PROFILE
Region: Southern South America
Climate: Seasonal, Humid, Subtropical
Leader(s): Tabare Vazquez, since 2015 (at time of writing)
Population: 3.324.460
Capital: Montevideo
Largest City: Montevideo
Currency: Uruguayan Peso
Languages: Spanish
Currency: Uruguayan Peso
Languages: Spanish
Independence: 1825, from Brazil
Territories or Colonies: None
Uruguay was a sort of keystone, where both empires met and of course this was a problem. Portugal controlled much of Brazil, along the coasts and riverbanks. The inner Amazon had not been explored yet. Spain grabbed almost the entirety of the west, as far south as the glaciers of Chile, and France held pockets in between. Uruguay was on the Atlantic end of a long colonial border between the two giants. Even though Uruguay and Spain had been allies in the fight to colonize all of Latin America, the two were still fiercely competitive.
Uruguay and Paraguay may sound similar but their geographic placement makes them quite different. While Uruguay was very heavily colonized with tons of missions and churches built. Montevideo like most South American cities has an old colonial center. However, Paraguay is in the category of countries that are inland and weren't colonized until later. This is why countries like Bolivia (which was one of the most inaccessible areas) weren't as heavily colonized.
The Portuguese began by building a capital city Colonia do Sacramento. The capital later moved to Montevideo in the early 18th century when Spain got involved. Colonia do Sacramento was designed as a gateway for Portugal to the Southern portion of the continent, but they were never able to colonize farther south because of Spanish influence.
RUSH FOR URUGUAY (1600s-1811)
The Spanish saw the threat of the Portuguese incursion and rushed to build their own settlement and capital city in 1726, calling it Montevideo. It was settled by Bruno Mauricio de Zabala who was a.) named Zabala and was b.) a pirate hunter, so he had a lot going on.
In 1750 the treaty of Madrid was signed by Ferdinand the Sixth and John the Fifth of Spain and Portugal respectively. John wasn't super into Ferdinand on account of his wife being Austrian and Ferdinand inciting a useless war against them based on false information.
Meanwhile the Uruguayan native and mestizo people are being fucked because this constant squabbling between two colonial powers was the cause of trade problems and skirmishes.
It took twenty years for the Spanish to fully gain control of the land by just flooding it with Spanish cows and cowboys and saying "Those are Spanish cows, not Portuguese cows, so get the fuck out". This was back when socio-political conflicts could be solved with cows.
Spain held on to their colonial possession pretty evenly until 1806, when Britain decided it wanted in. Britain hadn't been very present in Latin America except for in Guyana, Honduras & Belize and most people don't think of the British when they're talking about Latin America.
Britain however was present in the region, even conquering the Falkland Islands later. At this time however Spain had taken over the Falklands and this made Britain mad, so it attempted a takeover. This however, as you may have guessed, was a failure, as they don't speak English in Uruguay.
Territories or Colonies: None
THE FACTS
Uruguay, officially the Oriental (Eastern) Republic of Uruguay, (the Western Republic of Uruguay technically being the Entre Rios province of Argentina, as it is on the west bank of the Uruguay River, while Uruguay is on the east.) Uruguay is a relatively small country in South America that is often confused with the other -guay nation, Paraguay.
Uruguay has a high Human Development Index and is advanced when it comes to things like political freedom and clean water. Montevideo, the capital, is rated as the best city in South America to live in based on census and WHO data.
BEFORE AND DURING COLONIZATION (????-1600s)
Uruguay shares a lot of its pre-European history with Brazil, and in fact a lot of its post-European history as well. Uruguay was a province of Brazil for a while and much of its culture as well as customs and cuisine are similar. You may think that because Uruguay was a province of Brazil it speaks Portuguese, but Uruguay speaks its own dialect of Spanish: Uruguayan Spanish, which like Argentine Spanish has some differences from say Mexican Spanish, or Spanish Spanish. It has a large Italian influence, like neighboring Argentina’s Spanish.
