15 Interesting Facts About Uruguay

​1.     The population of Uruguay is around 3.5 million.Half of Uruguay’s population lives in the capital city of Montevideo.  Uruguay is about the same size as the State of Washington and is the second to last smallest country in South America.
2.     The name Uruguay comes from the Uruguay River. The work Uruguay translates to ‘river of the painted birds’ in the Guarani language. The river starts in Brazil and ends in the Rio de la Plata Basin which forms the water border between Uruguay and Argentina. (Source: El Pais)

3.     Uruguay is the least corrupt country in Latin America. It is ranked first in the region for democracy, peace, lack of corruption, quality of living, e-Government, freedom of press, size of the middle class, prosperity and security… (Source: Transparency.org)
4.     With only 46% of the population Catholic, Uruguay is one of the least religious countries in Latin America. (Source: Instituto Nacional de Estadística, Uruguay)
5.     In December 2013, Uruguay became the first country in the world to legalize the production, sale and use of marijuana. (Source: BBC)
6.     In 2009, Uruguay became the first country in the world to provide every schoolchild with a free laptop and wifi access. (Source: BBC)
7.     José “Pepe” Mujica, President of Uruguay between 2010 and 2015, donated 90% of his income to charity, rejected the use of the presidential palace and chose to stay in his house on a small farm on the outskirts of Montevideo. He was known as ‘the world’s poorest president’. (Source: Al Jazeera)
8.    In 2013, Uruguay was named The Economist’s Country of the Year. (Source: The Economist)
9.    Uruguay was the first nation in Latin America to establish a welfare state. (Source: BBC)
10. Uruguay has one of the highest literacy rates in the world with 98.1% for adults. This is largely thanks to Uruguayans’ access to free and compulsory education. (Source: CIA World Factbook)
11.   It is one of the few countries in South America to have access to clean water for its entire population. (thefactfile.org)
12.   Uruguay became the 20th country in the world to legalize same-sex marriage in 2013. This was even before the U.K. did so. (thefactfile.org)
13.   Uruguay produced almost 95% of its electricity from renewable sources in 2015.(thefactfile.org)
14.   Ranked among the world's largest organic beef producers and exporters.  Cows are grass-fed in pastures and not given hormones or antibiotics. (Forbes.com)
15.   Montevideo has consistently been rated as having the highest quality of life of any city in Latin America: by 2015 has held this rank every year during the last decade. (Prezi.com)

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