Country · Americas
Uruguay
Oriental Republic of Uruguay
Uruguay is a country in South America. About 3.4 million people live there, in an area of 181 034 square kilometres. Its capital city is Montevideo.
Picture credit: Ambrose Little (CC BY 2.0) · Fulviusbsas (Public domain) · Intendencia de Montevideo (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Wikimedia Commons
Where is Uruguay?
Uruguay lies in South America, on the continent of Americas.
It sits in the southern half of the world, roughly 3 674 km from the equator.
Its coastline is about 660 km long.
It shares a border with 2 countries: Argentina and Brazil.
How big is Uruguay?
Uruguay covers 181 034 square kilometres.
That is about 4.4 times the size of Switzerland.
Among the world's countries that makes it the 89th largest.
If everybody spread out evenly, there would be about 19.1 people on every square kilometre.
That is emptier than the world average of roughly 60 people per square kilometre.
Who lives in Uruguay?
About 3.4 million people live in Uruguay.
That is the 130th biggest population in the world.
People here speak Spanish.
They pay with the Uruguayan peso ($).
On average, people born here can expect to live about 75 years.
The land of Uruguay
The land of Uruguay sits on average 109 metres above sea level, which makes it one of the flatter countries on Earth.
Its coast runs for about 660 km. Walking it end to end, at twenty kilometres a day, would take roughly 33 days.
It lies between the tropics and the poles, which is the single biggest reason its weather is the way it is.
What makes Uruguay different?
Dishes the country is known for: Asado and Chivito.
Websites from here often end in .uy.
Uruguay and the rest of the world
Out of every thousand people alive on Earth, about one lives in Uruguay.
It takes up about 0.14 % of all the land that countries stand on.
Within Americas the country ranks 14th of 35 by size, and 22nd by population.
Uruguay and its neighbours
Brazil, its largest neighbour, is about 47 times bigger.
Brazil has more people: 209.5 million against 3.4 million.
Nature and animals
Of the animals on this site, 3 live wild in Uruguay: Nine-banded armadillo, Capybara and Coypu. The highest mountain in the country is Cerro Catedral, at 514 metres. The longest river in the country is the Río Negro. The largest lake in the country is Lagoa Mirim.
Photographs from Wikimedia Commons under free licences — every credit is on the page itself and in the picture credits.
How big is Uruguay compared with the United States?
- The United States is about 52 times as big as Uruguay: 9 372 610 km² against 181 034 km².
- The United Kingdom is about 1.3 times as big as Uruguay: 242 900 km² against 181 034 km².
Questions children ask
What is the capital of Uruguay?
The capital of Uruguay is Montevideo. It is the city where the country's government works from.
How many people live in Uruguay?
About 3.4 million people live in Uruguay, which makes it the 130th most populated country in the world. (Source: World Bank, 2018.)
How big is Uruguay?
Uruguay covers 181 034 square kilometres, making it the 89th largest country in the world. That is about 4.4 times the size of Switzerland.
What is the highest mountain in Uruguay?
The highest mountain in Uruguay is Cerro Catedral, 514 metres above sea level. It is the country's highest point.
What is the longest river in Uruguay?
The longest river in Uruguay is the Río Negro, about 800 kilometres long.
What is the largest lake in Uruguay?
The largest lake in Uruguay is Lagoa Mirim. The whole lake covers about 3 750 km², and part of it belongs to neighbouring countries.
Which continent is Uruguay in?
Uruguay is in Americas, in the part called South America.
Where these numbers come from
Borders and outlines: Natural Earth. Names, capitals, areas, languages and currencies: ISO 3166 data (world-countries). Population: World Bank, 2018. Every derived figure on this page (ranks, density, distance from the equator) is calculated from those values.
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