Nine equal horizontal stripes of white (top and bottom) alternating with blue; there is a white square in the upper hoist-side corner with a yellow sun bearing a human face known as the Sun of May and 16 rays alternately triangular and wavy.
19 departments (departamentos, singular - departamento): Artigas, Canelones, Cerro Largo, Colonia, Durazno, Flores, Florida, Lavalleja, Maldonado, Montevideo, Paysandu, Rio Negro, Rivera, Rocha, Salto, San Jose, Soriano, Tacuarembo, and Treinta y Tres.
Population:
3,386,575 (July 2002 est.)
Languages:
Spanish, Portunol, or Brazilero (Portuguese-Spanish mix on the Brazilian frontier)
Geographic coordinates:
33° 00' S, 56° 00' W
Area total:
176,220 sq. km
Land area:
173,620 sq. km
Water area:
2,600 sq. km
Total land boundaries:
1,564 km
Borders with neighbor countries:
Argentina 579 km, Brazil 985 km
Coastline:
660 km
Elevation extremes:
Atlantic Ocean 0 m - Cerro Catedral 514 m
Internet country code:
.uy
Currency:
Uruguayan peso (UYU)
Name - conventional long form:
Oriental Republic of Uruguay
Name - conventional short form:
Uruguay
Name - local long form:
Republica Oriental del Uruguay
Name - local short form:
Uruguay
Former name:
Banda Oriental, Cisplatine Province
Independence:
25 August 1825 (from Brazil)
Constitution:
27 November 1966, effective February 1967, suspended 27 June 1973, new constitution rejected by referendum 30 November 1980, two constitutional reforms approved by plebiscite 26 November 1989 and 7 January 1997