Uruguayan people
Uruguayos

Artigas • Cayetano Alberto Silva • José Batlle y Ordóñez • Modesto Ocampo • Isabelino Gradín • China Zorrilla •Carlos Páez Vilaró • José Mujica • Lucía Topolansky • Alfredo Zitarrosa • Ruben Rada • Jaime Roos • Barbara Mori • Jorge Drexler • Diego Forlán • Natalia Oreiro
Total population
3,500,000 + est. 0.049% of World population
Regions with significant populations
Uruguay 3,494,382 (2009)
Argentina 117,564 [1]  Spain 49,970  United States 48,234 [2]  Australia 9,376 [3]
Languages
Rioplatense Spanish (Uruguayan Spanish), Portuñol
Religion
Catholic, Irreligious, Protestants, Jews and Umbanda.
Related ethnic groups
Latin Americans · Italians · Spaniards · Galicians · French · Ashkenazi and others.

Uruguayan people or Uruguayans (Uruguayos in Spanish) are the citizens of Uruguay, or its descendants abroad. Uruguay is a multiethnic society, which means that it is home to people of many different ethnical backgrounds. Therefore, Uruguayan people usually treat their nationality as a citizenship rather than an ethnicity. Uruguay is, along with other settler societies like Canada, Australia or the United States a melting pot of different peoples, with the difference that it has traditionally maintained a model that promotes cultural assimilation, hence the different cultures have been absorbed by the mainstream. Uruguay has one of the most homogeneous populations in South America with the most common ethnic backgrounds are Italian and Spaniard, especially Galicians, Castilians and Basques.

Ethnic groups[link]

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Uruguayans share a Spanish linguistic and cultural background with its neighbour country Argentina. Also, like Argentina, most Uruguayans are descended from colonial-era settlers and immigrants from Europe with almost 88% of the population being of European descent.^[4]

The majority of these are Spaniards and Italians, followed by the French people, Basques, Germans, Portuguese, British (English or Scots), Armenians, Irish, Swiss, Russians, Poles, Croats, Bulgarians, Hungarians, Ukrainians, Lithuanians, Estonians, Latvians, Scandinavians, Dutch, Austrians, Greeks, Turkish, Arab mainly Lebanese people and Syrians, and smaller number of Georgians. There are also smaller numbers of Han Chinese and Japanese people. The majority of Poles, Russians, Germans and Austrians were and are Ashkenazi Jews so they can be seen as a single ethnic group. Montevideo, like Buenos Aires of nearby Argentina and Rio de Janiero in Brazil, was a major seaport to dock ships coming from Europe and elsewhere, and European settlement greatly affected Uruguay to have a more western oriented culture.

Many colonies such as Nueva Helvecia-Colonia Suiza a Swiss colony and Colonia Valdense a Piedmontese waldensian colony, are located in the department of Colonia. Also, there are towns founded by early British settlers, like Conchillas and Barker. A Russian colony called San Javier, is found in the department of Río Negro. Also there are Mennonite colonies in the department of Río Negro like Gartental and El Ombú, in Canelones Department called Colonia Nicolich, and in San José Department called Colonia Delta. El Ombú, is famous for its well-known Dulce de Leche "Claldy", and is located near the city of Young.

Many of the European immigrants arrived in Uruguay in the late 19th century and have heavily influenced the architecture and culture of Montevideo and other major cities. For this reason, Montevideo and life within the city are very reminiscent of Western Europe.

White[link]

White people constitute the majority of Uruguay's population. They are the Uruguayan descendants of colonists from Spain and also from Portugal during the colonial period prior to 1810. The majority of immigrants from Europe arrived in the great migratory wave during the late 19th century and early 20th century.

Although the category "white" is not officially recognized, and neither census data nor statistically significant studies exist, some international sources claim that they make up 88.0% of Uruguay's population.

The current most numerous immigrant European communities are: Spanish, Italian along with many other European nationalities.

Mestizo[link]

There are up to 8% of the population being of a Mestizo (European-Amerindian) ancestry. People with amerindian ancestry can be founded in the north of Uruguay, primarily in Tacuarembó Department, where the amerindian ancestry reaches 20% of the population.

