July 18th: Uruguay Constitution Day

Uruguay Constitution Day, celebrating the country's first constitution in 1830. 10 things you might not know about Uruguay:

1. It's quite small. With an area of approximately 176,000 square kilometres (68,000 sq mi), Uruguay is geographically the second-smallest nation in South America after Suriname. The population is 3.3 million, a similar size to Central London. 1.8 million of them live in the capital, Montevideo.
2. Montevideo is the southernmost capital city in the Americas, and the third most southerly in the world (beaten only by Canberra and Wellington).
3. Uruguay is known for its liberal laws and good quality of life. Cannabis was legalised there in 2013, and it was the first country in Latin America to allow same sex civil unions in 2008. Uruguay ranks first in Latin America for democracy, peace, lack of corruption, quality of living, and equally first in South America for press freedom, size of the middle class, prosperity and security. It's regarded as a high income country (top group) by the United Nations, the only one in Latin America. The crime rate is relatively low so it is considered one of the safest countries in South America.
4. Until March 2015, the President was Jose Mujica. The 40th President of Uruguay has been dubbed "the world's poorest President", although it appears that he was not so much poor as preferring a simple life. He refused to live in the Presidential Palace, preferring instead to live on his wife's Chrysanthemum farm, which has one bedroom. He drives a battered VW Beetle; it was alleged that he gave 90% of his salary to charity; and he owns a three-legged dog called Manuel. Mujica was nominated for a Nobel Peace prize for legalising cannabis. A final interesting fact about him is that his secretary, Fabiana Leis, is a famous model.
5. Football is a big thing. Despite its small population, Uruguay exports as many football players as Brazil and Argentina. The first international soccer match outside the British Isles was played between Uruguay and Argentina in Montevideo in July 1902. Also the only two Olympic gold medals Uruguay has ever won were for football, in 1924 and 1928.
6. On a per capita basis, Uruguay contributes more troops to United Nations peacekeeping missions than any other country.
7. Uruguay has the longest National Anthem in the world. Orientales, la Patria o la Tumba (Orientals, the Fatherland or the grave!) is 105 bars long and a full performance takes six minutes. However, generally just the first verse and chorus are sung.
8. There are more Cows than people in Uruguay. Much of the country is grassland, ideal for cattle; so for every human in the country, there are three cows. Even so, Uruguay manages to keep track of them all - it is the only country that keeps track of 100 per cent of its cattle. Perhaps unsurprisingly, then, beef is the country's major export and the national dish is Asado, a kind of barbecued beef.
9. The country is named for the Uruguay River, which in turn is thought to come from a local word for "River of the Painted Bird"; or possibly from a river snail called uruguá (Pomella megastoma) that was plentiful there.
10. Uruguay is the only country whose name in English has the same letter three times in its first five.

My Books

As well as this blog, I also write fiction and have published two novels (Death and Faxes and Glastonbury Swan) and a collection of short stories (Jigsaw). If you like ghost stories, crime stories, a bit of romance and anything slightly bizarre you might enjoy them. 

Further details on my books page