Uruguay shares a lot of its pre-European history with Brazil, and in fact a lot of its post-European history as well. Uruguay was a province of Brazil for a while and much of its culture as well as customs and cuisine are similar. You may think that because Uruguay was a province of Brazil it speaks Portuguese, but Uruguay speaks its own dialect of Spanish: Uruguayan Spanish, which like Argentine Spanish has some differences from say Mexican Spanish, or Spanish Spanish. It has a large Italian influence, like neighboring Argentina’s Spanish.
The indigenous peoples of the area, were very similar to the indigenous people groups in Southern Brazil. Uruguay was hit especially hard by the arrival of Europeans. Most Central American, South American and Caribbean countries’ populations are made up of people who mostly descend from European settlers and native peoples. These people are called Mestizo, Mestiso, Creole or Kreyol. Uruguay followed a path more similar to that of the United States. The Europeans didn’t really mingle with the native people in Uruguay as they did in other places. The European settlers instead nearly wiped out the native population with disease and constant attack.
Sadly today, there are very few if any native indigenous Uruguayans.
Colonization first began 14 Years after Columbus landed on the continent. The Portuguese wanted a piece of the colonization cake and (as you probably guessed) they got it. Portugal had a fairly expansive colonial empire, if you take into account the fact that it was all based in a country roughly the size of Maine, with only about a million people. Portugal grabbed hold of Eastern South America, while Spain dominated Northern and Western South America.
Uruguay was a sort of keystone, where both empires met and of course this was a problem. Portugal controlled much of Brazil, along the coasts and riverbanks. The inner Amazon had not been explored yet. Spain grabbed almost the entirety of the west, as far south as the glaciers of Chile, and France held pockets in between. Uruguay was on the Atlantic end of a long colonial border between the two giants. Even though Uruguay and Spain had been allies in the fight to colonize all of Latin America, the two were still fiercely competitive.
Uruguay and Paraguay may sound similar but their geographic placement makes them quite different. While Uruguay was very heavily colonized with tons of missions and churches built. Montevideo like most South American cities has an old colonial center. However, Paraguay is in the category of countries that are inland and weren't colonized until later. This is why countries like Bolivia (which was one of the most inaccessible areas) weren't as heavily colonized.
The Portuguese began by building a capital city Colonia do Sacramento. The capital later moved to Montevideo in the early 18th century when Spain got involved. Colonia do Sacramento was designed as a gateway for Portugal to the Southern portion of the continent, but they were never able to colonize farther south because of Spanish influence.
RUSH FOR URUGUAY (1600s-1811)
The Spanish saw the threat of the Portuguese incursion and rushed to build their own settlement and capital city in 1726, calling it Montevideo. It was settled by Bruno Mauricio de Zabala who was a.) named Zabala and was b.) a pirate hunter, so he had a lot going on.
In 1750 the treaty of Madrid was signed by Ferdinand the Sixth and John the Fifth of Spain and Portugal respectively. John wasn't super into Ferdinand on account of his wife being Austrian and Ferdinand inciting a useless war against them based on false information.
Meanwhile the Uruguayan native and mestizo people are being fucked because this constant squabbling between two colonial powers was the cause of trade problems and skirmishes.
It took twenty years for the Spanish to fully gain control of the land by just flooding it with Spanish cows and cowboys and saying "Those are Spanish cows, not Portuguese cows, so get the fuck out". This was back when socio-political conflicts could be solved with cows.
Spain held on to their colonial possession pretty evenly until 1806, when Britain decided it wanted in. Britain hadn't been very present in Latin America except for in Guyana, Honduras & Belize and most people don't think of the British when they're talking about Latin America.
Britain however was present in the region, even conquering the Falkland Islands later. At this time however Spain had taken over the Falklands and this made Britain mad, so it attempted a takeover. This however, as you may have guessed, was a failure, as they don't speak English in Uruguay.
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