Context of Uruguay

Uruguay ( (listen) YOOR-ə-gwy, Spanish: [uɾuˈɣwaj] (listen)), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay or the Eastern 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 181,034 square kilometers (69,898 sq mi) and has a population of an estimated 3,507,384 of whom around 2 million live in the metropol...Read more

Uruguay ( (listen) YOOR-ə-gwy, Spanish: [uɾuˈɣwaj] (listen)), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay or the Eastern 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 181,034 square kilometers (69,898 sq mi) and has a population of an estimated 3,507,384 of whom around 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, when the Portuguese first established Colónia do Sacramento in 1680; Uruguay was colonized by Europeans late relative to neighboring countries. The Spanish founded Montevideo as a military stronghold in the early 18th century because of the competing claims over the region. 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 19th century, with the military playing a recurring role in domestic politics. A series of economic crises and the political repression against left-wing guerrilla activity in the late 1960s and early 1970s put an end to a democratic period that had begun in the early 20th century, culminating in the 1973 coup d'état, which established a civic-military dictatorship. The military government persecuted leftists, socialists, and political opponents, resulting in deaths and numerous instances of torture by the military; the military relinquished power to a civilian government in 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 Latin 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 the continent on economic freedom, income equality, per-capita income, and inflows of FDI. Uruguay is the third-best country 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, and inclusion issues, including its acceptance of the LGBT community. The country has legalized cannabis, same-sex marriage, prostitution and abortion. Uruguay is a founding member of the United Nations, OAS, and Mercosur.

More about Uruguay

Basic information
  • Currency Uruguayan peso
  • Native name Uruguay
  • Calling code +598
  • Internet domain .uy
  • Mains voltage 220V/50Hz
  • Democracy index 8.61
Population, Area & Driving side
  • Population 3444263
  • Area 176215
  • Driving side right
History
  •  
    Monument to the last four Charrúa, the indigenous people of Uruguay
    Pre-colonial

    Uruguay was first inhabited around 13,000 years ago by hunter-gatherers.[1] It is estimated that at the time of the first contact with Europeans in the 16th...Read more

     
    Monument to the last four Charrúa, the indigenous people of Uruguay
    Pre-colonial

    Uruguay was first inhabited around 13,000 years ago by hunter-gatherers.[1] 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.[2]

    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 pre-Columbian agriculture and of extinct pre-Columbian dogs.[3]

    In 1831, its first Constitutional Government, instructed by Act of Parliament, the capture of ethnic groups mainly charrúas that were violating with murder robbery and kidnapping Uruguay's rural peoples. This included the minuanes and guaranis which have been at war with the charrúas for centuries. During the capture in Salsipuedes there were casualties of equivalent numbers on both sides. Ref: Lincoln Maiztegui Casas. Historia de los Orientales.

    Early colonization
     
    The Portuguese established Colonia do Sacramento in 1680.

    The Portuguese were the first Europeans to enter the region of present-day Uruguay in 1512.[4][5] The Spanish arrived in present-day Uruguay in 1516.[6] The indigenous peoples' fierce resistance to conquest, combined with the absence of gold and silver, limited European settlement in the region during the 16th and 17th centuries.[6] Uruguay then became a zone of contention between the Spanish and Portuguese empires. In 1603, the Spanish began to introduce cattle, which became a source of wealth in the region. The first permanent Spanish settlement was founded in 1624 at Soriano on the Río Negro. In 1669–71, the Portuguese built a fort at Colonia del Sacramento (Colônia do Sacramento).

    Montevideo was founded by the Spanish in the early 18th century as a military stronghold in the country. Its natural harbor soon developed into a commercial area competing with Río de la Plata's capital, Buenos Aires.[6] Uruguay's early 19th-century history was shaped by ongoing fights for dominance in the Platine region,[6] 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 a British force from February to September 1807.

