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See also:URUGUAY (officially the See also:Oriental See also:Republic of the Uruguay, and See also:long locally called the See also:Banda Oriental, meaning the See also:land on the eastern See also:side of the See also:river Uruguay, from which the See also:country takes its name) , the smallest See also:independent See also:state in See also:South See also:America. It runs conterminous with the See also:southern border of See also:Brazil, and lies between 30° and 350 S. and between 53° 25' and 570 42' W. (for See also:map, see See also:ARGENTINA). It has a seaboard on the See also:Atlantic Ocean of 120 m., a See also:shore-See also:line to the south on the Rio de la See also:Plata of 235 m., and one of 270 M. along the Uruguay on the See also:west. The boundaries separating it from Rio Grande do Sul, a See also:province of Brazil, are See also:Lake Mirim, the See also:rivers Chuy, Jaguarao and Quarahy, and a cuchilla or See also:low range of hills called See also:Santa See also:Ana. The extent of the See also:northern frontier is 450 M. The southern See also:half of the country is mostly undulating grass land, well watered by streams and springs. The northern See also:section is more broken and rugged; barren ridges and low rocky See also:mountain-ranges, interspersed with fertile valleys, being its characteristic features. There is no See also:forest, See also:timber of any See also:size being found only in the valleys near See also:running See also:water. Uruguay is intersected nearly from west to See also:north-See also:east by the river See also:Negro and its affluent the Yi. The Uruguay is navigable all the See also:year by steamers from the See also:island
From Strasburger's Lehrbuch der See also:Botany!:, by permission of Gustav See also:Fischer.
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of See also: Above this See also:place the See also:navigation is interrupted by rapids. The See also:ordinary See also:volume of water in the Uruguay averages 11 millions of cub. ft. per See also:minute. Excluding the Uruguay, the Negro, of which the See also:principal See also:port is Mercedes, is the principal navigable river. Others are navigable only for See also:short distances by steamers of See also:light See also:draught. Besides the rivers mentioned, the See also:chief streams are the Santa See also:Lucia, which falls into the Plata a little west of See also:Montevideo; the Queguay, in See also:Paysandu; and the Cebollati, rising in the sierras in See also:Minas and flowing into Lake Mirim. These rivers as well as the Uruguay are fed by innumerable smaller streams or arroyos, such as the Arapey in Salto, the Dayman in Paysandu, the Jaguary (an affluent of the Negro) .in Tacuarembo, the See also:Arroyo Grande between the departments of Soriano and See also:San Jose, and the San Jose (an affluent of the Santa Lucia). None of the sierras or mountains in Uruguay exceeds (or perhaps even attains) a height of 2000 ft.; but, contrasting in their tawny See also:colour with the grassy undulating plains, they See also:loom high and are often picturesque. They are ramifications of the See also:highlands of Brazil. The See also:main chains are the Cuchilla de Haedo on the north and west and the Cuchilla Grande on the south and east. See also:Geology.-Little is known of the geology of Uruguay. There is a See also:foundation of See also:schists and crystalline rocks upon which rests a See also:series of sandstones. The latter is, no doubt, identical with the similar See also:sandstone series which is found in the neighbouring Brazilian province of Rio Grande do Sul, and which has there yielded See also:plants which prove it to belong to the See also:Permian or the upper See also:part of the Carboniferous. The plains are covered by a formation similar to that of the See also:Argentine See also:pampas and by the alluvial deposits of the See also:present rivers.
See also:Climate.-Uruguay enjoys the reputation of possessing one of the most healthy climates in the See also:world The See also:geographical position ensures uniformity of temperature throughout the year, the summer See also:heat being tempered by the Atlantic breezes, and severe See also:cold in the See also:winter See also:season being unknown. Endemic diseases are unknown and epidemics are rare. In the interior, away from the See also:sea and the shores of the See also:great rivers, the temperature frequently rises in summer to 86° F. and in winter falls to 35°.6. In the districts bordering on the See also:coast the thermometer seldom falls below 37°; and only for a few moments and at long intervals has it been known to rise as high as 105°. The See also:annual rainfall is about 43 in.
