ABSTRACT
Uruguay, officially named the República Oriental del Uruguay, is one of the smallest countries of the Americas, with an area of 177,508 square kilometers. It extends northward to Brazil and the Atlantic Ocean, eastward to the Atlantic, and westward and southward to its border with Argentina across two rivers, the Uruguay and the Río de la Plata. The population, mostly descendants of Spanish and Italian settlers, was 3,168,000 in 1994. The native population is extinct, and vestiges of Africans who came as slaves remain in some cities, especially in the capital, Montevideo.
