1987 Edition

Boundary disputes

Argentina, Brazil

Climate

warm temperate; freezing temperatures almost unknown

Coastline

660 km

Comparative area

about the size of the State of Washington

Continental shelf

200 meters or to depth of exploitation

Environment

subject to seasonally high winds, droughts, floods

Land boundaries

1,352 km total

Land use

8% arable land; NEGL% permanent crops; 78% meadows and pastures; 4% forest and woodland; 10% other; includes 1% irrigated

Special notes

none

Terrain

mostly rolling plains and low hills; fertile coastal lowland

Territorial sea

200 nm (overflight and navigation permitted beyond 12 nm)

Total area

125km Boundary representation is not necessarily authoritative Embatse def Rio Negro "Peysandé ea Ocean

176,220 km?; land area: 178,620 km?

Ethnic divisions

88% white, 8% mestizo, 4% black Uruguay (continued)

Infant mortality rate

32/1,000 (1983)

Labor force

about 1.28 million (1981); 25% government; 19% manufacturing; 11% agriculture; 12% commerce; 12% utilities, construction, transport, and communications; 21% other services; unemployment 11% (1986 est.)

Language

Spanish

Life expectancy

men 67.1, women 73.7

Literacy

94.3%

Nationality

noun—Uruguayan(s); adjective—Uruguayan

Organized labor

Interunion Workers’ Assembly /National Workers’ Confederation (PIT/CNT) Labor Federation

Population

2,964,052 (July 1987), average annual growth rate 0.39%

Religion

66% Roman Catholic (less than half adult population attends church regularly), 2% Protestant, 2% Jewish, 30% nonprofessing or other

Administrative divisions

19 departments with limited autonomy

Branches

executive, headed by President; bicameral National Congress (Senate and House of Deputies); national judiciary headed by Court of Justice

Capital

Montevideo

Communists

30,000

Elections

last November 1984; elections held every five years Political parties and leaders: National (Blanco) Party, Wilson Ferreira; Colorado Party, Julio Sanguinetti, Enrique Tarigo, Jorge Pacheco Areco; Broad Front Coalition, Liber Seregni; Communist Party (legalized in March 1985), Rodney Arismendi; Civic Union, Humberto Ciganda; Government of the People (List 99), Hugo Batalla

Government leaders

Julio M. SANGUINETTI, President (since March 1985); Enrique E. TARIGO, Vice President (since March 1985)

Legal system

based on Spanish civil law system; most recent constitution implemented 1967; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

Member of

FAO, G-77, GATT, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, IDB—Inter-American Development Bank, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IRC, ITU, LAIA, OAS, PAHO, SELA, UN, UNESCO, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WSG

National holiday

Independence Day, 25 August

Official name

Oriental Republic of Uruguay

Other political or pressure groups

National Liberation Movement (MLN)— Tupamaros, leftist revolutionary terrorist group, granted amnesty in 1985

Suffrage

universal over age 18

Type

republic

Voting strength

(1984 elections) 41% Colorado, 35% Blanco, 22% Broad Front, 2% Civic Union

Agriculture

large areas devoted to extensive livestock grazing; main crops—wheat, rice, corn, sorghum; self-sufficient in most basic foodstuffs

Aid

US authorized, including Ex-Im (FY70-84), $78 million; other Western countries, ODA and OOF (1970-84) $175 million; Communist countries (1970-85), $65 million

Budget

(1986 est.) revenues, $709 million, expenditures, $90] million

Electric power

1,379,000 kW capacity; 8,730 million kWh produced, 1,260 kWh per capita (1986)

Exports

$960 million (f.0.b., 1986); meat, textiles, wool, hides, leather products, fish, rice, furs

Fiscal year

calendar year

GDP

$5.2 billion, $1,760 per capita (1986); 89% consumption, 138% gross investment, —2.0% foreign; real growth rate 1986, 3.0%

Imports

$708 million (f.0.b., 1986 est.); fuels and lubricants (87%), metals, machinery, transportation equipment, industrial chemicals

Major industries

meat processing, wool and hides, rice, textiles, footwear, leather apparel, tires, cement, fishing, petroleum refining

Major trade partners

exports—20% Brazil; 15% US, imports—39% LAIA (13% Brazil, 11% Argentina), 15% EC, 7% US (1986 est.)

Military transfers

US authorized (FY7085) $39 million

Monetary conversion rate

173.36 new pesos=US$1 (November 1986)

Natural resources

soil, hydroelectric power (potential), minor minerals

Airfields

97 total, 94 usable; 16 with permanent-surface runways; 2 with runways 2,440-8,659 m, 14 with runways 1,220-2,439 m

Civil air

14 major transport aircraft

Highways

49,900 km total; 6,700 km paved, 3,000 km gravel, 40,200 km earth

Inland waterways

1,600 km; used by coastal and shallow-draft river craft

Ports

1 major (Montevideo), 9 minor

Railroads

3,000 km, all 1.4385-meter standard gauge and government owned

Telecommunications

most modern facilities concentrated in Montevideo; new nationwide radio-relay network 337,000 telephones (11.3 per 100 popl.); 98 AM, 9 shortwave, 21 TV stations; 2 Atlantic Ocean satellite stations

Branches

Army, Navy, Air Force

Military manpower

males 15-49, 689,000; 561,000 fit for military service; no conscription