Uruguayans

Uruguayan peopleUruguayos

José Mujica Diego Forlán
Regions with significant populations
Uruguay 3,494,382 (2009)
Argentina	117,564[1]
Spain	49,970[2]
United States	48,234[3]
Australia	9,376[4]
Languages
Uruguayan Spanish
Religion
Predominantly Catholic. Also Protestants
Related ethnic groups
Latin Americans, Italians, Spaniards, French others).

Uruguayan people or Uruguayan's (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. Uruguay is, along with other areas of new settlement like Canada, Australia or the United States, a melting pot of different peoples. The most common ethnic groups are Italian and Spaniard (especially Galicians).

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.^[5]

The majority of these are Spaniards and Italians, followed by the French, Germans, Portuguese, British (English or Scots), Armenians, Maltese, Irish, Swiss, Russians, Poles, Croats, Bulgarians, Hungarians, Ukrainians, Lithuanians, Estonians, Latvians, Swedish, Danish, Dutch, Belgians, Austrians, Greeks, Scandinavians and Turkish. There are also smaller numbers of Georgian and Lebanese people.

Many colonies such as Nueva Helvecia-Colonia Suiza (Swiss colony) and Colonia Valdense (Piedmontese 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 and in the department of Canelones. One of them, called 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.

Whites constitute the majority of Uruguay's population. They are the Uruguayan descendants of colonists from Spain and Portugal during the colonial period prior to 1810, and mainly of immigrants from Europe in the great immigratory wave during the late 19th century and early 20th century.

Although the category "white" is not officially recognized, and no 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.

There are up to 8%of the population being of a Mestizo (European-Amerindian) ancestry.

Blacks in Uruguay total less than 209,662 and they are mostly found in Montevideo.^[6] Afro-Uruguayans were the slaves, peons, and artisans whose toils allowed for Uruguay’s economic development between the seventeenth and nineteenth centuries. Second, African Uruguayans were the soldiers whose blood and sacrifices forged 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 nineteenth century. Moreover, even the very symbols of nationhood in the River Plate, namely, the tango and the gaucho (cowboy), were influenced by the genius of Africans and their New-World descendants.

Although Spanish is dominant, being the national language spoken by virtually all Uruguayans, Portuñol, or Brazilero (Portuguese-Spanish mix on the Brazilian frontier) is spoken.

Uruguay has no official religion and church and state are separate. Religious freedom is guaranteed. Most Uruguayans baptize their children and marry in churches although it has been estimated that only about 4 percent of the population regularly attends church. A 2006 survey had Catholicism as the main religion, with 47.1% of the population, 11.1% claim to be Protestant and 0.3% Jewish. Approximately 40.4% of the population professes no religion. ^[7] There is a small Jewish community in Montevideo (about 1% of the city's population) as well as several evangelical Protestant groups (about 11%). Macumba and Umbanda, religions of Afro-Brazilian also exist. Among the sizeable Armenian community in Montevideo, the dominant religion is Christianity, specifically, Armenian Apostolic.^[8] Political observers consider Uruguay to be the most secular country in the Americas.^[9]

The rate of Uruagayan emigration to Europe is to (especially to Spain and Italy.