The famous Uruguay Gaucho herding cattle.
Society
According to data published by the United Nations, the Gini index for Uruguay equals to 44.8 in 2003, where 100 stands for maximum inequality and 0 for even distribution of the wealth between the population.
Population below Indigence line: 3.01%
Population below Poverty line: 18%
The reports shows the indicators are improving as the country is recovering from the last 2002 crisis, in 2004 poverty indicators reached an all time high.
A new ministry of Social Development was created by the Broad Front Party (Frente Amplio) government leaded by Tabare Vazquez, and an Emergency Plan which targets the less favoured 200.000 Uruguayans.
Crime & Public Safety
In 2005 there were 188 homicides in Uruguay, 9486 assaults and 1167 sexual crimes. However, Uruguay remains the country with the lowest crime rate in Latin America and one of the safest in the world, being its capital city, Montevideo, among the 30 safest cities in the world.
Health and Sanitation
The government of Uruguay has done much to improve its health conditions. Under the national constitution, the State is responsible for all medical functions in Uruguay, and provides free medical care for those who qualify for it, particularly for the aged and those who cannot afford medical costs. This is done by the ‘Ministerio de Salud Publica’, Ministry of Health, who owns and operate a network of hospitals and clinics all over the country. The biggest one, called Hospital de Clinicas depends of the Medicine Faculty of the University of the Republic (Uruguay). As a result, over time it changed from having one of the highest mortality rates in Latin America to one of the lowest. For example, in 1995, infant mortality was 19.6 per 1,000 in 1995, 17.5 per 1,000 in 1996 to 11.61 per 1000 in 2006, showing a steady and continuous drop in the future.
The government also continues to expand various forms of medical practice to offer the population diverse options of medical treatment in the nation’s 65 medical facilities, as well as various forms of state-sponsored insurance plans, on which much of the population depends. The Ministry of Health in Uruguay has gone to great lengths to provide the nation’s 3.4 million people with healthy drinking water. The 1985 census revealed that 15.9% of the population either had no access to drinking water or lived in unsanitary conditions. Estimates now are that only 1.2% of the population has difficulty accessing clean drinking. The State owns the water utility company OSE.
Culture of Uruguay
There is a Secretary for Education and Culture named Ministerio de Educación y Cultura. The high ratio of literacy, and numerous public and private Radio and TV Broadcasting stations helps to promote communications and culture. The SODRE (Acronym for “Official Service for broadcasting Radio, TV, and Performing Arts”) is a noted governmental institution generating cultural activities for the whole country. Created on year 1929, it manages a Symphonic Orchestra, a Chamber Music and Ballet ensembles, and a Choir, among others. Each main city authorities are promoting many other cultural activities as well. By way of example, Montevideo’s City Hall (Intendencia Municipal) manages a Philarmonic Orchestra, a Symphonic Band, a Music school, several theaters, among other activities, and promotes many artists to perform all over the city.
Uruguayan Music
Uruguay has a number of local musical forms. The most distinctive ones are candombe, an Afro-Uruguayan percussion-based form, and murga, a form of musical theatre, which both occur yearly during the Carnival period. There is also milonga, a folk guitar and song form deriving from Spanish traditions and related to similar forms found in many Hispanic-American countries. Uruguay is also known for its tango: the famed tango singer Carlos Gardel is rumoured to have been from the Uruguayan town of Tacuarembó.
The popular music of Uruguay, which focuses on rock, jazz and many other Western forms, frequently makes reference to the distinctly Uruguayan sounds mentioned above. The group Los Shakers, 1960s imitators of The Beatles, deserve a special mention as the band that kickstarted the Argentinean rock scene. Also, cumbia, a music style popular throughout most of Central and South America is widely enjoyed by the Uruguayan people, particularly in the rural areas.
Tango
* Carlos Gardel
* Gerardo Matos Rodriguez
* Julio Sosa
* Romeo Gavioli
* Manolo Guardia
* Lágrima Ríos
* Francis Andreu
Electronic Tango
Bajofondo Tango Club: Juan Campodónico, Luciano Supervielle.
Milonga/Canto Popular
Alfredo Zitarrosa, Los Olimareños, Eduardo Mateo, Jose Carbajal, Washington Luna, Eustaquio Sosa, Tabare Etcheberry.
Other genres
Jaime Roos, Jorge Drexler, Abel Carlevaro, Eduardo Young, Federico Bruera, Esteban Klisich, Fernando Cabrera, Laura Canoura, Ruben Rada, Eduardo Darnauchans, Eduardo Larbanois, Mario Carrero, Santiago Chalar, Erika Busch, Jorge Schellemberg, Hugo Fattorusso, Gaston Ciarlo (Dino), Victor Lima, Mariana Ingold, Roberto Darwin, Jorge Galemire, Jorge Lazaroff, Jorge Do Prado, Jorginho Gularte, Leo Masliah.
