South America

Uruguay Travel Podcast with Lucía Ferreira

Hosted by Lucía Ferreira — a new episode every day from Uruguay.

This podcast follows one resident’s slow move around Uruguay, from Montevideo to places connected by landscape and history. Travelling here means learning a country of rolling plains and low hills, where most people live in the southern half and nearly half the population clusters around the capital.

The host moves from Montevideo’s coastal lowland to the old streets of Colonia del Sacramento, then inland to Tacuarembó and the forested gorge of Quebrada de los Cuervos. Each place reveals a different layer of the same country: port city, river boundary, cattle country, quiet interior.

Uruguay’s warm temperate climate means freezing temperatures are almost unknown; seasons arrive as shifts in rainfall, heat and daylight. Over months, the host returns to the same grassy plains and Atlantic coast beaches, letting the slow accumulation of knowing a landscape replace the rush of a single trip.

Listen and subscribe

The basics

Uruguay at a glance

Capital

Montevideo

Population 2025

3,384,688

Area

176,215 sq km

Languages

Spanish (official, Rioplatense is the most widely spoken dialect)

Time zone

UTC-3

Currency

Uruguayan pesos (UYU)

GDP per capita 2025

$25,216

Life expectancy 2024

78.3 years

Urban population 2025

95.7%

Inflation 2025

4.7%

Internet users 2024

92.0%

Government

Presidential republic

Country file

Uruguay in depth

Reference data on the country — geography, people, history, economy and transport.

Geography and climate

Location

Southern South America, bordering the South Atlantic Ocean, between Argentina and Brazil

Terrain

Mostly rolling plains and low hills; fertile coastal lowland

Climate

Warm temperate; freezing temperatures almost unknown

Elevation

Highest point: Cerro Catedral 514 m
Lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m
Mean elevation: 109 m

Area

Total: 176,215 sq km
Land: 175,015 sq km
Water: 1,200 sq km

Size comparison

About the size of Virginia and West Virginia combined; slightly smaller than the state of Washington

Coastline

660 km

Land borders

Total: 1,591 km
Border countries: Argentina 541 km; Brazil 1,050 km

Natural resources

Arable land, hydropower, minor minerals, fish

Land use

Agricultural land: 81.4% (2023 est.)
Arable land: 12.6% (2023 est.)
Permanent crops: 0.2% (2023 est.)
Permanent pasture: 68.6% (2023 est.)
Forest: 11.4% (2023 est.)
Other: 7.3% (2023 est.)

Natural hazards

Seasonally high winds (the pampero is a chilly and occasional violent wind that blows north from the Argentine pampas), droughts, floods; because of the absence of mountains, which act as weather barriers, all locations are particularly vulnerable to rapid changes from weather fronts

Note

Second-smallest South American country (after Suriname); most of the low-lying landscape (three-quarters of the country) is grassland, ideal for cattle and sheep

People and society

Population

Total: 3,449,444 (2025 est.)
Male: 1,678,419
Female: 1,771,025

Nationality

Noun: Uruguayan(s)
Adjective: Uruguayan

Ethnic groups

White 87.7%, Black 4.6%, Indigenous 2.4%, other 0.3%, none or unspecified 5% (2011 est.)

Languages

Languages: Spanish (official, Rioplatense is the most widely spoken dialect)
Major-language sample(s): La Libreta Informativa del Mundo, la fuente indispensable de información básica. (Spanish)

Religions

Roman Catholic 36.5%, Protestant 5% (Evangelical (non-specific) 4.6%, Adventist 0.2%, Protestant (non-specific) 0.3%), African American Cults/Umbanda 2.8%, Jehovah's Witness 0.6%, Church of Jesus Christ 0.2%, other 1%, Believer (not belonging to the church) 1.8%, agnostic 0.3%, atheist 1.3%, none 47.3%, unspecified 3.4%

Roman Catholic 42%, Protestant 15%, other 6%, agnostic 3%, atheist 10%, unspecified 24% (2023 est.)