See also:Flora.-The See also:pastoral See also:wealth of Uruguay, as of the neighbouring Argentine Republic, is due to the fertilizing constitutents of " See also:pampa mud," geologically associated with gigantic antediluvian animals, whose fossil remains are abundant. The country is See also:rich in hard See also:woods, suitable for See also:cabinet See also:work and certain See also:building purposes. The principal trees are the See also:alder, See also:aloe, See also:palm, See also:poplar, See also:acacia, See also:willow and See also:eucalyptus. The monies, by which are understood plantations as well as native thickets, produce among other woods the algarrobo, a poor See also:imitation of See also:oak; the guayabo, a substitute for See also:boxwood; the quebracho, of which the red See also:kind is compared to See also:sandalwood ; and the urunday, See also:black and See also: The valleys within the See also: More than 2000 See also:species of See also:insects have been classified. The See also:scorpion is rare, but large and venomous See also:spiders are common. The principal See also:reptiles are a See also:lizard, a See also:tortoise, the vivora de la cruz (a dangerous See also:viper, so called from marks like a See also:cross on its See also:head) and the rattle-snake in Maldonado and the stony lands of Minas. See also:Area and See also:Population.-The area of the republic is estimated at 72,210 sq. m., and has a population of 1,042,668 according to the See also:census of 1908 (in 1900 it was 915,647). The country is divided into 19 departments, the area and the population of which, according to the census of 1908, are given in the subjoined table:- Departments. Area, Population, Sq. See also:Miles. 1908. Artigas . 4,392 26,298 Canelones 1,833 87,931 Cerro Largo . 5,753 44,806 Colonia . 2,192 54,679 Durazno 5,525 42,313 See also:Flores 1,744 16,158 See also:Florida 4,763 45,393 Maldonado 1,584 28,804 Minas 4,844 51,170 Montevideo 256 309,231 Paysand6 5,115 38,528 Rio Negro 3,269 19,909 Rivera 3,790 35,653 See also:Roc ha . 4,280 34,110 Salto 4,863 46,304 San Jose . . . 2,687 46,267 Soriano 3,560 39,431 Tacuarembo . 8,074 46,927 Treinta-y-Tres 3,686 28,756 See also:Total . 72,210 1,042,668 The See also:average See also:density of population on the above figures is 12.9 per sq. m., ranging (exclusive of Montevideo) from 47.9 in Canelones to 5.8 in Tacuarembo and 6 in Artigas. The great See also:majority of the See also:foreign population are Italians or Spaniards, with lesser See also:numbers, in descending See also:scale, of Brazilian, Argentine and See also:French See also:birth. See also:British, Swiss and Germans are comparatively few. In 1907, 26,105 See also:Italian immigrants arrived, 21,927 ,See also:Spanish, 2355 British, 2315 French and 1823 See also:German. The natives of Uruguay, though living in conditions similar to those of the Argentine population, are in See also:general more reserved, showing more of the See also:Indian type and less of the Spaniard. In the north there is a strong Brazilian See also:element and the See also:people are intensely conservative. The average annual birth-See also:rate is about 35 per r000, and the See also:death-rate about 15'5. About 26% of the births are illegitimate. The principal towns are Montevideo, Salto, Paysandu and San Jose. See also:Agriculture.-The See also:condition of agriculture is fairly satisfactory. In 1885 Uruguay imported most of her breadstuffs; now not only is See also:wheat grown in sufficient quantities to meet the See also:local demand, but a surplus (about 20,000 metric tons in 1908-9) is annually available for export. Land for farming purposes is expensive, and See also:wages are high, leaving small profit, unless it happens that a See also:man, with his See also:family to assist him, See also:works his own land. The farmers are chiefly Italians, See also:Canary Islanders and Frenchmen. The principal crops in addition to wheat are oats, See also:barley, See also:maize, See also:linseed and bird See also:seed. Since 1890 the cultivation of the See also:grape and the manufacture of See also:wine have considerably extended, especially in the See also:department of Salto, Montevideo, Canelones and Colonia. Red wine, a smaller quantity of white, grape See also:alcohol and wine alcohol are produced. The See also:olive-planting See also:industry is becoming important; the trees thrive well, and the area devoted to_ their cultivation is annually increasing. See also:Tobacco is also cultivated. See also:Cattle-breeding and See also:sheep-farming, however, are the principal See also:industries. The lands are admirably adapted for cattle-breeding purposes, although not capable of fattening animals. The cattle are destined chiefly for the saladero establishments for the preparation of tasajo, or jerked See also:beef, for the Brazilian and Cuban markets, and for the See also:Liebig factory, where large quantities of See also:extract of See also:meat are prepared for the See also:European See also:trade. Cattle-breeding is carried on in all parts of the republic, but chiefly in the departments of Salto, Paysandfi and Rio Negro. In the southern districts, where the farmers are Europeans, the breed of cattle is being steadily improved by the introduction of See also:Durham and See also:Hereford bulls. See also:Dairy-farming is making some progress, especially in the Swiss See also:colony near San Jose. Sheep-farming flourishes chiefly in Durazno and Soriano. Uruguayan See also:wool is favourably regarded in foreign markets, on See also:account of the clean state in which it is shipped, this being largely due to the natural conditions of the land and climate. The business of See also:shipping live sheep and frozen mutton has not been attempted on a large scale, owing principally to the lack of facilities for loading at the port of Montevideo or elsewhere. See also:Mining.