The emigration of young adults and a low birth rate are causing Uruguay's population to age rapidly. In the s, Uruguayans for the first time emigrated en masse - primarily to Argentina and Brazil - because of economic decline and the onset of more than a decade of military dictatorship. Uruguay had a tiny population upon its independence in and welcomed thousands of predominantly Italian and Spanish immigrants, but the country has not experienced large influxes of new arrivals since the aftermath of World War II.
More recent immigrants include Peruvians and Arabs. Contraceptive prevalence rate Government Argentina Uruguay Country name conventional long form: Argentine Republic conventional short form: Argentina local long form: Republica Argentina local short form: Argentina etymology: originally the area was referred to as Tierra Argentina, i.
Argentina benefits from rich natural resources, a highly literate population, an export-oriented agricultural sector, and a diversified industrial base. Although one of the world's wealthiest countries years ago, Argentina suffered during most of the 20th century from recurring economic crises, persistent fiscal and current account deficits, high inflation, mounting external debt, and capital flight.
In the economy rebounded strongly, but slowed in late even as the government continued to rely on expansionary fiscal and monetary policies, which kept inflation in the double digits. In order to deal with these problems, the government expanded state intervention in the economy: it nationalized the oil company YPF from Spain's Repsol, expanded measures to restrict imports, and further tightened currency controls in an effort to bolster foreign reserves and stem capital flight.
Argentina negotiated debt payments with holdout bond creditors, continued working with the IMF to shore up its finances, and returned to international capital markets in April The government passed important pension, tax, and fiscal reforms. And after years of international isolation, Argentina took on several international leadership roles, including hosting the World Economic Forum on Latin America and the World Trade Organization Ministerial Conference, and is set to assume the presidency of the G in Uruguay has a free market economy characterized by an export-oriented agricultural sector, a well-educated workforce, and high levels of social spending.
Population below poverty line Inflation rate consumer prices Labor force 18 million est. Labor force - by occupation agriculture: 5. Unemployment rate 9. Distribution of family income - Gini index Industries food processing, motor vehicles, consumer durables, textiles, chemicals and petrochemicals, printing, metallurgy, steel food processing, electrical machinery, transportation equipment, petroleum products, textiles, chemicals, beverages Industrial production growth rate 2.
Fiscal year calendar year calendar year Public debt Taxes and other revenues Unemployment, youth ages total: GDP - composition, by end use household consumption: Gross national saving Energy Argentina Uruguay Electricity - production Electricity - consumption billion kWh est. Electricity - exports 55 million kWh est. Electricity - imports 9. Oil - proved reserves 2. Natural gas - proved reserves According to Perry 72 , the road network within this country and those that link it to its neighbor Brazil has facilitated improved commercial activities within this country.
It is estimated that roads in this country are about 77, kilometers in total length. Argentina has a well-developed sea transport that enables it to export its manufactured goods to foreign markets, and import products that are insufficient within its borders.
For a long time, this country had not developed its industrial sector and imported most of the industrial goods from Europe, the United States, and China. However, this changed when the government gave focus to the local industrial firms. Currently, Argentina produces several industrial products such as home appliances, electronics, among others. Some of these industrial products are exported to the neighboring countries.
The commercial relationship between Argentina and Uruguay has been very close, with a number of Argentine investors coming to invest in Uruguay. There is a massive exchange of goods between these two countries. However, these two countries do not share a land border. This means that road and rail transport cannot be used to facilitate trade. These two countries depend on water transport to move their goods from one country to the other.
The coastal strip of this country is estimated to be about kilometers stretch. According to Perry 39 , some investors have developed shallow-draft river craft along this coastal strip to facilitate quick movement from Argentina to Uruguay, Paraguay, Chile, and other countries sharing a marine border with Argentina.
The shallow-draft river crafts are specifically meant to transport passengers. The shipping industry has grown over the years with the expansion of the commercial activities between this country and its neighbors. This scholar says that Argentina has about 11, kilometers of navigable waters.
This makes it one of the countries with the largest navigable waters in the world. The cargo freight using these waters was estimated to be about twenty-eight million metric tons as at December These ports have facilitated movement of goods from Argentina to other parts of the world, and from other parts of the world to Argentina.
Air transport in Argentina has been developing very fast. The increasing number of tourists has propelled this development into this country. Most of these tourists come from the United States and Europe.
This has stimulated growth of international airports in this country. Air transport has been instrumental in the development of trade between Argentina and international community. Every province in this country has an airport in order to facilitate movement of tourists and other businesspersons in this country. Although considered more expensive than other means of transport, air transport is gaining popularity even among the locals because of the speed and convenience.
