Uruguay is situated in southern South America near the delta of the Rio de la Plata. To the east lies the Atlantic Ocean, to the north Brazil, and in the west Argentina. The border with Argentina is formed by the river Uruguay, which also gave its name to the country. The country covers 176,215 square kilometers and has 3.1 million inhabitants. The capital is Montevideo with 1.5 million inhabitants. The landscape is rather regular with the highest points being in the Sierra de read Animas (514 m). The climate is subtropical to moderate and very damp.
From the beginnings to the Viceroyalty of the Rio de la Plata
In 1516 the Spanish sailor Juan Diaz de Solis discovered the area of today's Uruguay, but it was 1624 before there was a permanent Spanish settlement founded by the Jesuits. Colonists from Brazil penetrated the region and created several settlements between 1680 and 1683 along the Rio de la Plata, being driven out however by the Spaniards at the beginning 18th century. Uruguay was to become a constant bone of contention between Spaniards and Portuguese. Montevideo was founded 1726. In 1776 Uruguay became part of the Spanish viceroyalty of Rio de la Plata with its capital at Buenos Aires, which covered Argentina, Bolivia and Paraguay as well.
Independence and Civil War
South American patriots drove the Spanish out of Buenos Aires in 1811 and in 1814 out of Montevideo as well. In 1816 Brazil occupied the territory, calling it "Banda Oriental", and incorporated it into its national territory in 1821. Uruguayans proclaimed their independence in 1825, but only following a short war with Brazil in 1828 was it recognized. From 1835 to 1865 (with interruptions) the country was shaken by a succession of civil wars between the so-called Blancos (White Ones) and the Colorados (Red Ones). From 1865 to 1870 Uruguay fought on the side of Argentina and Brazil against Paraguay.
German Immigration
Only in the middle of the 19th century did German first start to arrive in the country. Starting from around 1850 they bought up a set of estates, on which they operated cattle breeding and agriculture with success in the southern and eastern regions. In different places these estates formed small scattered housing estates, e.g. San Juan (Department Kolonia), Cardoso (Department Rio Negro), Santa Teresa (Department Rocha), Nuevo Berlin, Alemannia, Nueva Germania. In 1857 in Montevideo there was founded a German Evangelist church municipality with its own school. Swiss arrived in 1862-63 from the cantons Berne, St. Gallen, Appenzell and Luzern to Nueva Helvecia into south west Uruguay. Also immigrants from Baden and Alsace increased the numbers of colonists. After the Second World War again many Germans from the destroyed motherland as well as Volksdeutsche refugees found here a new homeland.