Median age

Total: 37.4 years (2025 est.)
Male: 34.9 years
Female: 38.2 years

Life expectancy

Total population: 78.9 years (2024 est.)
Male: 75.8 years
Female: 82.1 years

Urbanisation

Urban population: 95.8% of total population (2023)
Rate of urbanization: 0.4% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)

Where people live

Most of the country's population resides in the southern half of the country; approximately 80% of the populace is urban; nearly half of the population lives in and around the capital of Montevideo

Largest cities

1.774 million MONTEVIDEO (capital) (2023)

Background and government

Background

The Spanish founded the city of Montevideo in modern-day Uruguay in 1726 as a military stronghold, and it soon became an important commercial center due to its natural harbor. Argentina initially claimed Uruguay, but Brazil annexed the country in 1821. Uruguay declared its independence in 1825 and secured its freedom in 1828 after a three-year struggle. The administrations of President Jose BATLLE in the early 20th century launched widespread political, social, and economic reforms that established a statist tradition. A violent Marxist urban guerrilla movement named the Tupamaros (or Movimiento de Liberación Nacional-Tupamaros) launched in the late 1960s and pushed Uruguay's president to cede control of the government to the military in 1973. By year-end, the rebels had been crushed, but the military continued to expand its hold over the government. Civilian rule was restored in 1985. In 2004, the left-of-center Frente Amplio (FA) Coalition won national elections that effectively ended 170 years of political control by the Colorado and National (Blanco) parties. The left-of-center coalition retained the presidency and control of both chambers of congress until 2019. Uruguay's political and labor conditions are among the freest on the South American continent.

Government

Presidential republic

Capital

Montevideo

Time zone

UTC-3 (2 hours ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time)

Local name

República Oriental del Uruguay

Independence

25 August 1825 (from Brazil)

National day

Independence Day, 25 August (1825)

Economy and cost of living

Overview

High-income, export-oriented South American economy; South America’s largest middle class; low socioeconomic inequality; growing homicide rates; growing Chinese and EU relations; 2019 Argentine recession hurt; key milk, beef, rice, and wool exporter

GDP per capita

Real GDP per capita 2024: $32,000 (2024 est.)
Real GDP per capita 2023: $31,100 (2023 est.)
Real GDP per capita 2022: $30,800 (2022 est.)

Inflation

Inflation rate (consumer prices) 2024: 4.8% (2024 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices) 2023: 5.9% (2023 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices) 2022: 9.1% (2022 est.)

Unemployment

Unemployment rate 2024: 8.5% (2024 est.)
Unemployment rate 2023: 8.4% (2023 est.)
Unemployment rate 2022: 7.9% (2022 est.)

Exchange rate

Currency: Uruguayan pesos (UYU) per US dollar -
Exchange rates 2024: 40.213 (2024 est.)
Exchange rates 2023: 38.824 (2023 est.)
Exchange rates 2022: 41.171 (2022 est.)
Exchange rates 2021: 43.555 (2021 est.)
Exchange rates 2020: 42.013 (2020 est.)

Main industries

Food processing, electrical machinery, transportation equipment, petroleum products, textiles, chemicals, beverages

Agriculture

Milk, rice, wheat, barley, soybeans, beef, rapeseed, sugarcane, maize, beef offal (2023)

Transport and connectivity

Airports

65 (2025)

Railways

Total: 1,673 km (2016) (operational; government claims overall length is 2,961 km)
Standard gauge: 1,673 km (2016) 1.435-m gauge

Ports

Total ports: 8 (2024)
Large: 0
Medium: 1
Small: 1
Very small: 6
Ports with oil terminals: 2
Key ports: Colonia, Fray Bentos, Jose Ignacio, La Paloma, Montevideo, Nueva Palmira, Paysandu, Puerto Sauce