Uruguay

GEOGRAPHY

Figure 3. Topography and Drainage

Figure 4. Average Population Density

Based on information from Uruguay, Direccion General de Estadistica y Censos, Anuario estadistico, 1988, Montevido, 1989.

Dairy farm families near Treinta y Tres
Courtesy Inter-American Development Bank

Uruguay is located in the Southern Hemisphere on the Atlantic seaboard of South America between 53 and 58 west longitude and 30 and 35 south latitude (see fig. 1). It is bounded on the west by Argentina, on the north and northeast by Brazil, and on the southeast by the Atlantic Ocean. To the south, it fronts the Río de la Plata, a broad estuary that opens out into the South Atlantic. Montevideo, the capital and major port, sits on the banks of the Río de la Plata and is on approximately the same latitude as Capetown and Sydney. Uruguay is the smallest Spanishspeaking nation in South America with a land area of 176,220 square kilometers, slightly smaller than North Dakota.

Data as of December 1990