—Minerals are known to exist in the northern section of the republic, and See also:gold-mining is carried on to a small extent. See also:Expert opinions have been advanced stating that gold-mining in Uruguay is capable of development into an important industry. The other minerals found are See also:silver, See also:lead, See also:copper, See also:magnesium and See also:lignite See also:coal. See also:Commerce.—The economic development of Uruguay was retarded by the corruption of successive governments, by revolutionary outbreaks, by the seizure of See also:farm stock, without adequate See also:compensation, for the support of military forces, by the consequences of reckless borrowing and over-trading in 1889 and 189o, and also by the transference of commercial undertakings from Montevideo to Buenos Aires between 1890 and 1897, on the opening of the See also:harbour and docks at that port. The annual value of the imports (4.7 dollars taken at £1) was £5,101,740 in 1900 and £7,365,703 in 1908; that of exports was £6,257,600 in 1900 and £7,932,026 in 1908. The principal imports consist of machinery, textiles and clothing, See also:food substances and beverages, and live stock. The chief exports are See also:animal products and agricultural products. Of the imports about 27 in value are from Great See also:Britain, 14 % from See also:Germany, and smaller proportions from See also:France, Argentina, See also:Italy, See also:Spain, the See also:United States and See also:Belgium. Of the exports, France, Argentina, Belgium and Germany take the bulk. Trade is controlled by foreigners, the British being prominent in banking, See also:finance, railway work and the higher branches of commerce; Spaniards, Italians and French in the wholesale and See also:retail trade. Uruguayans find an insignificant place in commerce. The foreign trade passes mainly through Montevideo, where the port has been greatly improved. In addition to the natural lines of communication provided by the rivers bordering on or belonging to the republic, there are about 2240 m. of See also:national road, besides more than 3000 M. of departmental roads. The See also:railways had a length of 138o m. open for See also:traffic, and the See also:system is steadily extending. There are over 170 M. of See also:tramway in operation. See also:Government.—The legislative See also:power of the state rests with the general See also:assembly, consisting of two See also:chambers, one of senators (19 in number) and one of representatives (75). The deputies of the See also:lower See also:house are elected for three years directly by the people, one See also:deputy for every 3000 male adults who can read and write. One senator is named for each department by an electoral See also:college, whose members are elected directly by the people. The senators are elected for six years, and one-third of their number retire every two years. The executive power is exercised by the See also:president of the republic, who is elected by the general assembly for a four years' See also:term. He is assisted by a See also:council of ministers representing the departments of the interior, foreign affairs, finance, See also:war and marine, industry, labour and instruction and public works. Each department or province of the republic has a See also:governor appointed by the executive, and an administrative council, whose members are chosen by popular See also:vote. The judicial power is vested in a high See also:court and many subordinate courts. The general assembly elects the five See also:judges who compose the high court. There are See also:civil, commercial and criminal courts in Montevideo, a depart-See also:mental court in each departmental See also:capital, and a See also:justice of the See also:peace in each of 205 judicial districts into which the republic is divided, with sub-See also:district courts under deputy judges in addition. The See also:administration of justice in Uruguay has long been of See also:bad repute. It was reformed on the above lines in 1907. See also:Education is much neglected, and the public-school system is inefficient. The attendance of See also:children at the See also:schools is small, and the instruction they receive is inferior. See also:Primary instruction is nominally obligatory; nevertheless at the beginning of the loth See also:century nearly half the population over six years of See also:age was illiterate. Montevideo possesses a university and a number of preparatory schools, a state-supported technical school and a military college. The state See also:religion is See also:Roman See also:Catholic, and there is an See also:archbishop of Montevideo with two See also:suffragan bishops. A number of seminaries are maintained throughout the republic. Other religions are tolerated. See also:Army.