Uruguay

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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.​