Uruguay
Montevideo · South America
Uruguay is a country in South America. Its capital city is Montevideo, the official currency is the Uruguayan Peso, and the main language is Spanish.
With a population of roughly 3.4 million people spread over 176,215 km², Uruguay is the 133rd most populous country in the world and the 89th largest by area. That works out at about 19 people per square kilometre.
Uruguay shares land borders with Brazil and Argentina — 2 neighbours in all. Its largest urban centres are Montevideo, Salto and Ciudad de la Costa. The highest point in the country is Cerro Catedral, at 514 metres.
For scale, it covers almost exactly the same area as Cambodia, while its population is closest to that of Mongolia.
- Capital
- Montevideo
- Region
- South America
- Population
- 3,400,000
- Area
- 176,215 km²
- Currency
- Uruguayan Peso
- Main language
- Spanish
- Highest point
- Cerro Catedral
514 m - Land borders
- 2
Uruguay: things worth knowing
- Uruguay generates the large majority of its electricity from renewable sources, chiefly wind and hydro.
- It won the first FIFA World Cup, hosted at home in 1930.
- Roughly half the national population lives in the Montevideo metropolitan area.
Uruguay in context
South America has 12 sovereign countries in total. Uruguay ranks 10th among them by population.
See the full list of South America countries, or browse all 195 countries.