Uruguay , unusually among the countries of the American continent, did not have an indigenous population of note prior to the coming of the Europeans. Tribes of the Charrúa and the Tupí-Guaraní people were inhabiting the region in around 2000BC, but they only existed as hunting and gathering communities, developing no sophisticated technology such as architecture or pottery.
Europeans first arrived in the region in the early 1500s. A Spanish sailor, Juan Díaz de Solís , sailed into the River Plate seeking to find the sea link between the Atlantic and Pacific that the early explorers were convinced must exist. Solis's vessel and crew was wiped out by the local Charrúa but within a few decades several further expeditions were to visit the region. Magellan moored just off Montevideo bay in 1520 and Cabot in the next decade. The aggression of the locals and their seeming lack of wealth failed to ignite colonial interests however, and it was only at the end of the century that explorers ventured further than the river coast. Once they had discovered the fertile plains of the interior, it became a different story. Realising the wealth of such a fertile land, which was already home to herds of wild cattle, the Europeans began to see Uruguay in a new light.
It was the Portuguese and Spanish who showed the most interest in the region and both established colonies in the first half of the 17th century. In order to consolidate their position the Portuguese built their first fort in 1680 at Colonia del Sacramento, the Spanish responding by fortifying the settlement at Montevideo in the 1720s. The Charrúa continued to harry the settlers, but now that the Europeans had decided to settle in earnest the Charrúa were powerless to prevent it.
Skirmishes between the Portuguese and Spanish over the next few decades strengthened Spanish influence and by the mid-18th century Spain was the dominant power of the region. Montevideo became the home of the Spanish South American fleet, but as part of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata the city was technically subservient to Buenos Aires .
The overthrow of the Spanish king by Napoleon in 1808 set in motion a chain of events that were to lead to independence. The governor of Montevideo , Javier Elio , remained loyal to the deposed King Ferdinand and when the Spanish Viceroy was deposed in Buenos Aires in 1810, Elio took the offensive against the revolutionaries on behalf of Spain . However, Elio had misjudged his own people and in the interior a military commander called Artigas rallied an army and marched on Montevideo , demanding independence. Elio only survived by hastily making peace with the new governors of Buenos Aires , and inviting in a Portuguese military force to dispel Artigas's army, forcing the general to retire to Argentina .
Artigas was betrayed by Buenos Aires , who refused to ratify a proposed treaty guaranteeing regional independence. He broke away, and besieged Montevideo again, throwing out an occupying Argentine force in 1814. Artigas then found himself under attack from a Brazilian force, who successfully retook Montevideo and exiled Artigas. Artigas had failed but his actions ultimately inspired the next generation of Uruguayan born people (of Spanish descent naturally, the Charrúa by now being decimated by poverty, disease and war) to fight for independence, which they duly won in 1825.
The Uruguayan state was declared in 1828. The formation of two political parties, the liberal Colorados (Reds) under Rivera and the right-wing National Party (Whites) under Oribe caused civil unrest, and allowed Uruguay's neighbours a way into the nation. Argentina supported Oribe, while Brazil bolstered Rivera - and a constant series of uprisings eventually led to the "Great War" of 1843-1852. The Colorados were eventually victorious, and towards the end of the century Uruguay developed industry and infrastructure with the help of Britain , despite the constant pressure of Brazil and Argentina on the Uruguayan borders.
In the early 1900s a Colorados government announced the welfare state . Women were granted suffrage and Uruguay was the most prosperous country in Latin America . Internally all was not well though, and an over-complicated system of government left the country open to a military coup in the 1930s and again in the 1970s, when over a decade of military rule led to disappearances and terror (albeit on nothing like the scale in neighbouring Argentina).
In the final part of the 20th century the country found a more even political keel, although the rise of the left in recent years means that the two traditional parties now find themselves in coalition against a popular leftist movement.
Reasonably stable economically and politically, Uruguay has managed to avoid the financial collapses of its neighbours in recent years, and although the peso has devalued, the economy has been stabilised by pre-emptive foreign investment. Tourism is an important part of modern Uruguay , with the Uruguayan Riviera one of the continent's most popular destinations.
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Uruguayans tend to enjoy a quiet life, with a society more partial to Europe than to the rest of South America . With the exception of Montevideo and Punta del Este, most of the country consists of small villages with a slow pace of life. The European influence is apparent in everything from dance traditions and musical styles to architecture and civil engineering. The population is almost exclusively Roman Catholic but there is strict separation between church and state. Among the most prosperous countries in South America Uruguay has a particularly high literacy rate and is known for its art and literature.
The common obsession, as throughout the region, is football (soccer). Uruguay hosted and won the first world cup in 1930 and won it again in 1950 in Brazil . Especially sweet for the tiny nation was that in the first of these feats they defeated Argentina in the final, and in the second they beat Brazil in the defining match of the competition. For such a small country the idea that they can compete against their larger neighbours in one sphere at least is important to the national psyche. Should you be in the country when Uruguay is playing an international match it is well worth watching it with some locals - even on the TV. If they are playing either of Argentina and Brazil you will see what national pride bordering on fanaticism really is.
Uruguay is now often described as a city with a large ranch attached to it. More than half of the country's three-million-plus inhabitants live in Montevideo and its suburbs. This can lead to some regionalism among the inhabitants of the capital, who look down on their more rural compatriots. In the provinces meanwhile there is a reverse snobbishness against the big city life of Montevideo .
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