Montevideo, the capital city of Uruguay is located on the banks of the Rio de la Plata, 34, 5 degrees South latitude and 56 degrees West Longitude.
Montevideo has an area of 530 square kilometers (about 60% is rural and the remaining 40% or potentially developable urban area) and a population of 1,500,000 inhabitants. Montevideo is the youngest capitals of Latin America, was founded between 1724 and 1730 by the Governor of Buenos Aires, Don Bruno Mauricio de Zabala.
Born for strategic reasons of the Spanish Crown, seeking to consolidate there the second stronghold of America, Cartagena de Indias had been the first one.
Montevideo with Buenos Aires are the southernmost capitals of America, as the door of the Rio de la Plata and access to inland rivers Uruguay, Paraná and Paraguay, was consolidated as a military outpost in the disputed border between Spain and Portugal.
The city of San Felipe y Santiago de Montevideo, as the Governor Zabala called this city for the first time, was populated by inhabitants of the Canary Islands who joined other families coming from Buenos Aires, its original design was that of a typical colonial city grid layout and surrounded by walls.
For its livestock wealth and its excellent geographical position as a port city grew to become the capital of the Oriental Republic of Uruguay.
Montevideo is a contemporary metropolis that brings a high proportion of economic activity, trade and services, banking and tourism in the country.
Montevideo has the best natural port in southern America.
Within the area of Montevideo there are 2,600 hectares of green spaces, of which 900 are assigned to institutions that serve and benefit the community. More than 150,000 trees line the streets and avenues, for which more than 300,000 vehicles circulate.
Montevideo is a city with acceptable levels of environmental quality, with controllable sources of pollution and a population that has a high educational and cultural level. It is the headquarters of the three branches of government and public enterprises.
Montevideo is located in a central point of the geography of Mercosur, whose geopolitical importance can be further enhanced if they are actually carried out important works of regional interconnection, such as road axis Santiago-Buenos Aires-San Pablo, Colonia -Buenos Aires on the Río de la Plata and the Parana-Paraguay.
The Uruguay, from the signing of the Treaty of Asuncion, has been involved in an accelerated process of regional integration, expressed in the creation of Mercosur, with its neighbors Argentina, the Federative Republic of Brazil and Paraguay. From Ouro Preto agreements in 1994, our city has been designated as the seat of the administrative bodies of the Treaty.
