Uruguay

Montevideo, founded by the Spanish in 1726 as a military stronghold, soon took advantage of its natural harbor to become an important commercial center. Claimed by Argentina but annexed by Brazil in 1821, Uruguay declared its independence four years later and secured its freedom in 1828 after a three-year struggle. The administrations of President Jose BATLLE in the early 20th century established widespread political, social, and economic reforms that established a statist tradition. A violent Marxist urban guerrilla movement named the Tupamaros, launched in the late 1960s, led Uruguay's president to cede control of the government to the military in 1973. By yearend, the rebels had been crushed, but the military continued to expand its hold over the government. Civilian rule was not restored until 1985. In 2004, the left-of-center Frente Amplio Coalition won national elections that effectively ended 170 years of political control previously held by the Colorado and Blanco parties. Uruguay's political and labor conditions are among the freest on the continent.

Economical characteristics

• Currency: Uruguayan peso (ISO code: UYU)
• Central bank discount rate: 10% (31 December 2008)
• Commercial banks lending rate: 12.45% (31 December 2008)
• Stock of money (M1): $2.247 billion (31 December 2008)
• Quasi money (with M1 makes M2): $9.409 billion (31 December 2008)

Statistics

Statistic / Year	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008
GDP (million USD)	23 984	22 823	20 899	13 606	12 046	13 686	17 363	20 023	24 254	32 186
Govt. debt (% of GDP)			40.643	95.268	105.603	85.426	76.114	67.499	56.478	54.015
Govt. revenue (% of GDP)	24.123	24.681	24.849	24.774	24.869	25.605	26.338	26.755	25.586	25.012
Govt. expenses (% of GDP)	26.442	26.551	27.270	27.891	27.913	26.592	26.557	26.269	25.572	24.155
Debt to revenue (years)			1.636	3.845	4.246	3.336	2.890	2.523	2.207	2.160

References

Note: statistical data was rounded. Different sources may use different methodologies for their estimates. Debt to revenue is calculated by dividing the two variables from their original ('unrounded') values. It represents how long it would a government take to repay its entire debt if it used its whole revenue for this purpose.

External links

• Uruguay on Wikipedia
• Central bank of Uruguay
• Country profile (pdf) from the Enterprise Studies page (part of the The World Bank Group)
• Studies from the Library of Congress (1986-1998)
• BBC country profile