Uruguay

Uruguay is located in South America between Argentina and Brazil. Its official name is Oriental Republic of Uruguay, and its inhabitants are also referred to as “Orientals.” Uruguayan society resulted from the confluence of several cultures and ethnicities. The presence of pirates, corsairs, and illegal traders from Holland, France, and England was related to their interest in cattle for the production of leather. Along with some Iberians, they joined the native peoples and thus originated a unique culturally and racially metizo population, the Gauchos. Their religiosity was tenuous, although some sectors were influenced by the Jesuit and Franciscan missions of the 18th century. A slave market operated in Montevideo, and a fraction of the national population was brought from Africa during the initial years of the colonization.

Not only was Uruguay Spain's last colonization effort in the continent, but the singularity of the nation was also propitiated by migratory waves from different parts of Europe, which intensified immediately after the establishment of an independent republic in 1830. A strong presence of the British in the regional politics and economy was associated with a settlement of British people in Uruguay and the foundation of the first English church in South America. Since the second half of the 19th century, Protestants were recognized, with Waldensians migrated from northern Italy, Re formed Swiss, and German Lutherans. Although the Uruguayan Catholic Church shares some of the features of Latin American Catholicism, it has been neither as powerful nor as strongly connected with the state. The first system of public schools was established in 1870. It was well spread, nonconfessional, free, and compulsory. During the same period, the university diffused the doctrines of positivism. The 1919 constitution strengthened cultural secularization and the lay or nonconfessional state.

Today, the percentages of religious affiliation are 47%–51% Catholics, 17.2% nonbelievers, 11% Protestants and Pentecostals, 23.2% believers affiliated to no church, and 1.3% other traditions (African descendants, Jews, and Muslims). These figures show not only the diversity of religious affiliations but also the increasing secularization of Uruguay.

Uruguay is located east of the Uruguay River, which, along with River Plate in the south, divides it from Argentina. It also borders with Brazil on the northeastern corner. Geography has affected Uruguayan history since the beginning of its European colonization, as a territory that has been claimed first by the Spanish and the Portuguese and later by the Argentineans and the Brazilians. Attempting to secure an entrance to the continent via the rivers Plate, Uruguay, and Paraná, the Portuguese founded Colonia del Sacramento in 1680 and therein erected the country's first Christian church. Around 1730, the Portuguese were replaced by the Spanish, who founded Montevideo. The national territory measures 176,200 square kilometers and consists of fertile plains with low hills, used as pasture lands for European livestock. The development of this economic sector began in the 16th century, before the intensive colonization of the country during the 18th century.