    Independence struggle
     
    The oath of the Thirty-Three Orientals in 1825 prior to the beginning of the Cisplatine War, in which Uruguay gained independence from the Empire of Brazil

    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.[6]

    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 for the Banda Oriental in particular.[7] The assembly refused to seat the delegates from the Banda Oriental, however, and Buenos Aires pursued a system based on unitary centralism.[7]

    As a result, Artigas broke with Buenos Aires and besieged Montevideo, taking the city in early 1815.[7] Once the troops from Buenos Aires had withdrawn, the Banda Oriental appointed its first autonomous government.[7] Artigas organized the Federal League under his protection, consisting of six provinces, four of which later became part of Argentina.[7]

    In 1816, a force of 10,000 Portuguese troops invaded the Banda Oriental from Brazil; they took Montevideo in January 1817.[7] After nearly four more years of struggle, the Portuguese Kingdom of Brazil annexed the Banda Oriental as a province under the name of "Cisplatina".[7] 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 (present-day Argentina).[6] 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.[8] The nation's first constitution was adopted on 18 July 1830.[6]

    19th century
     
    Manuel Oribe served as President of Uruguay and led the Blancos in the Civil War.

    At the time of independence, Uruguay had an estimated population of just under 75,000.[9] The political scene in Uruguay became split between two parties: the conservative Blancos (Whites) headed by the second President Manuel Oribe, representing the agricultural interests of the countryside; and the liberal Colorados (Reds) 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.[9] Rivera declared war on Rosas in 1839. The conflict would last 13 years and become known as the Guerra Grande (the Great War).[9]

    In 1843, an Argentine army overran Uruguay on Oribe's behalf but failed to take the capital. The siege of Montevideo, which began in February 1843, would last nine years.[10] 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.[10]

     
    The victory of the Ejército Grande at the Battle of Caseros resulted in the overthrow of Juan Manuel de Rosas.

    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.[10] 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.[10] Montevideo rewarded Brazil's support by signing treaties that confirmed Brazil's right to intervene in Uruguay's internal affairs.[10]

    In accordance with the 1851 treaties, Brazil intervened militarily in Uruguay as often as it deemed necessary.[11] 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[11] and the resulting Paraguayan War ended with the invasion of Paraguay and its defeat by the armies of the three countries. Montevideo, which was used as a supply station by the Brazilian navy, experienced a period of prosperity and relative calm during the war.[11]

    The first railway line was assembled in Uruguay in 1867 with the opening of a branch consisting of a horse-drawn train. The present-day State Railways Administration of Uruguay maintains 2,900 kms of extendable railway network.[12]

    The constitutional government of General Lorenzo Batlle y Grau (1868–72) suppressed the Revolution of the Lances by the Blancos.[13] 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.[13]

     
    Uruguayan troops in trenches at the Battle of Tuyutí in 1866, during the War of the Triple Alliance

    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 party in opposition.[13]

    Despite this agreement, 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 the creation of 16 departments, of which the Blancos now had control over six. Blancos were given ⅓ of seats in Congress.[14] This division of power lasted until the 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.[15] 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 (consisting mainly of businessmen, hacendados, and industrialists) were organized and had a strong influence on government.[15] A transition period (1886–90) followed, during which politicians began recovering lost ground and some civilian participation in government occurred.[15]

    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.[16] The economy reflected a steep upswing (if demonstrated graphically, above all other related economic determinants), in livestock raising and exports.[16] Montevideo became a major economic center of the region and an entrepôt for goods from Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay.[16]

    20th century
     
    Palacio Salvo, built in Montevideo from 1925 to 1928, was once the tallest building in Latin America.

