Term Paper of Uruguay

Uruguay

Uruguay is located in the Southern South America, and lies at the east bank of Uruguay River and the Rio de la Plata---- at the border of  the South Atlantic Ocean, and it is located between Argentina and Brazil  (CIA: Uruguay: Geography). Uruguay is a country living on exporting farming and herding services and the economy of it is mainly based on agro-exporters and miners. Uruguay’s economic situation shows diverse and multi-level trends, including hydropower development, which is greatly improved and largely spread. Meanwhile, most visitors flock to beach resorts of the Atlantic Ocean such as Punta Del Este. Education is compulsory and free in Uruguay, even so, there are still many Uruguayan who choose to immigrate to Spain, in order to seek for better job opportunities (travelnationalgeographic: Uruguay Facts). In the early twentieth century, because there are a large number of agricultural products exporting to Europe and other country, it makes Uruguay became one of the rich countries in South America Currently, although the Uruguay economy which has experienced a serious of recessions can’t be compared to the past, Uruguay’s economy began to revive as Brazil and Argentina since 2004 (countrystudies: Uruguay).

This research paper is divided into four parts. In the first place we give an explanation about political aspects in Uruguay focusing on description of political system and form of government. Secondly we examine the situation on the economic front, by analyzing some relevant or revealing economic data during these years. After that, we analyze empirically how people live and for this purpose we will analyze a series of demographic information about the population of the country, its ethnic background and literacy rate. In the end, in the last part of the research, we give some brief conclusions about the topic.

1. Description relate to the politics

“In history, Montevideo, founded by the Spanish in 1726 as a military stronghold, soon took advantage of its natural harbor to become an important commercial center” (CIA: Uruguay: Introduction). On August 25th, 1825, the Uruguay is independent from the Brazilian empire and  the struggle for liberty has lasted for 3 years and finally established its own freedom in 1828 (CIA: Uruguay: Introduction). José Alberto Mujica Cordano, by wining public support, became Uruguay's president in December 2009 (presidencia.gub). “Uruguay is a representative democratic republic with a presidential system” (CIA: Uruguay: Government).

When talked about Uruguay’s government method of operation, the legal system in Uruguay is “civil law system based on the Spanish civil code” (CIA: Uruguay: Government). Meanwhile, the Constitution of Uruguay divides the government into three branches: the judicial, legislative, and the executive. This approach provides checks on every branch of power by the other two branches, furthermore, “overall the three branches have achieved a workable balance with no one branch holding all the governmental power” (Kelly, par.4). In this kind of management methods which is called separation of powers, the executive power is exercised by the president; the legislative power is consist of the Bicameral and the Vice-president---who controls the chamber and the judicial department is exercised by the Supreme Court, the Bench and Judges nationwide (CIA: Uruguay: Government).

The goal of Uruguay government is to promote the development of a stable and healthy country, to let its people live better life and make the country stronger and stronger. Uruguay is the first country in the world to set up agricultural workers minimum wage standard; it is the first country in Latin America to give women's right to vote and Uruguay is also the first eight-hour-work country. Although Uruguay’s political unrest intensified in the past, and even in 1973 it has experienced a slump, Uruguay remain the political stability (countrystudies: Uruguay). In education and social development level, Uruguay is still in the forefront of the Latin American countries (CIA: Uruguay: Economy: Overview).Uruguay has been a UN member since 18th December 1945 (un.org).

 Uruguay also seems to be a significant partner who “plays an important role in promoting regional stability and democracy” (state.gov: Uruguay). Under the international big environment, Uruguay repeatedly serves as a consensus builder and mediator. It is a constructive component in seeking resolution for conflict, and Uruguay contributes so much in missions for keeping worldwide peace------“Uruguay has been one of the top troop and police contributors per capita to United Nations (UN) peacekeeping overall” (state.gov: Uruguay).

2. Economic conditions

Uruguay's economy is mainly depends upon the export-oriented agriculture and characterized by high levels of social spending and labor force with higher education (CIA: Economy: introduction). Uruguay, with industry underdeveloped, has an agriculture-based economy. It is a traditional farming country and it is given priority to animal husbandry products processing industry (Travel.nationalgeographic: Uruguay Facts). Nowadays, as the advanced society developing day by day, the development of economic constitution system in Uruguay has changed. According to the data from CIA website about the labor force measured by occupation labor in 2010est, the percentage of agriculture in the whole labor force was 13% ----it was close to but a little less than industry percentage which was 14%. In the mean time, the services occupation took up a large proportion of the labor force, which shows by the data: 73 % (CIA: Economy: Labor Force). From analyzing these data, it is obvious that the centre of economic gravity of Uruguay is shifting gradually and transferring to industries and services.

In addition, Uruguay’s economic development mainly depends on export; and “its leading economic sectors include meat processing, agribusiness, wood, wool, leather production and apparel, textiles, and chemicals” (evansville.edu: US Dept of State - Uruguay).Since the 1990s, the Uruguay implemented new liberal economic policies. When furthering the interests of traditional industries, Uruguay paid more attention to the development of non-traditional industries, and it actively participated in regional economic integration. The economic recovery appeared in 2003 and in increased 2004. Nevertheless, “the country managed to avoid a recession and keep positive growth rates, mainly through higher public expenditure and investment, and GDP growth reached 8.5% in 2010 and 6% in 2011” (CIA: Uruguay: Economy: Overview). Uruguay also seeks for development in trade and global commercial-----“Uruguay has been a WTO member since 1 January 1995” (wto.org).