—There is a See also:standing army with a peace strength of about 7000 See also:officers and men. Service is nominally voluntary, though it appears that a certain amount of compulsion is exercised. In addition to this there is compulsory service in the National Guard (a) in the first class, consisting of men between seventeen and See also:thirty years of age, liable for service with the standing army, and numbering some 15,000; (b) in the second class, for departmental service only, except in so far as it may be See also:drawn upon to make up losses in the more active See also:units in See also:time of war, consisting of men from thirty to See also:forty-five years of age, and (c) in the third class, for local garrisonduty, consisting of men between forty-five and sixty years old. The army and guard are well equipped with See also:modern arms. Finance.—Of the national See also:revenue nearly half is derived from customs duties, taxes being levied also on real See also:estate, licences, tobacco, stamped See also:paper and in other ways. Nearly half the See also:expenditure goes to meet See also:debt charges, while government, See also:internal development and See also:defence absorb most of the See also:remainder. The receipts for the years specified were as follows, Uruguayan dollars being converted into See also:sterling at the See also:par value, 4.7=£1: Years. Revenue. Expenditure. 1894–1895 £3,403,324 1899–1900 3,236,300 1904–1905 3,438,300 £3,438,510 1909–19101 4,971,660 4,704,500 1 Estimate. In 1891, when the debt of the republic amounted to $87,789,973, or about £18,678,710, the government suspended See also:payment of See also:interest, and an arrangement was made with the bondholders. A new consolidated debt of £20,500,000 was issued at 3i% interest, and, as See also:security for payment of interest, 45 % of the customs receipts at Montevideo was assigned. At the same time the interest guaranteed to the railway companies was reduced from 7 to 31%. In 1896 a 5 % See also:loan of £1,667,000 was issued, and the debt was subsequently increased, until on See also:January 1, 1909, it was £27,692,795, and in the same year the annual debt See also:charge amounted to £2,185,347. The See also:Bank of the Republic was established in 1896 with a nominal capital of $12,000,000, and in 1899 it received the right to issue further shares amounting to $5,000,000. Its See also:note issue (for which it has an exclusive right) may not exceed the value of half the sub-scribed capital. Besides a number of local banks, branches of German, Spanish, French and several British banks are established in Montevideo. There is no Uruguayan gold See also:coin in circulation, but the theoretical monetary unit is the gold peso national, weighing 1.697 grammes, •917 See also:fine. The silver peso weighs 25 grammes, •900 fine. A half, fifth and tenth of a peso are coined in silver, in addition to See also:bronze coins. The metric system of weights and See also:measures has been officially adopted, but the old Spanish system is still in general use. See also:History.—In 1512 Juan See also:Diaz de See also:Solis entered the Paranaguazu or " sealike " See also:estuary of the Plata and landed about 70 miles east of the present See also:city of Montevideo. Uruguay at that time was inhabited by See also:Indians, of whom the dominant tribe was called See also:Charrua, a people described as physically strong and well-formed, and endowed with a natural See also:nobility of See also:character. Their habits were See also:simple, and they were disfigured neither by the worst crimes nor by the primitive superstitition of savages. They are said to have revealed no vestige of religion. The Charruas are generally classified as a yellow-skinned See also:race, of the same family as the Pampa Indians; but they are also represented as tanned almost black by the See also:sun and See also:air, without any admixture of red or yellow in their complexions. Almost beardless, and with thin eyebrows, they had on their heads thick, black, lustrous See also:hair, which neither See also:fell off nor turned See also:grey until extreme old age. They lived principally upon fish, See also:venison and See also:honey. In the Guarani language " Charrua " means turbulent, and by their enemies the Charruas were accounted as such, and even ferocious, although admitted to be generous to their captives. They were a curiously taciturn and reticent race. Their weapons were the See also:bow and arrow and stones. Solis, on his second visit, 1515–1516, was slain by the Charruas in Colonia. Eleven years later Ramon, the See also:lieutenant of See also:Sebastian See also:Cabot, was defeated by the same tribe. In 1603 they destroyed in a pitched See also:battle a See also:veteran force of Spaniards under See also:Saavedra. During the next fifty years three unsuccessful attempts were made by the Spaniards to subdue this courageous people. The real See also:conquest of Uruguay was begun under See also: After the See also:declaration of independence the history of Uruguay becomes a See