Afro Uruguayan[link]

Blacks and mulattos in Uruguay are more or less 209,662 and they are mostly found in Montevideo, Rivera Department, Artigas Department, Salto Department and Cerro Largo Department.^[5] African Uruguayans were soldiers who helped create an independent nation-state from a Spanish colony, and defended that independence from foreign invaders, first Great Britain and then Brazil, during the first decades of the 19th century.

One of major afro-Uruguayan expressions is the Candombe.

Languages[link]

Although Spanish is dominant, being the national language spoken by virtually all Uruguayans, Portuñol Riverense or Bayano, Portuguese-Spanish mix on the Brazilian frontier is spoken. The audiovisual standard language is the Uruguayan Spanish, the own variety of Rioplatense, spoken in Uruguay.

Religion[link]

Uruguay has no official religion and church and state are separate. Religious freedom is guaranteed. Most Uruguayans baptize their children and marry in catholic churches although it has been estimated that only about 4 percent of the population regularly attends to it. A 2006 survey had Catholicism as the main religion, with 47.1% of the population, 11.1% claim to be Non-Catholic Christian and 0.3% Jewish. Approximately 40.4% of the population professes no religion.^[6]

The Jewish community is concentrated in Montevideo (about 1% of the city's population), as well as the Muslim and Orthodox^[7] communities. There are several Protestant and Pentecostal denominations, together they represent the 11.1% of the population, these denominations are, the Methodist Church in Uruguay,^[8] the New Apostolic Church,^[9] the Anglican Communion,^[10] the Evangelical Baptist Convention of Uruguay, the Evangelical Church of the Río de la Plata,^[11] the Waldensian Evangelical Church,^[12] the United Evangelical Lutheran Church^[13] and the Seventh-day Adventist Church.^[14] The Pentecostal denominations are, the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God,^[15] Dios es Amor,^[16] Pentecostal Naciente^[17] and Assemblies of God.^[18]

Also exist the Bahá'í Faith^[19] and Afro-Brazilian religions such as Quimbanda, Candomblé and Umbanda (collectively known—colloquially since the original term for the religion can be deemed as offensive in Rioplatense Spanish as does in Brazilian Portuguese, because of the taboo surrounding what people believed as black magic or witchcraft—as Macumba, and neutrally called simply by the Spanish and Portuguese equivalents of African diasporic religions). Among the sizeable Armenian community in Montevideo, the dominant religion is Christianity, specifically, Armenian Apostolic^[20] and Armenian Evangelical Church.^[21] Political observers consider Uruguay to be the most secular country in the Americas.^[22]

Culture[link]

Contemporary Uruguayan culture is diverse in its nature since the nation's population is one of multicultural origins. The country has an impressive legacy of artistic and literary traditions, especially for its small size. The contribution of its alternating conquerors, Spain and Portugal, and diverse immigrants – Italians, Germans, Swiss, Russians, Jews and Armenians, among others- has resulted in traditions that integrate this diversity with Native American elements. Uruguay has centuries-old remains and fortresses of the colonial era. Its cities have a rich architectural heritage and an impressive number of writers, artists, and musicians. Carnival and candombe are the most important examples of African influence by slaves, as well as Umbanda religious beliefs and practices. Guarani traditions can be seen in mate, the national drink. The folk and popular music of Uruguay shares with Argentina not only its gaucho roots but also the tango.

Music and dance[link]

Natalia Oreiro

Music of Uruguay includes a number of local musical forms. The most distinctive ones are tango, murga, a form of musical theatre, and candombe, an afro-Uruguayan type of music which occur yearly during the Carnival period. There is also milonga, a folk guitar and song form deriving from Spanish traditions and related to similar forms found in many Hispanic-American countries. One of the disputed birthplaces of the famed tango singer Carlos Gardel is the city of Tacuarembó.

The popular music of Uruguay, which focuses on rock, jazz and many other forms, frequently makes reference to the distinctly Uruguayan sounds mentioned above. The group 1960s imitators of The Beatles, deserve a special mention as the band that kickstarted the Argentine rock scene. Also, cumbia, a music style popular throughout most of Central and South America is widely enjoyed by the Uruguayan people, around the whole country.

Emigration[link]

The rate of Uruguayan emigration to Europe is especially to Spain and Italy, in America to United States and Argentina, and in Oceania to Australia.

See also[link]

Notes[link]