Buenos Aires remains the most active airport in this country, especially for the international travels. These three airports were developed to ease the pressure on Buenos Aires due to the increasing international travels into and out of this country. However, international airlines such as British Airways, Virgin Atlantic, and Air France always make frequent visits to the international airport of this country.
The road and rail transport in Argentina is very developed, and always active throughout the year. One of the most conspicuous transport means when one gets to any of the Argentine cities is taxi. This may be attributed to the high number of tourists who visit this country throughout the year. Within the cities, there are large buses that help in the movement of people from one place to the other in order to facilitate running of commercial activities.
Long distance buses also exist to help travelers moving from one city to another or one province to another. Most of the Argentines prefer the use of Buses to airplane because of the relatively low cost of road transport. Large tracks are used to transport goods from the ports to their destinations or from various companies to the market or the port.
Rail transport has also helped improve commercial activities in this country. The commuter trains also help a lot in enhancing movement of people within the cities and from one city to another. It is estimated that about 1. Although the government has been able to phase out some of the diesel-power train and replace them with electric trains, some cities in this country still depend on diesel-powered trains for their movements. The capital Buenos Aires is the only city that has an Underground metro train in this country.
However, plans are underway to expand metro system to other cities. The above discussion has given a detained infrastructural development between Uruguay and Argentina based on their transport system. From this analysis, it comes out clearly that both countries have developed sea, air, road, and rail transport. The governments of both countries have realized that the only way to promote commerce in their countries is to improve transport system, which would facilitate movement of goods and people.
However, there are some striking differences between the two countries in their transport system. Uruguay only has Brazil as the neighbor it shares a land border with in South America. However, its main trading partner is Argentina. This has made sea transport the most important transport system when it comes to international trade in this country. However, this is not the case in Argentina. It is also clear that air transport is more developed in Argentina as compared to that of Uruguay Aloian The Argentine government has also been able to improve its rail services and currently, Argentina has more trains that are electric then Uruguay.
The volume of trade within Argentina is by far larger than that of Uruguay. While Uruguay depends on the region market for its exports, Argentina has been able to reach out for the markets beyond South America with its products. Culture is one of the defining factors of a given community. The world is increasingly being globalized and the world society is slowly adopting a similar culture that is universal. Graham 67 calls this convergent of culture globalization or westernization.
Various societies around the world are being exposed to the western culture backed by capitalism that has already engulfed the world. For these reason, it is true that some cultural practices that were unique to these two countries have been influenced by the western culture. South American states have tried to remain closed states in a bid to avoid the massive influence that the United States had on other countries around the world.
It was important that their governments took measures to avoid the massive westernization that grew when the United States became the only superpower in the world. To an extent, this has helped them retain some unique cultures, but the truth is that this culture is fast being eroded by western culture. These two South American countries have a number of similarities and differences in their culture as discussed below. As mentioned previously, these two countries come from South America, and they share a marine border.
This is a clear indication that traditionally, these two regions shared a lot in common because of constant contact they had with each other.
The cultural practices of these two countries were also influenced by the slave trade that was very popular in this region before it was finally brought to an end. In order to bring an understanding into the cultural practices in these countries, the research will focus on some of the striking similarities in both countries.
Gender inequality has been an issue in both countries since they gained independence. The cultural practices in both countries have given men power over women. Until 19 th century, women were not expected to engage actively in leadership issues and in the corporate world. These societies were highly patriarchal, with women expected to play a passive role whenever she was in the presence of men.
Westernization has fought this notion, with various gender-based organizations criticizing governments for its reluctance to empower women. It is in this twenty first century that women in both countries have gained full liberation from dominance by men. However, it is still apparent that men still have an upper hand and this is because of the historical cultural practice that was common in this country.
Sport is one of the most important recreational activities that define culture of a society. According to Tulchin , by determining the recreational activities of a particular region, it may be possible to explain some of the behavioral patterns of a particular group. One of the sports that have been common in these two countries is football. In both Argentina and Uruguay, football is the most favorite game, especially for men.
Both countries have been able to win World Cups more than once since it was started. There has been an argument that football must have originated from this region, though it has been modified in various ways to acquire its current form. Religion is one of the cultural practices that bind together the society and shapes morality in both countries. There are scanty documents describing the religious practices in the two countries before the colonization. However, when the colonizers came, Christianity was introduced into this region, and it has remained the main religious practice.
