South America · URY

Uruguay

The story · 9 chapters

How it was drawn

Charrua grasslands, then a frontier fought over by Spain and Portugal and later Argentina and Brazil, until the eastern bank became a buffer state in 1828.

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Through the ages

Rivals in history

The kingdoms, empires and states Uruguay fought or stood against, from the first to today.

Portuguese Empire1680 to 1777
Portugal founds Colonia do Sacramento opposite Buenos Aires in 1680. Spain takes it by force several times, answers by founding Montevideo, and finally keeps Colonia under the Treaty of San Ildefonso in 1777.
Kingdom of Great Britain1806 to 1807
British forces attack the Rio de la Plata in 1806 and storm Montevideo in February 1807. Defeated at Buenos Aires, they leave the region later that year.
Spanish Empire1811 to 1814
Artigas defeats the royalists at Las Piedras in May 1811, and patriot forces besiege Spanish Montevideo. The city, Spain's last stronghold in the Rio de la Plata, surrenders to troops from Buenos Aires in June 1814.
United Provinces of the Rio de la Plata1814 to 1820
Artigas wants a federation of equal provinces; Buenos Aires wants central rule. He breaks with it in 1814, takes Montevideo in 1815, and fights the capital until his Federal League collapses in 1820.
Portuguese Empire, then Empire of Brazil1816 to 1828
Portuguese troops invade in 1816 and annex the land as the Cisplatine province, which passes to independent Brazil in 1822. The war of 1825 to 1828 against Brazil ends with British mediation and an independent Uruguay.
Argentine Confederation1839 to 1852
In the Guerra Grande the Argentine ruler Juan Manuel de Rosas backs the Blanco leader Manuel Oribe, whose forces besiege Montevideo from 1843 to 1851. Brazil and the Argentine general Urquiza end the siege, and Rosas falls at Caseros in 1852.
BrazilSince 1851Still open
Uruguay says the 1851 border treaties were misapplied in two places: Rincon de Artigas, farmland near Masoller, and Brazilian Island, where the Quarai meets the Uruguay River. Brazil holds both, and the dispute stays peaceful and open.
Empire of Brazil1864 to 1865
Brazil invades Uruguay in 1864 to back the Colorado rebel Venancio Flores. After the siege of Paysandu, Montevideo surrenders in February 1865 and Flores takes power.
Paraguay1865 to 1870
Uruguay joins Brazil and Argentina in the Triple Alliance against Paraguay in 1865, and its troops fight until the war ends with the death of Francisco Solano Lopez in 1870.
Argentine Republic2005 to 2010
A large pulp mill built at Fray Bentos on the Uruguay River angers Argentine neighbours, who block the bridge between the countries for years. In 2010 the International Court of Justice finds Uruguay failed to consult Argentina but did not break its environmental duties.

Today

Uruguay now

The Spanish founded the city of Montevideo in modern-day Uruguay in 1726 as a military stronghold, and it soon became an important commercial center due to its natural harbor. Argentina initially claimed Uruguay, but Brazil annexed the country in 1821. Uruguay declared its independence in 1825 and secured its freedom in 1828 after a three-year struggle.

Capital: Montevideo
Government: presidential republic
Head of government: Yamandú Orsi
Area: 176,215 km²

Through time

Then and now

Population3.4 million2023 · 2.2 million in 1950
Life expectancy78.1 years2023 · 65.6 years in 1950
GDP per person$20,1812022 · $7,015 in 1950
Living in cities96%2025 · 78% in 1950
Literacy99%2024 · 83% in 1950
Political regimeLiberal democracy2025 · Electoral democracy in 1950
Military alliancesRio Pact2024 · Rio Pact in 1950
Military spending2.3% of GDP2025
War deathsNone2025

Population: HYDE 3.3, Gapminder and UN WPP. GDP per capita: Maddison Project Database 2023. Urban share: UN WPP. Life expectancy: Riley, HMD, UN WPP. Literacy: OWID historical estimates, World Bank, UNESCO. Military spending: SIPRI. War deaths: UCDP. Political regime: V-Dem, Regimes of the World. All via Our World in Data (CC BY 4.0). Alliances and organization memberships: compiled by Atlas. Satellites in orbit: CelesTrak SATCAT. Modern borders, backcast.

Relations

Close partners and tensions

Close partners

Argentina
Brazil
United States
United Kingdom
France

Summarised from World Bank and Wikipedia data, updated 24 October 2026.

Rivals in history

The kingdoms, empires and states Uruguay fought or stood against, from the first to today.

Portuguese Empire1680 to 1777

Portugal founds Colonia do Sacramento opposite Buenos Aires in 1680. Spain takes it by force several times, answers by founding Montevideo, and finally keeps Colonia under the Treaty of San Ildefonso in 1777.

Kingdom of Great Britain1806 to 1807

British forces attack the Rio de la Plata in 1806 and storm Montevideo in February 1807. Defeated at Buenos Aires, they leave the region later that year.

Spanish Empire1811 to 1814

Artigas defeats the royalists at Las Piedras in May 1811, and patriot forces besiege Spanish Montevideo. The city, Spain's last stronghold in the Rio de la Plata, surrenders to troops from Buenos Aires in June 1814.

United Provinces of the Rio de la Plata1814 to 1820

Artigas wants a federation of equal provinces; Buenos Aires wants central rule. He breaks with it in 1814, takes Montevideo in 1815, and fights the capital until his Federal League collapses in 1820.

Portuguese Empire, then Empire of Brazil1816 to 1828

Portuguese troops invade in 1816 and annex the land as the Cisplatine province, which passes to independent Brazil in 1822. The war of 1825 to 1828 against Brazil ends with British mediation and an independent Uruguay.

Argentine Confederation1839 to 1852

In the Guerra Grande the Argentine ruler Juan Manuel de Rosas backs the Blanco leader Manuel Oribe, whose forces besiege Montevideo from 1843 to 1851. Brazil and the Argentine general Urquiza end the siege, and Rosas falls at Caseros in 1852.

BrazilSince 1851Still open

Uruguay says the 1851 border treaties were misapplied in two places: Rincon de Artigas, farmland near Masoller, and Brazilian Island, where the Quarai meets the Uruguay River. Brazil holds both, and the dispute stays peaceful and open.

Empire of Brazil1864 to 1865

Brazil invades Uruguay in 1864 to back the Colorado rebel Venancio Flores. After the siege of Paysandu, Montevideo surrenders in February 1865 and Flores takes power.

Paraguay1865 to 1870

Uruguay joins Brazil and Argentina in the Triple Alliance against Paraguay in 1865, and its troops fight until the war ends with the death of Francisco Solano Lopez in 1870.

Argentine Republic2005 to 2010

A large pulp mill built at Fray Bentos on the Uruguay River angers Argentine neighbours, who block the bridge between the countries for years. In 2010 the International Court of Justice finds Uruguay failed to consult Argentina but did not break its environmental duties.

Uruguay now

Capital

Montevideo

Government

presidential republic

Head of government

Yamandú Orsi

Area

176,215 km²

Then and now

Population3.4 million2023 · 2.2 million in 1950

Life expectancy78.1 years2023 · 65.6 years in 1950

GDP per person$20,1812022 · $7,015 in 1950

Living in cities96%2025 · 78% in 1950

Literacy99%2024 · 83% in 1950

Political regimeLiberal democracy2025 · Electoral democracy in 1950

Military alliancesRio Pact2024 · Rio Pact in 1950

Military spending2.3% of GDP2025

War deathsNone2025