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Territory in southeast South America, ruled since 1828 by the República Oriental del Uruguay

Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay (Spanish: República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in the southeastern region of South America. It borders Argentina to its west and Brazil to its north and east, with the Río de la Plata (River of Silver) to the south and the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast. Uruguay is home to an estimated 3.44 million people, of whom 1.8 million live in the metropolitan area of its capital and largest city, Montevideo. With an area of approximately 176,000 square kilometers, Uruguay is geographically the second-smallest nation in South America, after Suriname.

Geographical type: Territory

Latitude: 33° S — Longitude: 56° W

Area: 176,215 km²

ISO 3166-2 code: UY

Measures of Freedom

Human Freedom Index [PDF], The Human Freedom Index 2021
2019: 8.36, Rank: 33, Personal Freedom: 9.08, Economic Freedom: 7.36
Level of Economic Freedom, Economic Freedom of the World
2014: 7.08, Rank: 74
Uruguay | Freedom House, Freedom in the World 2022
2016: Status: Free, Aggregate Score: 98, Political Rights: 1, Civil Liberties: 1
In March 2015, the leftist Broad Front (Frente Amplio) coalition—which won a majority in general elections in 2014—entered a new term in office. Tabaré Vázquez, who ran as the Frente Amplio presidential candidate, returned to the office for a second nonconsecutive term. Uruguay is one of the most stable and peaceful countries in the region, and during the year, authorities made attempts to address some persisting human rights concerns, particularly human trafficking and conditions in detention facilities.

The introductory paragraph uses material from the Wikipedia article "Uruguay" as of 19 Sep 2018, which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0.