Most of the Uruguayans and Argentines are Christians. In both countries, the Roman Catholic is the main religious denomination. It has over 60 percent of the total residents in the two countries. There are a few protestant churches in both countries, with a negligible percentage being Jews. Despite the above differences and the fact that the two countries are geographically located in the same region in South America, there are a few differences in cultural practices.
One of the differences in cultural practices that have become very conspicuous is the architecture. The Argentines have embraced the western architectural designs, while the Uruguayan architectures leans more towards the Chinese architecture. This may be attributed to the fact that the Chinese contractors have been very common in Uruguay than in Argentina.
Although cinema is a common leisure in both countries, Argentina has more developed theaters, and their film industry is much advanced. Red meat is more popular in Uruguay than it is in Argentina.
While it is true that wine taking is a common practice in both countries, it is more common among the Argentines than in Uruguay. According to Tulchin 83 , Uruguay is one of the countries that are highly endowed with natural resources in form of biodiversity.
This nation has rich environmental ecosystems that are characterized by various forms of biodiversity. The researches show that this nation has very fertile soils that can support the life of many food plantations. Among the food, crops that are planted largely in this country include wheat, rice, corn and many others. A part from the fertile farmland soils, the country is also known to have several waterways that enable the country to harvest hydroelectric power, support fisheries, industries, and agriculture.
However just like many other nations, Uruguay is has many environmental issues that poses a threat to the economic development in this nation.
Uruguay experiences a lot of water and air pollution. Pollution of water poses a serious threat not only to human healthy but also to the fishery resources.
Water pollution has posed serious and negative impacts to the biodiversity in Uruguay. This research continues, points out that many plant and animal species are endangered, and some have become extinct because of water pollution. Some of the species that are reported to have been threatened to extinction include turtle, tundra, and crocodile species. Air pollution has healthy impacts to many life forms in this nation. Air pollution just like water pollution emanates from the unregulated mining and industrial activities.
Water and air pollution have high impacts to the environment of this nation which if the polluted is not curbed, it is yet to affect the nation. Just like Uruguay, Argentina also has a number of environmental problems that raise a lot of concern. Like many other nations, this country faces a lot of environmental degradation, which poses serious impacts to different life forms in the nation. The environmental concerns in Argentina include deforestation, soil erosion, water pollution, and air pollution among others.
Tulchin 40 says that the nation of Argentina is growing rapidly in population and the industrial activities are expanding rapidly. This researcher points out that the increase of population puts pressure on the available water sources resulting to water shortage.
In addition, the industries also harvest lot water from the water bodies adding up to the problem of water scarcity. What complicates the whole matter is that the industries release the untreated wastewater with chemicals to the water streams making water from such bodies to be unhealthy for drinking.
Deforestation is also high in Argentina. It is a common knowledge that forests acts as habitants for many life forms including animal and plant species. Once these forests are cleared, it is understood that the biodiversity is also lost. This leads to several plant and animal species becoming extinct and others endangered. It is reported that more than 25 mammals are endangered and close to reptiles threatened in Argentina.
Forests play a crucial role in the process of rain formation. They are preserved as good water catchment areas. Therefore, deforestation affects the rain patterns which results to water issues on shortage. It is also worth noting that tree roots helps in holding the soil particles together.
This is vital as it helps in preventing soil erosion. Once tree vegetation is removed, the soil is left bare and prone to the agents of erosion. This nation is also faced with air pollution problems. This results from high emissions from industrial activities. This again poses a health problem to human beings and animals. Comparing the environment in Uruguay and Argentina, there are similarities in the environmental concerns raised.
In both countries, the environment highly degraded. The two countries have similar environmental concerns that emanate from the inability of the nations to observe sustainable development. Sustainable development is necessary for the prosperity of any nation that desires to grow. This researcher argues that a nation and its citizens should not develop at the expense of the environment.
In both Uruguay and Argentina, water and air pollution is common. Tulchin 75 says that this kind of pollution can only be curbed in Uruguay only if industrial activities and mining can be regulated. The seriousness of water pollution in Uruguay has provoked the nation to collaborate with various authorities with an aim of trying to reduce the levels of pollution.
However, as indicated earlier on, much is still to be done for these efforts to yield fruits. While this is the case in Uruguay, air pollution in Argentina mainly arises from the industrial emissions in the environment and from the motor vehicles. To a smaller percentage, this pollution is caused by mining activities around Esquel town, Chubut province in Argentina.
The two countries as a result of the environmental degradation have severed suffered the loss of many animal and plant species. Although the animal species that have been endangered and become extinct differ, some common species have been threatened in both nations.
