Here, let us take a look at the Geography of Uruguay. 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 raising. Mother's mean age at first birth is (), whereas, the Maternal mortality ratio is 19 deaths/100,000 live births (2020 est.)
Location | Southern South America, bordering the South Atlantic Ocean, between Argentina and Brazil |
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Geographic coordinates | 33 00 S, 56 00 W |
Map references | South America |
Tarrain | mostly rolling plains and low hills; fertile coastal lowland |
Natural Resources | arable land, hydropower, minor minerals, fish |
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 |
Irrigated Land | 2,230 sq km (2018) |
Major rivers (by length in km) | Rio de la Plata/Parana river mouth (shared with Brazil [s], Argentina, Paraguay) - 4,880 km; Uruguay river mouth (shared with Brazil [s] and Argentina) - 1,610 km note – [s] after country name indicates river source; [m] after country name indicates river mouth |
Major aquifers | Guarani Aquifer System |
Land Boundaries | 1,591 km |
Border Countries | Argentina 541 km; Brazil 1,050 km |
Coastline | 660 km |
Climate | warm temperate; freezing temperatures almost unknown |
Area | |
Total Area | |
Land Area | 175,015 sq km |
Water Area | 1,200 sq km |
comparative Area | about the size of Virginia and West Virginia combined; slightly smaller than the state of Washington |
Maritime Claims | |
Territorial sea | 12 nm |
Contiguous zone | 24 nm |
Exclusive economic zone | 200 nm |
Continental shelf | 200 nm or the edge of continental margin |
Elevations | |
Highest point | Cerro Catedral 514 m |
Lowest point | Atlantic Ocean 0 m |
Mean elevation | 109 m |
Land Use | |
Agricultural land | 80.9% (2022 est.) |
Agricultural land: arable land | arable land: 12.1% (2022 est.) |
Agricultural land: permanent crops | permanent crops: 0.2% (2022 est.) |
Agricultural land: permanent pasture | permanent pasture: 68.6% (2022 est.) |
Forest | 11.8% (2022 est.) |
Other | 7.3% (2022 est.) |
Most of the country's population resides in the southern half of the country; approximately 80% of the populace is urban, living in towns or cities; nearly half of the population lives in and around the capital of Montevideo
In Uruguay, the different Ethnic groups are such that we have: White 87.7%, Black 4.6%, Indigenous 2.4%, other 0.3%, none or unspecified 5% (2011 est.)
Population | |
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Pop growth rate | 0.26% (2024 est.) |
Birth rate | 12.6 births/1,000 population (2024 est.) |
Death rate | 9.1 deaths/1,000 population (2024 est.) |
Health expenditure | 9.4% of GDP (2021) |
Physicians Density | |
Hospital bed Density | 2.4 beds/1,000 population (2017) |
Total fertility rate | 1.75 children born/woman (2024 est.) |
Gross reproduction rate | 0.86 (2024 est.) |
Contraceptive prevalence rate | 79.6% (2015) |
Est married women (ages 15-49) | 55.4% (2023 est.) |
Literacy | age 15 and over can read and write |
Education expenditures | 4.6% of GDP (2020 est.) |
Net Migration rate | -0.9 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2024 est.) |
Nationality | Uruguayan | Uruguayan(s) |
Languages | |
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.) |
Age Structure | |
0-14 years | 18.9% (male 329,268/female 317,925) |
15-64 years | 65.4% (male 1,112,622/female 1,128,418) |
65 years and over | 15.7% (2024 est.) (male 218,242/female 318,855) |
Dependency Ratios | |
Total dependency ratio | 53.6 |
Youth dependency ratio | 29.9 |
Elderly dependency ratio | 23.7 |
Potential support ratio | 4.2 (2021 est.) |
Median Age | |
Total | 36.5 years (2024 est.) |
Male | 34.9 years |
Female | 38.2 years |
Urbanization | |
Urban population | 95.8% of total population (2023) |
Rate of urbanization | 0.4% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.) |
Major urban areas (Pop) | 1.774 million MONTEVIDEO (capital) (2023). |
Sex Ratio | |
At birth | 1.04 male(s)/female |
0-14 years | 1.04 male(s)/female |
15-64 years | 0.99 male(s)/female |
65 years and over | 0.68 male(s)/female |
Total population | 0.94 male(s)/female (2024 est.) |
Infant Motality | |
Total | 8 deaths/1,000 live births (2024 est.) |
Male | 9.1 deaths/1,000 live births |
Female | 6.8 deaths/1,000 live births |
Life Expectancy at birth | |
Total population | 78.9 years (2024 est.) |
Male | 75.8 years |
Female | 82.1 years |
Drinking Water Sources | |
Improved: urban | urban: 100% of population |
Improved: rural | rural: 100% of population |
Improved: total | total: 100% of population |
Unimproved: urban | urban: 0% of population |
Unimproved: rural | rural: 0% of population |
Unimproved: total | total: 0% of population (2020 est.) |
Sanitation facility acess | |
Improved: urban | urban: 99.2% of population |
Improved: rural | rural: 99.6% of population |
Improved: total | total: 99.2% of population |
Unimproved: urban | urban: 0.8% of population |
Unimproved: rural | rural: 0.4% of population |
Unimproved: total | total: 0.8% of population (2020 est.) |
Alcohol consumption per capita | |
Total | 5.42 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.) |
Beer | 1.86 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.) |
Wine | 2.86 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.) |
Spirits | 0.71 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.) |
Other alcohols | 0 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.) |
Tobacco use | |
Total | 21.5% (2020 est.) |
Male | 24.4% (2020 est.) |
Female | 18.5% (2020 est.) |
Want to know more about Uruguay? Check all different factbooks for Uruguay below.