The colorful buildings of Uruguay
Uruguayan Writers
Literature properly speaking starts in Uruguay with the country-flavoured poetry of Bartolomé Hidalgo, 1788-1822. The two leading figures of the Romantic period are Adolfo Berro and Juan Zorrilla de San Martín. Julio Herrera y Reissig was one of the great fin-de-siècle modernistas, indeed one of the very greatest and subtlest of Latin-American poets. Two leading women are Juana de Ibarbourou and Delmira Agustini, indeed Ibarbourou defined a whole period of Spanish-American sentiment towards the poetic and was immensely popular. Emilio Frugoni and Emilio Oribe were distinguished lyricists. Outstanding among the prose and fiction figures are Juan Carlos Onetti, Carlos Martínez Moreno, Eduardo Galeano, Mario Benedetti and Jorge Majfud.
Horacio Quiroga was an immensely popular as well as highly individual and flavourful short-story writer who has had vast influence. Constancio C. Vigil was once a beloved, if highly moralistic, children’s writer.
Florencio Sánchez remains Uruguay’s most famous theater writer.
Montevideo has been the birthplace of three noted French poets: Isidore Lucien Ducasse, Jules Laforgue and Jules Supervielle.
Cuisine of Uruguay
Uruguayan Food is traditionally based on its European roots. Mediterranean foods, especially from Italy, Spain, France and Germany. Many foods from those countries such as pasta, sausages, and desserts are common in the nation’s diet. The Uruguayan barbecue, asado, is one of the most exquisite and famous in the world. A sweet paste, Dulce de Leche is the national obsession, used to fill cookies, cakes, pancakes, milhojas, and alfajores. The alfajores are shortbread cookies sandwiched together with Dulce de Leche or a fruit paste. Dulce de Leche is used also in flan con Dulce de Leche. The national drink is the Grappamiel. Grappamiel is an alcoholic drink which is very popular in rural areas. It is made with alcohol and honey. It is often consumed in the cold mornings of autumn and winter to warm up the body. A traditional infusion called mate is Uruguayans most distinctive feature. The dried leaves and twigs of the yerba mate plant (Ilex paraguariensis) are placed in a small cup. The drink is sipped through a metal or cane straw called bombilla. Hot water is poured into the gourd at near-boiling point so as to not burn the herb and spoil the flavour.
Sports in Uruguay
Uruguay has an enormous tradition in sports with important achievements in football (Won two football world cups), basketball, cycling and rugby, among others. The first world cup was hosted in the country.
Football
The most popular sport in Uruguay, by far, is association football (fútbol), in which the country, represented by the famous uruguayan national football team of the Asociación Uruguaya de Fútbol has earned many honours, including two Gold medals in the Olympic Games: 1924, 1928 and the two World Cups. The two main football clubs (Nacional and Peñarol) are both three times World Champions.
Basketball
Basketball is also a very important sport in Uruguay. As a matter of fact, the Uruguayan national basketball team, representing the Uruguayan Basketball Federation, won 12 South American championships, 2 Olympic bronze medals (one in 1952 and the other in 1956), and participated in many panamerican and world championships. Currently, there is 1 Uruguayan by the name of Esteban Batista playing in the NBA (National Basketball Association) for the Atlanta Hawks in the United States – the highest level professional league in the world.
Tourism in Uruguay
Uruguay is basically a European country, since the majority of its citizens are descended from Spanish and Italian immigrants. Spanish is the official language. Uruguay is more upscale with less poverty and strife than its neighbors. Montevideo is safer than other South American capitals. The old city, Ciudad Vieja, has many colonial buildings that are now museums, art galleries, antique shops and restaurants. For nature lovers, the Eastern Wetlands contain swamps, lagoons, marshes, and streams with hundreds of bird species. UNESCO has declared the area a biosphere reserve. There are plenty of canoeing and fishing opportunities in both Uruguay and Negro River. The most popular Uruguayan destination is Punta del Este, with the Atlantic on one side and the River Plate on the other. It is an expensive jet set center for nightlife, casinos, and discos. Estancias, rural estates that are working ranches, are located throughout the country if you want a gaucho experience. Beef lovers will delight in grilled asado eaten in restaurants known as parrilladas or asados. Italian restaurants are everywhere. Try to rent a car to get to see the sights. Public transport in Uruguay is awful, unlike other countries, which have an extensive public transit system. Be prepared to pay much more than you would in Mexico, Central America, Venezuela, Peru, and Ecuador.
Colonial Del Sacramento is a popular sight for tourists.
