Uruguay Fact File - General Information

Population: 3,415,920 (July 2005, estimated)

Area: 173,620 square kilometers (67,820 square miles)

Population density: 8 per square mile

Capital: Montevideo

Population: 1,326,000

Geography: Uruguay is the second smallest South American nation and is situated on the Atlantic coast of the continent between Brazil and Argentina. Uruguay's landscape is characterized by rolling, grassy plains in the south and some sweeping slopes in the north, divided by wide, wooded valleys of meadows and lazy rivers.

Climate: Uruguay's climate can be defined as temperate. Average temperatures range between 70° F - 82° F throughout the summer months, but can sometimes peak into the 90's along the coastal areas. During winter months, temperatures normally range between 50° F- 61° F.

Government: Uruguay is a democratic constitutional republic in which a popular vote decides the presidency.

Head of State and Government: Tabaré Ramón Vázquez Rosas, since March 01, 2005

Language: Spanish (official), Portuguese. English is most often selected as a second language in Uruguay, especially in the business sectors.

Religion: Roman Catholic (66%), Protestant, Jewish

Electricity: 220V 50Hz, continental flat three-pin or round two-pin plugs

Currency: The official unit of currency is the Uruguay Peso.

Telephone: Country dialing code 598. Outgoing international code: 00.

Internet/E-mail: Internet access is now quite widely available in Uruguay and it is very reasonably priced.

Press: All Uruguayan newspapers are in Spanish. The most popular titles are La Mañana, El Observador, El País and Ultimas Noticias.

Mail: The postal services in Uruguay have a reputation for unreliability and it is recommended that you send anything of importance through registered mail or a private mail company, such as DHL or FedEx.

Time Zone: GMT-3: Three hours behind EST when not in daylight saving time. However, it should be noted that the daylight saving change in Uruguay is different than the U.S., so there will exist a one to two hour variance during daylight saving periods.

Tipping: 10% when no service charge is added. Taxi drivers do expect a tip.