    The Colorado leader José Batlle y Ordóñez was elected president in 1903.[17] The following year, the Blancos led a rural revolt and eight bloody months of fighting ensued before their leader, Aparicio Saravia, was killed in battle. Government forces emerged victorious, leading to the end of the co-participation politics that had begun in 1872.[17] Batlle had two terms (1903–07 and 1911–15) during which, taking advantage of the nation's stability and growing economic prosperity, he instituted major reforms, such as a welfare program, government participation in many facets of the economy, and a plural executive.[6]

    Gabriel Terra became president in March 1931. His inauguration coincided with the effects of the Great Depression,[18] and the social climate became tense as a result of the lack of jobs. There were confrontations in which police and leftists died.[18] In 1933, Terra organized a coup d'état, dissolving the General Assembly and governing by decree.[18] A new constitution was promulgated in 1934, transferring powers to the president.[18] In general, the Terra government weakened or neutralized economic nationalism and social reform.[18]

    In 1938, general elections were held and Terra's brother-in-law, General Alfredo Baldomir, was elected president. Under pressure from organized labor and the National Party, Baldomir advocated free elections, freedom of the press, and a new constitution.[19] Although Baldomir declared Uruguay neutral in 1939, British warships and the German ship Admiral Graf Spee fought a battle not far off Uruguay's coast.[19] The Admiral Graf Spee took refuge in Montevideo, claiming sanctuary in a neutral port, but was later ordered out.[19]

    In the late 1950s, partly because of a worldwide decrease in demand for Uruguyan agricultural products, Uruguayans suffered from a steep drop in their standard of living, which led to student militancy and labor unrest. An armed group of Marxist-Leninist urban guerrillas, known as the Tupamaros emerged in the 1960s, engaging in activities such as bank robbery, kidnapping and assassination, in addition to attempting an overthrow of the government.

    Civic-military and Dictatorship regime

    President Jorge Pacheco declared a state of emergency in 1968, followed by a further suspension of civil liberties in 1972. In 1973, amid increasing economic and political turmoil, the armed forces, asked by the President Juan María Bordaberry, disbanded Parliament and established a civilian-military regime.[6] The CIA-backed campaign of political repression and state terror involving intelligence operations and assassination of opponents was called Operation Condor.[20] The media were censored or banned, the trade union movement was destroyed and tons of books were burned after the banning of some writers' works. People on file as opponents of the regime were excluded from the civil service and from education. According to one source, around 180 Uruguayans are known to have been killed and disappeared, with thousands more illegally detained and tortured during the 12-year civil-military rule of 1973 to 1985.[21] Most were killed in Argentina and other neighboring countries, with 36 of them having been killed in Uruguay.[22] According to Edy Kaufman (cited by David Altman[23]), Uruguay at the time had the highest per capita number of political prisoners in the world. "Kaufman, who spoke at the U.S. Congressional Hearings of 1976 on behalf of Amnesty International, estimated that one in every five Uruguayans went into exile, one in fifty were detained, and one in five hundred went to prison (most of them tortured)." Social spending was reduced and many state-owned companies were privatized. However, the economy did not improve and deteriorated after 1980, the GDP fell by 20% and unemployment rose to 17%. The state intervened by trying to bail out failing companies and banks.[24]

    Return to democracy (1984–present)
     
    Former Uruguayan president Jorge Batlle with former U.S. president George H. W. Bush in 2003

    A new constitution, drafted by the military, was rejected in a November 1980 referendum.[6] Following the referendum, the armed forces announced a plan for the return to civilian rule, and national elections were held in 1984.[6] Colorado Party leader Julio María Sanguinetti won the presidency and served from 1985 to 1990. The first Sanguinetti administration implemented economic reforms and consolidated democracy following the country's years under military rule.[6]

    The National Party's Luis Alberto Lacalle won the 1989 presidential election and amnesty for human rights abusers was endorsed by referendum. Sanguinetti was then re-elected in 1994.[25] Both presidents continued the economic structural reforms initiated after the reinstatement of democracy and other important reforms were aimed at improving the electoral system, social security, education, and public safety.

