Uruguay
Updated: Sep 11, 2022
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Country Name
Uruguay, and officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay.
Location
Uruguay is a country in the southeastern region of South America. It is bordered by Argentina to its west and southwest, and Brazil to its north and east, with the Río de la Plata (River of Silver) to the south and the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast.
Capital
Montevideo.
Reason for Naming the country
The Oriental Republic of Uruguay receives its name from its location to the East of the Uruguay River. This geographic factor and many historic reasons determined that the people who are from Uruguay are called " orientals", even though the country is located in the Western Hemisphere. The word " Uruguay" comes from the Guaraní language and means "the river where the bird lives" or "river the uru birds come from".
Flag
The national flag of Uruguay was adopted on December 16, 1828, and it
had 19 stripes until July 11, 1830, when a new law reduced the number of stripes to nine.
Uruguay’s national flag features nine horizontal stripes that alternate between white and blue, 5 white stripes, and 4 Blue stripes. The design starts and ends with a white stripe.
The top left corner is white and features the Sun of May with 16 rays varying between triangular and wavy.
The Sun of May is a national emblem for Uruguay. It is also the national emblem of the nation of Argentina.
This sun represents the Incan sun god Inti, who was worshipped by the Inca Empire. It is a symbol of "the Sun of May" it represents freedom and independence.
The nine stripes represent the nine provinces of Uruguay, which existed at the time of the flag's creation.
*Flag Facts:
- The flag of Uruguay is similar to the flag of Greece in its design, but the canton is different in Uruguay it is a yellow Sun and in Greece's flag, it is a white cross.
- The official name of the national flag is The National Pavilion.
- The flag is also known as The Sun and Stripes.
Language
Spanish is the official language of Uruguay.
Uruguayan Spanish has been influenced over the years by other languages of migrants to the country, especially the Italians.
The Spanish language in Uruguay is thus softer than the Castilian Spanish of Spain, and some words are different between the two variants of the language.
Religion
Uruguay has no official religion, church and state are officially separated since 1919, and in 1966 guarantees religious freedom. About half of the population of Uruguay identifies themselves as Roman Catholic, and some of them follow Protestantism. Primary Protestant denominations include Anglicans, Methodists, Lutherans, and Baptists. Others include Pentecostals, Mennonites, Eastern Orthodox, Mormons, and Jehovah's Witnesses. There are small communities of Jewish, Muslims, and Baha'is.
Currency
Uruguayan peso (UYU).
Time Zone
-03:00 GMT.
Government Regime
Democratic-Republican.
Climate
In Uruguay, the climate is temperate, with mild winters and hot summers, and it is also quite rainy throughout the year. In most of the country, the average temperatures are similar to those of the coasts of the Mediterranean Sea, while in the far north, they are a little higher. However, in Uruguay, in comparison with the Mediterranean climate, even summer is rainy, although this happens because of thunderstorms, which do not reduce by the sunshine hours. In addition, the clash of air masses in Uruguay is more intense, and temperature variations are higher than in the more sheltered Mediterranean Sea.
Winter in Uruguay is fairly mild, but it can be windy and unstable, especially in the south. snowfalls are very rare, even though outbreaks of cold air, brought by the wind called Pampero, can occur throughout the country, from May to September, with possible slight frosts at night. Summer is hot and sunny, though thunderstorms can break out in the afternoon, more likely in the north.
Heatwaves are possible, from December to March in the center and south, and also in November in the far north. Spring and autumn are mild, but the weather is often unstable. Being that Uruguay is in the Southern Hemisphere, the seasons are reversed in comparison with the Northern hemisphere.