These include tundra, and crocodile species. Unlike Uruguay, much has not been done to address the environmental issues in Argentina. The above discussion has demonstrated that both Uruguay and Argentina has experienced healthy economic development in the past years. Although these two countries suffered from political anarchy immediately after gaining independence, they were able to gain political stability, a major ingredient in achieving sustained development.
Both countries have been able to fight extreme poverty with a lot of success. The percentage of those staying in object poverty in Argentina and Uruguay is way below the world average. Income distribution may not be as even as would be expected, but the governments of these countries have developed mechanisms through which those staying in object poverty can be helped by the state to get access to basic needs.
Various measures can be used to determine sustained development in a country. In Argentina, the economy has been consistently growing and the International Monetary Fund has classified it as the middle emerging economies. Fischlin 48 says that there was a time when Argentina was considered as the richest country in Latin America. However, this was interfered with when the government became corrupt in various ways. This slowed the economic growth.
However, it gross domestic product has been on the rise despite the economic challenges it faced during the recession that hit the world.
On the other hand, the economy of Uruguay has remained strong. Government has invested in various sectors of the economy in order to stimulate sustained development in the country. The government of this country has also tried to avoid overreliance on exports and foreign aid.
The government of Uruguay has also developed foreign policies that would encourage foreign investment. This has seen more Argentines come to this country to invest in the hospitality industry. Uruguay and Argentina are countries that share marine border in South American content. The two countries have had a cordial relationship with each other since they gained independence from Spain.
Given the fact that they are in the same region, the two countries share a lot in various field. The discussion above has given a systematic analysis into the economic, social, and cultural practices in both countries and how they compare. From the above discussion, it is apparent that Argentina has a larger economy than Uruguay. This is attributed to the larger size of Argentina as a country and its rich natural resource endowment.
However, both countries have been able to fight poverty among their citizens. In both countries, the rate of unemployment is below 4 percent, a sign that living standards is above the world average.
This analysis has also demonstrated that both countries rely on each other for trade, with most of the exports from Uruguay finding their market in Argentina. However, it has come out that tourism sector in Argentina is much developed as compared to that in Uruguay. Socially, both countries share a lot. Football is the main sport in both countries. The two countries have had over players from each country playing in other countries, especially in Europe.
The music and foods eaten in these two countries compare very closely. Christianity is the main religion in both countries. This is because of their geographical closeness. From this analysis, it is clear that Uruguay and Argentina share many cultural, social, economic and environmental issues.
The difference that comes out is due to difference in geographical size and leadership. Aloian, Molly. Explore South America. Catharines: Crabtree Publishers Limited, Anton, Donald. Environmental Protection and Human Rights. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, Behar, Jaime. Heidelberg: Physica-Verlag, Bernhardson, Wayne. Hawthorn: Lonely Planet Publications, Conesa, Eduardo.
Lanham: University Press of America, Connolly, Michael B, and Melo J. Washington: World bank, Colombia: Universidad del Valle, Davis, William. Westport: Praeger, Fischlin, Daniel. Eduardo Galeano: Through the Looking Glass. Frankema, Ewout. Leiden: Brill, Galeano, Eduardo. New York: Monthly Review Press, Generally, a lower median age is considered better because a younger population is healthier.
However, countries with an extremely low median age are often facing socio-economic problems, especially poverty. Economy 1. The total amount of public expenditure on education. Public spending on education includes direct expenditure on schools, universities, and other types of educational institutions, as well as educational-related public subsidies.
Low unemployment rate indicates better career opportunities and economic growth. Source: Wikipedia, ; city's official stats, GDP per capita 20 A higher GDP per capita indicates a superior standard of living.
Also known as government debt or national debt, public debt refers to the sum of all government borrowings owed to lenders within the country. The real GDP growth rate represents the year-over-year GDP growth, calculated by taking into account the price fluctuations caused by inflation. The number of young people with ages between who are unemployed during a specific year.
The youth unemployment rate is calculated as a percent of the total youth labor force. It measures the market value of all the final goods and services produced annually. The total amount of public and private health expenditure on medical and paramedical services. Infrastructure 1. The share of the population with access to electricity, in both rural and urban environments. The presence and number of airports shows how good is connection of city with different international destinations and its international accessibility.
The total length of the navigable inland bodies of water. Quality of living 1. Public health care is more affordable for an average citizen and usually guaranteed for everyone. Source: city's official website, Countries or cities with a higher number of hospital beds per 1, inhabitants usually have well-developed health care systems. Source: ,
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