     
    2011 bicentennial celebrations at the Palacio Legislativo in Montevideo

    The 1999 national elections were held under a new electoral system established by a 1996 constitutional amendment. Colorado Party candidate Jorge Batlle, aided by the support of the National Party, defeated Broad Front candidate Tabaré Vázquez. The formal coalition ended in November 2002, when the Blancos withdrew their ministers from the cabinet,[6] although the Blancos continued to support the Colorados on most issues. On the economic front, the Batlle government (2000–2005) began negotiations with the United States to create the "Free Trade Area of the Americas" (FTAA). The period marked the culmination of a process aimed at a neoliberal reorientation of the country's economy: deindustrialization, pressure on wages, growth of informal work, etc.[26] Low commodity prices and economic difficulties in Uruguay's main export markets (starting in Brazil with the devaluation of the real, then in Argentina in 2002), caused a severe recession; the economy contracted by 11%, unemployment climbed to 21%, and the percentage of Uruguayans in poverty rose to over 30%.[27]

    In 2004, Uruguayans elected Tabaré Vázquez as president, while giving the Broad Front a majority in both houses of Parliament.[28] Vázquez stuck to economic orthodoxy. As commodity prices soared and the economy recovered from the recession, he tripled foreign investment, cut poverty and unemployment, cut public debt from 79% of GDP to 60%, and kept inflation steady.[29]

    In 2009, José Mujica, a former left-wing guerrilla leader (Tupamaros) who spent almost 15 years in prison during the country's military rule, emerged as the new president as the Broad Front won the election for a second time.[30][31] Abortion was legalized in 2012,[32] followed by same-sex marriage[33] and cannabis in the following year.[34]

    In 2014, Tabaré Vázquez was elected to a non-consecutive second presidential term, which began on 1 March 2015.[35] In 2020, he was succeeded by Luis Alberto Lacalle Pou, member of the conservative National Party, after 15 years of left-wing rule, as the 42nd President of Uruguay.[36]

