Uruguay History: the country roots

The roots of Uruguay's history first started being built by its native people known as the Charrúas. The Charrúas were Uruguay's original population and were the people who brought to life the first characteristics of the country, giving shape to its future personality and being always somehow present in Uruguay's culture.

Next in Uruguay's history and following some of its most relevant data, at beginnings of the 16th century, Spanish and Portuguese forces started fighting for Uruguay's lands, and kept Uruguay over two centuries under their domains. This way, some of the country's main historical spots, buildings and even towns were founded by Portuguese or Spanish people. An example of this is the historical town of Colonia del Sacramento, which was founded by the Portuguese forces at the 19th century and which is, nowadays, one of Uruguay's main attractions.

Uruguay History: the independence

A very important moment within the history of Uruguay happened at August 25, 1825. At this date, and after being able to finally being successful at fighting against the Spanish and Portuguese forces which had taken the country, Uruguay became an independent Republic. Later, at July 18, 1830, a new step into Uruguay history was taken and Uruguay's first Constitution was created and established.

Uruguay History: the last century

During the last century,Uruguay's history has gone through several important transitions and events. During the beginning of the 20th century, the country became prosperous and lived what is known as an "Estado de bienestar" or “Welfare State” which endured until the 1950's when Uruguay started loosing some of such prosperity.

In 1973, Uruguay's government was taken by military forces and the country entered into a very hard military dictatorship which continued for 12 years and during which the population lived under constant terror and oppression. In 1985, and once the military dictatorship was finally over, the civilian rights were restored and the country started to normalize again, giving end to such anguishing moment in the history of Uruguay.

During 2001 and 2002, Uruguay went through another anguishing moment in which the country had to suffer the worse economic crisis of its history due to which many people became unemployed, businesses closed, and the population in general went through the hardest economic moments of the country’s history. After 2004, Uruguay history started gradually changing again and it seems to be slowly coming out of this deep crisis that affected it.