Uruguay is located in the southeastern region of South America. The capital city of Montevideo is also the largest, with nearly 2 million of the 3.3 million inhabitants living in the region. After Suriname, Uruguay is the smallest country in South America, geographically. The Charrua people inhabited Uruguay and established Colonia del Sacramento in 1680 prior to Portuguese colonization. Uruguay eventually won its freedom between 1811 and 1828, following a four-way struggle between Spain, Portugal, and later Argentina and Brazil. Today the country is a Democratic Republic, with the President being head of state and government.
The country ranks first in peace, low corruption, democracy, and standards of living in South America. The country is a leader in exports, worldwide, in combed wool, rice, soybeans, frozen beef, malt and milk. The country is a member of the United Nations, Mercosur, OAR, NAM, and UNASUR.
The country’s government is a representative democracy, with the President being head of state and government. Officials are elected every five years by universal suffrage. The Supreme Court is the highest court in the judiciary. The General Assembly elects members of the court, and members of the bench are selected by the Supreme Court, with Senate consent. Judges are directly assigned by the Supreme court.
Uruguay follows a civil law system, and public law is based on the Constitution. There are 16 courts of appeal, with the Supreme Court justices appointing judges to those lower courts. Seven of the appeals courts specialize in civil matters, four in criminal, three in labor, and two courts in family law. Separate courts for auditing, military, and election processes are also a part of the judiciary system in the country.
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