    ^ Cite error: The named reference archivo.presidencia.gub.uy was invoked but never defined (see the help page). ^ Jermyn, Leslie (1 October 1998). Uruguay. Marshall Cavendish. ISBN 9780761408734 – via Internet Archive. uruguay by leslie jermyn. ^ López Mazz, José M. (2001). "Las estructuras tumulares (cerritos) del litoral atlantico uruguayo" (PDF). Latin American Antiquity (in Spanish). 12 (3): 231–255. doi:10.2307/971631. JSTOR 971631. S2CID 163375789 – via JSTOR. ^ Oskar Hermann Khristian Spate (1 November 2004). The Spanish Lake. Canberra: ANU E Press, 2004. p. 37. ISBN 9781920942168. Archived from the original on 11 December 2020. Retrieved 30 September 2020. ^ Bethell, Leslie (1984). The Cambridge History of Latin America, Volume 1, Colonial Latin America. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 257. ISBN 9780521232234. Archived from the original on 11 December 2020. Retrieved 7 October 2020. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs. "Background Note: Uruguay". US Department of State. Archived from the original on 22 January 2017. Retrieved 23 February 2011. ^ a b c d e f g "THE STRUGGLE FOR INDEPENDENCE, 1811–30 – Uruguay". Library of Congress Country Studies. Archived from the original on 30 April 2011. Retrieved 23 February 2011. ^ "Google homenajea a Uruguay". El Observador (in Spanish). 25 August 2012. Archived from the original on 23 August 2018. Retrieved 23 August 2018. ^ a b c "BEGINNINGS OF INDEPENDENT LIFE, 1830–52 – Uruguay". Library of Congress Country Studies. Archived from the original on 30 April 2011. Retrieved 23 February 2011. ^ a b c d e "The Great War, 1843–52 – Uruguay". Library of Congress Country Studies. Archived from the original on 30 April 2011. Retrieved 23 February 2011. ^ a b c "THE STRUGGLE FOR SURVIVAL, 1852–75 – Uruguay". Library of Congress Country Studies. Archived from the original on 30 April 2011. Retrieved 23 February 2011. ^ 7. "URUGUAY-RAILWAY". www.trade.gov. Retrieved 23 December 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) ^ a b c "Caudillos and Political Stability – Uruguay". Library of Congress Country Studies. Archived from the original on 30 April 2011. Retrieved 23 February 2011. ^ Lewis, Paul H. (1 January 2006). Authoritarian Regimes in Latin America: Dictators, Despots, and Tyrants. Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 9780742537392 – via Google Books. ^ a b c "MODERN URUGUAY, 1875–1903 – Uruguay". Library of Congress Country Studies. Archived from the original on 30 April 2011. Retrieved 23 February 2011. ^ a b c "Evolution of the Economy and Society – Uruguay". Library of Congress Country Studies. Archived from the original on 30 April 2011. Retrieved 23 February 2011. ^ a b "THE NEW COUNTRY, 1903–33 – Uruguay". Library of Congress Country Studies. Archived from the original on 30 April 2011. Retrieved 23 February 2011. ^ a b c d e "THE CONSERVATIVE ADJUSTMENT, 1931–43 – Uruguay". Library of Congress Country Studies. Archived from the original on 29 April 2011. Retrieved 23 February 2011. ^ a b c "Baldomir and the End of Dictatorship – Uruguay". Library of Congress Country Studies. Archived from the original on 30 April 2011. Retrieved 23 February 2011. ^ Dinges, John. "Operation Condor". latinamericanstudies.org. Columbia University. Archived from the original on 22 July 2018. Retrieved 6 July 2018. ^ "New find in Uruguay 'missing' dig". BBC News. 3 December 2005. Archived from the original on 11 May 2011. Retrieved 4 February 2011. ^ "Uruguay dig finds 'disappeared'". BBC News. 30 November 2005. Archived from the original on 4 May 2011. Retrieved 4 February 2011. ^ Altman, David (2010). Direct Democracy Worldwide. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1107427099. ^ Uruguay: A Country Study, 1990, Rex A. Hudson and Sandra W. Meditz ^ "Uruguay timeline". BBC News. 12 April 2011. Archived from the original on 27 May 2011. Retrieved 27 April 2011. ^ En el país de las conquistas sindicales, Christophe Ventura, octubre de 2015 ^ Cite error: The named reference cong-r was invoked but never defined (see the help page). ^ Rohter, Larry (November 2004). "Uruguay's Left Makes History by Winning Presidential Vote". The New York Times. ^ "The mystery behind Mujica's mask". The Economist. 22 October 2009. Archived from the original on 3 February 2011. Retrieved 24 February 2011. ^ Barrionuevo, Alexei (29 November 2009). "Leftist Wins Uruguay Presidential Vote". The New York Times. ^ Piette, Candace (30 November 2009). "Uruguay elects José Mujica as president, polls show". BBC News. Archived from the original on 8 February 2011. Retrieved 24 February 2011. ^ "Uruguay legalises abortion". BBC News. 17 October 2012. ^ "Same-sex marriage bill comes into force in Uruguay". BBC News. 5 August 2013. ^ "Uruguay: The world's marijuana pioneer". BBC News. 3 April 2019. ^ "Tabare Vazquez wins Uruguay's run-off election". BBC News. December 2014. ^ "Uruguay's new center-right president sworn in". March 2020.
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Stay safe
  • Stay safe
     
    Night view of Plaza Constitución in Montevideo's old town

    Historically, Uruguay has enjoyed a very low rate of violent crime compared to its neighbors. Thus, Argentines and Brazilians traditionally go on vacation in Uruguay because they love not having to worry about being carjacked, kidnapped, or murdered while on vacation. Even today, Uruguay is still relatively free of those types of crimes.

