Uruguay: geography, history, and culture

¶ … South American country of Uruguay is the second smallest country on the continent. The tiny nation is bounded on the south by the Atlantic Ocean and the Rio de la Plata, to the north it is bounded by Brazil and the Atlantic Ocean, and the Uruguay River creates the jagged western boundary. (MSN, PG 1)

Initially the nation of Uruguay was a part of the Spanish colonial empire, but in the eighteen hundreds revolutionary forces broke the Spanish hold on the nation. Argentina and Brazil both took hold of the region following the departure of the Spanish. The political strife between these two countries ultimately led to the creation of the independent nation of Uruguay in 1828. During the nineteen-seventies a military dictatorship was installed in the nation. This broke down in the eighties and democracy took over. The nation remains democratic to this day. (MSN, Pg 1)

Uruguay has a large European and foreign-born population. Most of these people emigrated from counties such as Spain, Italy, Brazil, Argentina, and France. Following the second world war there was also an influx of people from eastern and central Europe. It is estimated that only five to ten percent of the population are mestizos, or people of mixed European and Native American heritage. The original Native American population no longer exists in the nation. (MSN, Pg 3)

Though Uruguay has been a focal point for immigration in the past, it is no longer such. A 2002 census indicates that though there is still a small population emigrating to the nation, they are actually losing approximately.41 people out of every thousand on an annual basis to migration. (CIA Fact-Book, Pg 1)

Due to the fact that Uruguay is losing a small portion of its population to other countries, there has been a push to allow new emigrants in. Ideally this new population brings business and investments. Currently one may be able to obtain Uruguayan citizenship through one of three means:

marriage with a current citizen of Uruguay or someone who has a constant residence permit.

Opening a business within the confines of the nation.

Becoming involved in the State Investment Program - a program wherein a visitor hoping to obtain citizenship is required to invest a large amount of money in state sponsored programs. (Immigration World, Pg 1)

The history of family life in Uruguay is quite different from that in other Latin American countries. The primary reason for this is the fact that women have played a far greater part in the work environment of the nation than in other countries in the region.

Women's rights in marriage and divorce in Uruguay have continually improved. Indeed, it could be argued that women in Uruguay have more rights revolving around these issues than in any other South American nation. In 1885, civil marriage became legally required. Women's rights in Uruguay took a leap forward in 1907 when divorce on the grounds of cruelty was legalized. By 1912 the law evolved to such that women were not required to state a specific cause for divorce. This rate has steadily grown from 1 per 10,000 in 1915 to 14 per 1000 in 1985. In 1927, the compulsory civil marriage ceremony was updated, eliminating the phrase wherein the bride was required to promise obedience. Husbands and wives now treat one another with respect and each have an equal footing in the average marriage. After women become married in Uruguay they often keep their surname, simply adding the husbands name. Children generally take the fathers last name. (Family Life, Pg 1-2)

Young people in Uruguay have a great deal of freedom when compared to children in other South American countries. Girls in particular have few of the expectations that are put upon girls in Argentina or Brazil. For the most part girls do not need chaperones when they are out on their own. There is an inherent expectation that most women will have some sort of career. Nearly half of the school population in Uruguay is female. (Family Life, Pg 2)

Educational opportunities have long been available for Uruguayan women throughout the country. They have been provided with access to all levels of schooling including higher education. The result is that middle-class women have had a great deal of access to the ability to work. Indeed, by the nineteen-sixties over one quarter of all Uruguayan women worked. By 1985, forty-five percent of the women in Montevideo were working. (Family Life, Pg 1)

Part of the reason women that have had such access to work has been the availability of domestic labor. Servants - usually female - who are willing to work for relatively low wages are available throughout the nation. This phenomenon exists in part because of the fact that there is a middle class in the country which is growing rapidly in urban areas. However, in rural areas, the poor continue to remain poor resulting in an ever-widening gap between the haves and the have-nots.

The average household in Uruguay has 3.4 people in it. In the Urban areas this tends to be on the lesser side, whereas in rural areas there tend to be more children. In the urban areas birth control is used regularly. Urban families prefer less children so that they are able to provide them with the best education possible. In rural areas, large families tend to be sexually imbalanced. Women often leave the poor families so that they might find work in an urban area. Generally these women are those that become the domestic servants. The result is that there are many males without counterparts in these regions. (Family Life, Pg 2)

Family connections in rural areas tend to be stronger than in the urban. One traditional rural family practice known as compadrazgo revolves around baptism. The baby is provided with a godfather who is usually a little better off than others in the region.

The idea is that when the child matures and becomes an adult, the godfather will help to find him or her employment. As the godfather is often in an elite class and the godchild is in a subordinate class, this practice helps to create positive interaction between the classes. (Family Life, Pg 3)