Church and state are officially separated since 1916 in Uruguay. According to the most recent official survey approximately 58.1% of Uruguayans define themselves as Christian (47% Roman Catholic, 11.1% Protestant), and approximately 40.89% of the population professes no religion (23.2% as "believing in God but without religion", 17.2% as Atheist or Agnostic), 0.6% as followers of Umbanda or other African religions, 0.5% as Jewish, and 0.4% chose "Other".

Although the majority of Uruguayans do not actively practice a religion, they are nominally church members in the Catholic church. However, Protestants are more active. Other religious groups in Uruguay include the Jehovah's Witnesses. It is widely considered the most secular nation in America.^{[citation needed]}

Uruguay ⁱ/ˈjʊərəɡwaɪ/, officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, sometimes the Eastern Republic of Uruguay; (Spanish: República Oriental del Uruguay pronounced: [re̞ˈpuβ̞lika o̞ɾje̞n̪ˈt̪al̪ d̪e̞l uɾuˈɰwai̯]) is a country in the southeastern part of South America. It is home to 3.3 million people, of whom 1.8 million live in the capital Montevideo and its metropolitan area. An estimated 88% of the population are of European ancestry.

Except for the recent union of Timoteo Domínguez Island and Argentina's Martín García Island, Uruguay's only land border is with Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, to the north. To the west lies the Uruguay River and the estuary of the Río de la Plata to the southwest. To the southeast lies the southern part of the Atlantic Ocean. With an area of approximately 176,000 square kilometres (68,000 sq mi), Uruguay is the second-smallest nation in South America by area, after Suriname.

Colonia del Sacramento, one of the oldest European settlements in the country, was founded by the Portuguese in 1680. Montevideo was founded by the Spanish in the early 18th century as a military stronghold. Uruguay won its independence in 1811–28 following a three-way struggle between the claims of Spain, Argentina and Brazil. It is a constitutional democracy, with a president who is both the head of state and the head of government.

José Alberto "Pepe" Mujica Cordano (Spanish pronunciation: [xoˈse muˈxika]; born May 20, 1935) is an Uruguayan politician who has been President of Uruguay since 2010. A former guerrilla fighter and a member of the Broad Front (left-wing coalition), Mujica was Minister of Livestock, Agriculture, and Fisheries from 2005 to 2008 and a Senator afterwards. As the candidate of the Broad Front, he won the 2009 presidential election and took office as President on 1 March 2010.

Mujica was born on 20 May 1935 to Demetrio Mujica, of Basque ancestry and Lucy Cordano of Italian descent. As a youth, Mujica was active in the National Party, where he became close to Enrique Erro.

In the early 1960s, he joined the newly formed Tupamaros movement, an armed political group inspired by the Cuban revolution. He participated in the 1969 brief takeover of Pando, a town close to Montevideo, and was later convicted by a military tribunal under the government of Jorge Pacheco Areco, who had suspended certain constitutional guarantees. Mujica was captured by the authorities on four occasions, and he was among those political prisoners who escaped Punta Carretas Prison in 1971. He was eventually re-apprehended in 1972, and was shot by the police six times. After the military coup in 1973, he was transferred to a military prison where he served 14 years. During the 1970s, this included being confined to the bottom of a well for more than two years. During his time in prison, he remained in contact with other leaders of the Tupamaros, including Frente Amplio Senator Eleuterio Fernández Huidobro and the founder and leader of the Tupamaros, Raúl Sendic.

David Warren "Dave" Ellefson (born November 12, 1964) is a bassist and founding member of the American thrash metal band Megadeth. He also goes by "Junior." He currently resides in Scottsdale, Arizona. He also has various side projects which include Temple of Brutality, F5, and Killing Machine.

Ellefson was born in November 12, 1964 in Jackson, Minnesota, US to a Norwegian-American family. He then became an accomplished rhythm guitarist and honed his songwriting skills while leading several of his own bands through the club scene of North America's Midwest region.

Other than guitarist, vocalist, and primary lyricist Dave Mustaine, Ellefson was the only constant member of Megadeth from the time of their establishment in 1983 to the group's dissolution in 2002 (Mustaine subsequently reformed Megadeth but without Ellefson). To differentiate between the two Daves, Mustaine referred to Ellefson as "Dave Junior", which was often shortened to "Junior". He appeared on every album and tour from 1985's thrash record Killing Is My Business... And Business Is Good! up until 2002's Rude Awakening. Ellefson's original playing style involved using his fingers, however, as Megadeth progressed and the music became more complex, he tended to prefer playing with a pick/plectrum. Ellefson was credited with some Megadeth songs, including "Family Tree" from 1994's Youthanasia (in the 2004 remastered collection of the CD however, the track is credited to Mustaine, Ellefson, Friedman, Menza, but Dave Mustaine credited the Rust in Peace-era line-up with the entire Youthanasia album as a tribute to the band's success at the time of the record's initial release).