Like its predecessor, this study is an attempt to examine objectively and concisely the dominant historical, social, economic, political, and military aspects of contemporary Uruguay. Sources of information included scholarly books, journals, monographs, official reports of governments and international organizations, and numerous periodicals. Chapter bibliographies appear at the end of the book; brief comments on sources recommended for further reading appear at the end of each chapter. To the extent possible, place-names follow the system adopted by the United States Board on Geographic Names. Measurements are given in the metric system; a conversion table is provided to assist readers unfamiliar with metric measurements (see table 1, Appendix). A glossary is also included.
Although there are numerous variations, Spanish surnames generally are composed of both the father's and the mother's family names, in that order. In the instance of José Batlle y Ordóñez, for example, Batlle is his patronymic, and Ordóñez is his mother's maiden name. In informal use, the matronymic is often dropped, a practice that has usually been followed in this book, except in cases where the individual could easily be confused with a relative.
The body of the text reflects information available as of December 1990. Certain other portions of the text, however, have been updated. The Introduction discusses significant events that have occurred since the completion of research; the Country Profile includes updated information as available; and the Bibliography lists recently published sources thought to be particularly helpful to the reader.
Data as of December 1990