which is why the country began to be known as "Switzerland of the Americas". However, 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 that lasted 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 ranked first in the Americas for democracy, and first in South America in peace, low perception of corruption, and e-government. It is the lowest-ranking South American nation in the Global Terrorism Index, and ranks second in South America on economic freedom, income equality, per capita income, and inflows of FDI. Uruguay is ranked third on the continent in terms of Human Development Index, GDP growth, innovation, and infrastructure. Uruguay is regarded as one of the most socially progressive countries in Latin America. It ranks high on global measures of personal rights, tolerance, democracy, and inclusion issues, including its acceptance of the LGBT community. The country has fully legalized cannabis (the first country in the world to do so) as well as same-sex marriage, prostitution, and abortion. It is a founding member of the United Nations, OAS, and Mercosur. (Full article...)

ANTEL (Spanish: Administración Nacional de Telecomunicaciones, lit.'National Administration of Telecommunications') is Uruguay's government-owned telecommunications company, founded in 1974 as a separate legal entity after spinning off the telecommunications division of UTE, which had the monopoly of landline telephony since 1931. The company has a monopoly of landline telephony and data services in the country. They also provide mobile phone services (in direct competition with Claro and Movistar) and Internet-related services, being the only provider of ADSL and land-line data services because of the monopoly situation. (Full article...)

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Plaza Independencia, Ciudad Vieja

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Fuerte de San Miguel

  • ... that one outpost of Uruguay's Fuerte San Miguel (pictured) has a wall and small window that appears like a cave or an animal burrow?

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Hendler in 2014
Daniel Hendler (born 3 January 1976) is a Uruguayan film, television, and theatre actor who works mainly in the cinema of Argentina, where he lives. He is known for his starring roles in films such as Bottom of the Sea, Family Law, The Paranoids, Phase 7 and award-winning Lost Embrace by director Daniel Burman, with whom he worked many times. Working on both sides of the Río de la Plata, Hendler achieved international recognition due to his awards as an actor. In 2004, he won the Silver Bear for Best Actor at the Berlin Film Festival for his performance in Lost Embrace. He made his debut as screenwriter and director with the film Norberto's Deadline in 2010. Hendler is part of the generation of actors who revitalized the Uruguayan cinema with films like 25 Watts, and is one of the regular actors of the so-called New Argentine Cinema. (Full article...)

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