    However, this does not mean that Uruguay is crime free. The major differences are that most Uruguayan crimes are either nonconfrontational or do not involve the gratuitous use of firearms. Montevideo in particular has seen its crime rate gradually rise since the severe 2001-2002 financial crisis, and now has moderately high levels of theft, burglary, and robbery similar to those found in major U.S. cities. Fortunately, Punta del Este and most rural areas continue to enjoy relatively low crime levels. In Montevideo, take precautions: use a money belt and/or hotel safe for valuables, look alert, keep out of obvious slums, and avoid wandering around unfamiliar or iffy neighborhoods at night. Overall, Montevideo about as safe as large European cities like Paris, Berlin, London or Madrid.

    In a security emergency, call 911 or 999. For firefighters, call, 104. For ambulance, call 105.

    Cannabis is one of the most widely used drugs in the country and legal as well. Uruguay is the first country in the world where the sale, growth and distribution of cannabis is legal. Regarding the legality of marijuana, possession for personal use is not penalized if it concerns minor quantities (a few grams), either Uruguayan or foreign. Possession of major quantities (for example, one kilogram) is illegal and punishable by law. The 2013 legalization of this drug for personal use (medicinal or recreational), sale or storage of the plant (~480 grams per year) is only for Uruguayan citizens of 18 years and above (natural or legal citizenship) with legal capacity. Likewise with alcohol, driving under the influence of marijuana is not allowed, and such breach may carry a fine.

    ...Read more
    Stay safe
     
    Night view of Plaza Constitución in Montevideo's old town

    Historically, Uruguay has enjoyed a very low rate of violent crime compared to its neighbors. Thus, Argentines and Brazilians traditionally go on vacation in Uruguay because they love not having to worry about being carjacked, kidnapped, or murdered while on vacation. Even today, Uruguay is still relatively free of those types of crimes.

    However, this does not mean that Uruguay is crime free. The major differences are that most Uruguayan crimes are either nonconfrontational or do not involve the gratuitous use of firearms. Montevideo in particular has seen its crime rate gradually rise since the severe 2001-2002 financial crisis, and now has moderately high levels of theft, burglary, and robbery similar to those found in major U.S. cities. Fortunately, Punta del Este and most rural areas continue to enjoy relatively low crime levels. In Montevideo, take precautions: use a money belt and/or hotel safe for valuables, look alert, keep out of obvious slums, and avoid wandering around unfamiliar or iffy neighborhoods at night. Overall, Montevideo about as safe as large European cities like Paris, Berlin, London or Madrid.

    In a security emergency, call 911 or 999. For firefighters, call, 104. For ambulance, call 105.

    Cannabis is one of the most widely used drugs in the country and legal as well. Uruguay is the first country in the world where the sale, growth and distribution of cannabis is legal. Regarding the legality of marijuana, possession for personal use is not penalized if it concerns minor quantities (a few grams), either Uruguayan or foreign. Possession of major quantities (for example, one kilogram) is illegal and punishable by law. The 2013 legalization of this drug for personal use (medicinal or recreational), sale or storage of the plant (~480 grams per year) is only for Uruguayan citizens of 18 years and above (natural or legal citizenship) with legal capacity. Likewise with alcohol, driving under the influence of marijuana is not allowed, and such breach may carry a fine.

    Stray dogs can be found all over Uruguay. They might follow you around a bit hoping for food, but they are rarely aggressive. If they come too close for your taste, (pretend to) pick up a stone and they will understand.

    Natural disasters

    In general Uruguay isn't vulnerable to natural disasters, the main exception being floods. If it rains too much, roads can become impassable and riverside houses may need to be evacuated.

    In addition, Uruguay is part of the South America Tornado Corridor, the second most tornado-prone area in the world (behind the United States Tornado Alley). Monitor local media notices and if you see that the sky is dark, the light take on a greenish-yellow cast or a loud sound that sounds like a freight train, this could be an indication of a tornado. Find shelter immediately. Refer to the tornado safety article for analysis of the issues here.

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