also:record of intrigues, See also:financial ruin, and See also:political folly and See also:crime. The two great political factors for generations have been the Colorados and the Blancos. So far as political principles are concerned, there is small difference between them. Men are Colorados or Blancos largely by tradition and not from political conviction. The Colorados have held the government for many years, and the attempts of the Blancos to oust them have caused a series of revolutions. The military element, moreover, has frequently conspired to elect a president amenable to its demands. In 1875 General Latorre headed a See also:conspiracy against President Ellauri and at first placed Dr Varela in power as dictator, but in 1876 proclaimed himself. In the following year Latorre caused himself to be elected president, but political unrest caused him to resign in See also: He had plundered the national revenues and scorned constitutional government. The Colorados now made General Tajes president, the See also:practical direction of the administration being in the hands of Julio See also:Herrera y Obes. In March 1890 General Tajes handed over the See also:presidency to Herrera y Obes, a See also:clever but unscrupulous man, who filled every See also:official See also:post with his own See also:friends and ensured the return of his supporters to the chamber. In 1891 he was obliged to suspend the service of the public debt and make arrangements by which the bondholders accepted a reduced rate of interest. The country was at this See also:period conducted practically as if it were the private estate of the president, and no accounts of revenue or expenditure were vouchsafed to the public. In 1894 the Colorados nominated Senor Idiarte See also:Borda for the presidency. He seemed at first inclined to govern honestly, but corruption soon became as marked as under the preceding regime. The Blancos, using the fraudulent elections in 1896 as a pretext, now See also:broke out in armed revolt under the leadership of Aparicio Saraiva. The president made no See also:attempt to conciliate them, and in March 1897 a See also:body of government troops suffered a See also:reverse. On the 25th of See also:August 1897 Borda, after attending a Te Deum at the See also:cathedral in Montevideo, was shot dead by a man named Arredondo, who was sentenced in 1899 to two years' imprisonment. The defence was that the See also:murder was a political offence, and therefore not punishable as an ordinary See also:case of assassination for See also:personal motives. The president of the senate, Juan Cuestas, in accordance with the constitution, assumed the duties of president of the republic. He arranged that hostilities should cease on the conditions that See also:representation of the Blancos was allowed in See also:Congress for certain districts where their votes were known to predominate; that a certain number of the jefes politicos should be nominated from the Blancos; that free See also:pardon be extended to all who had taken part in the revolt; that a sufficient sum in See also:money be advanced to allow the settlement of the expenses contracted by the insurgents; and that the electoral See also:law be reformed on a basis allowing the people to take part freely in elections. Cuestas.. on attemptine to reform corrupt practices, was soonthreatened with another revolution, and on the loth of See also:February 1898 he assumed dictatorial See also:powers, dissolved the Chambers and suspended all constitutional guarantees. In the following year he resigned and was re-elected to the presidency on the 1st of March 1899. His second term was marked by premonitions of further disorder. In See also:July 1902 a See also:plot for his assassination was frustrated, and in 1903, on the See also:election of Jose Battle to the presidency, civil war broke out. On See also:September 3, 1904, the revolutionary general Saraiva died of wounds received in battle; and later in the year peace was declared. Claudio Williman became president in 1907. The Colorados favoured Battle as his successor, and before the elections to the chamber in See also:November 1910 the Blancos were again in arms. See F. Bauza, La Domination Espanola en el Uruguay (Montevideo, 188o) ; F. A. Berro, A. de Vedia and M. de Pena, See also:Album de la Republica Oriental del Uruguay (Montevideo, 1882) ; R. L. Lomba, La Republica Oriental del Uruguay (Montevideo, 1884) ; The Uruguay Republic, Territory and Conditions, reprinted by See also:order of the See also:Consul-General of Uruguay (See also:London, 1888) ; V. Arreguine, Historia del Uruguay (Montevideo, 1892) ; M. G. and E. T. Mulhall, Handbook of the River Plata (London, 1892) ; H. Roustan and C. M. de Pena, Uruguay en la Exposition . . de See also:Chicago (Montevideo, 1893); O. Aranjo, Compendia de la Geografia National (Montevideo, 1894) ; Uruguay, its See also:Geography, History, &c. (See also:Liverpool, 1897) ; P. F. Martin, Through Five Republics (London, 1905) ; Anuario Estadistico and Anuario Demografico (official, Montevideo) ; British and American Consular Reports; Publications, See also:Bureau of American Republics. Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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