GEOGRAPHY
Uruguay is located in South America, on the Atlantic coast between Brazil to the North-East and Argentina in the western part.
Uruguay has a surface of approximately 176.000 square km excluding the territorial waters. There are no topographic remarcable accidents; the majority of the surface consists of soft hills crossed by long rivers.
Climate
Uruguay is the unique South American country entirely located in the temperate region. The absence of important orographical systems makes the horizontal variations of temperature, rainfall and other climatic variables to be not very significant. The climate is agreeable and healthy along all the year round. The temperatures in summer have an average of 21 ° C to 27 ° C (70 F and 80 F) and in winter between 10 ° C and 16 ° C (50 F and 60 F) and occasionally there are some cold days. It can rain in any station of the year, but generally rains are more intense in autumn.
The stations of the year in Uruguay are in the following period:
*Spring from September 22 to December 21
*Summer from December 22 to March 21.
*Autumn from March 22 to June 21.
*Winter from June 22 until September 21.
Uruguay is the unique South American country entirely located in the temperate region. The absence of important orographical systems makes the horizontal variations of temperature, rainfall and other climatic variables to be not very significant. The climate is agreeable and healthy along all the year round. The temperatures in summer have an average of 21 ° C to 27 ° C (70 F and 80 F) and in winter between 10 ° C and 16 ° C (50 F and 60 F) and occasionally there are some cold days. It can rain in any station of the year, but generally rains are more intense in autumn.
The stations of the year in Uruguay are in the following period:
*Spring from September 22 to December 21
*Summer from December 22 to March 21.
*Autumn from March 22 to June 21.
*Winter from June 22 until September 21.
Population
Uruguay is a country with a population constituted almost exclusively by direct descendants of Europeans and possesses a very strong European tradition. Due to this, Uruguay is atypical taking in consideration the rest of Latin America.
Uruguay possesses the major proportion of caucasian population of America (ahead of Canada, USA and Argentina). The most populated cities are Montevideo (which is the capital and the most important port), Paysandú and Salto ( on the coast of Uruguay River and Las Piedras, near Montevideo. Punta del Este, on the Atlantic coast, 140 kilometers from Montevideo, is one of the famous resorts in South America, extremely active in summer, especially in January and February
Religion
The Uruguayan State is secular, with absolute cults freedom. The separation Church - State was established in the Constitution of 1919. A wide climate of tolerance exists in the society toward different cults. The discrimination for religious reasons is banned by Constitution and law. The majority religion is the Catholicism, with 66 % of followers, though great part of this percentage is not practicing it. There is 2 % of Protestants and 1 % of Jews. Approximately 31 % of the population does not practice any religion..
Visas
In general, for businessmen who visit the country, current passport is the only document they need to present, except for some few specific cases that a previous visa is required. For citizens of Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Paraguay only a document of identification is needed to be presented.
Currency
The legal currency of the Oriental Republic of Uruguay is “peso”. 1 Uruguayan “peso” (urug $). But the Uruguayan economy experiences a high degree of dollarization, adopting the American dollar as currency for his use in economic transactions. The foreign currency replaces the domestic currency in all his functions (value reservation, account unit, way of payment).
Air transport
The principal airport facilities are in the zones of major concentration of population and tourist infrastructure. Carrasco's International Airport is located in the east of Montevideo, 18 km from the downtown, is the principal air terminal of Uruguay. The intercontinental coverage in made across 10 international airlines, which fulfill passengers' regular services and air load daily. A program of remodeling and extension is in a project phase and is expected to be implanted across private investment, to improve the existing infrastructure. The Airport of Laguna del Sauce (Punta del Este), located 15 km from the city and it was recently renewed in his structure and tracks, under private investment in regime of concession.