Country Profile: Uruguay -- by Mickey

The flag of Uruguay.

 Does the Uruguayan flag look familiar? That's because Uruguay wanted it to look like the American and Argentine flags. There are nine equal horizontal stripes of alternating white and blue, with a sun symbol in the corner.

Geograhy

A map showing Uruguay's administrative districts.

Uruguay is located in South America, with the south Alantic Ocean on its East coast and Brazil on its northern border. If we total the area of Uruguay's lands, it is 176,215 square km. Compared to the rest of the world's countries, it is 91st in size. The weather is always warm in Uruguay. Also, there are some plains, hills and lowlands.

Economy

Fishing is a major export industry for Uruguay.

Uruguay has a free-market economy characterized by an export - oriented agricultural sector, especially fishing. There were financial difficulties in late 1990s and early 200s, economic grow for  Uruguay averaged 8% annually during the period 2004-08. At 2006, has in  creased by nearly 70% more than $20 billion. They had trade the foods that is made and electronics. They also have  many resources. For an example, there are soy beans, beef, fish, rice, diary and lumber.

People & Culture

A Uruguayan church.

Uruguayans are overwhelmingly descended from colonial European settlers, mostly Spanish and/or Italian. Native people make up approximately six percent of the population. Spanish and Portugese are the main languages spoken.

Due to the large Spanish and Italian makeup of the population, most Uruguayans are Catholic.