White sandy beaches along the Atlantic Ocean east of Montevideo compose Uruguay’s version of the Italian and French Rivieras. This coastline stretches to the Brazilian border and holds some of the most impressive seaside resorts in South America. Colonia del Sacramento is a coastal town just west of Montevideo and across the Rio de la Plata from Buenos Aires, Argentina. Charming Colonia, a legacy of the Portuguese colony, is an amazing historical site from the 17th century. Its Barrio Historico district is the perfect place for a scenic walking tour to see the colonial houses lining the area’s cobblestone streets. Uruguay may be small in size, but the country is big in friendliness. The natives enjoy welcoming visitors from cold climates all over the world who travel to their sunny shores.
Destinations in Uruguay
Montevideo
Montevideo is the very lively capital of Uruguay. It is a stylish city with a strong European feel to it. The city was founded in 1726 on a promontory between the Rio del Plata and an inner bay; this area is still known as the Ciudad Vieja and is the area of main interest for visitors. The heart of the old city beats on the Plaza de la Constitucion. On one site is the Catedral with the historic Cabildo, opposite is the Museo Historico Nacional. On the south side is a quite unusual fountain dating from 1881 with an inscription in Spanish that contains a few spelling errors. Just west along the Calle Rincon is the Plaza Zabala with a monument to the founder of the city: Bruno Mauricio de Zabala. Three blocks north of here and you are in the docks, three blocks south and you are on the rambla Francia, on the Rio del Plata. Going east from here via the pedestrianized Calle Sarandi, you enter the new city after crossing the Plaza de la Independencia. This is the biggest Plaza of the city. On it you will find the mausoleum of Artigas, the Casa de Gobierno Historico and the Palacio Salvo. East from here the Avenida 18 Julio takes you to the Tres Cruses Bus Terminal.
Other places of interest are the coastline of white sand beaches, that are almost along the whole city. There are several parks, in many of which are placed big bronze statues. The most remarkable are the park “El Prado” and the park “Batlle”.
The “Cerro” is a hill opposite the Old City from wich a wonderful view of the city is given the “Museo Nacional de Artes Visuales” near the Rodó Park and the “Museo Municipal de Artes Plásticas” near the park “El Prado”, are a must see for art lovers.
Colonia del sacramento
Founded by the Portuguese in 1680 on the Río de la Plata, the city was of strategic importance in resisting the Spanish. After being disputed for a century, it was finally lost by its founders. The well-preserved urban landscape illustrates the successful fusion of the Portuguese, Spanish and post-colonial styles. In 1995 the Historic Quarter of the City of Colonia del Sacramento was added to the Unesco World Heritage list. Colonia is charming and lively, there are some nice old colonial buildings and there are some good beaches nearby. Although you shouldn’t expect nightlife like in Punta del Este there is enough to be done at night as well. There are many nice restaurants in the old city. From Colonia you can take the ferry to Buenos Aires in Argentina. There are about 10 crossings daily. This takes 50 minutes or 2 hours depending on what ‘Buquebus’ you take.
Punta del Este
The tiny peninsula of Punta del Este, with its yacht harbor and expensive hotels, is Uruguay’s most spectacular beach resort. There are two kind of beaches, one at the ocean side and one at the bay side. Each summer, this glamorous Atlantic town draws rich and famous tourists from Europe and South America. Apart form its fantastic beaches, the lively, chic resort of Punta del Este has superb food and scenery. The area is clean and not too pricey: a weekend would cost a couple about $200 (U.S.) for lodging and meals. Argentinean and Brazilian jet sets spend their summers (December to March) there and the nightlife is amazing. There are three casinos with the most beautiful women in the world.
The areas around Punta del Este are also spectacular and feature great beaches. La Barra, immediately east of PDE, has good food and ice-cream, and beautiful beaches. A lot of the young people drive out here at night for the nightlife as well. Jose Ignacio, which is about a 30 minute drive from PDE, is a small town with great scenery. This is where many of the rich and famous have their summer places to be away from the common people. There’s a lighthouse you can pay to climb to get a great view of the Atlantic.
Parque Santa Teresa
The Parque Nacional Santa Teresa is a very well kept national park with palm lined avenues and plantation of exotic trees. There are also botanical gardens, a zoo, some fresh water pools for bathing and good beaches – note that the surf is very rough here.
On the site you also find an old Portuguese fort (also called Santa Teresa) which is well worth a visit.
There are different campsites on the premises where you can spend the night. There are also a few bungalows.
Salto
Salto is a pretty town of about 80,000 people in the centre of an Orange growing area. The main attraction is the Salto Dam, some 20 km from town. Tours to the dam can be arranged through the tourist office. The Parque Solari is northeast of the centre of town and although it is a bit run down it is still well worth a visit.
Salto is close to the border with Brazil and most travelers will probably either be going or coming that way.
Close to town are a number of hot springs. Fuente Salto is 6 km north of town, Termas del Dayman are 10 km south.
