August 25 - Celebrate Paraguay and Uruguay

Posted on August 25, 2022

Key Points

This is an update of my post published on August 25, 2011:

Today is Constitution Day in Paraguay! The nation celebrates its revised constitution, adopted on this day in 1967.

It’s also Independence Day in Uruguay! The nation celebrates its independence from Brazil in 1825.

Can you sort your -guays?

For each question below, answer Paraguay or Uruguay.

Which country is landlocked (has no seacoast)?

Which country has a populace that is primarily (around 88%) of European descent?
Which is one of the most economically developed countries in South America?
Which country has the capital city that is most southerly of the Americas?
Which country has two official languages, Spanish and Guarani?

Answers:

Paraguay is located in the very center of South America (and is sometimes called the Heart of America). It has no access to the ocean and is, therefore, landlocked. Uruguay, on the other hand, is located on the coast of the Atlantic Ocean.
Uruguay’s population is almost entirely white, with very few mestizo people (mixed Native / indio and white). In contrast, Paraguay’s population is 74% mestizo, with white, Black, and Native minorities.

Above and below, folks in Uruguay

Above and below, folks in Paraguay

3. Uruguay is highly advanced in economic development, industry, and human rights. It has been ranked one of the least corrupt countries in Latin America and THE most “green” (environmentally sound) country in North and South America. Although Paraguay has always been poorer than Uruguay, its economy was the fastest growing on the continent from 1970 to 2009.

4. Uruguay’s capital city, Montevideo, is farther south than any other capital in South America. This vastly surprised me, since I always think of Uruguay sitting “on top” of Argentina—thus, I would think, more to the north. However, Uruguay is actually on the east side of the top portion of Argentina—and its capital is slightly south of Buenos Aires, Argentina, as the map above shows.