514 m
Natural resources:
arable land, hydropower, minor minerals, fisheries
Land use:
arable land: 7.77%
permanent crops: 0.24%
other: 91.99% (2005)
Irrigated land:
2,100 sq km (2003)
Total renewable water resources:
139 cu km (2000)
Freshwater withdrawal (domestic/industrial/agricultural):
total: 3.15 cu km/yr (2%/1%/96%)
per capita: 910 cu m/yr (2000)
Natural hazards:
seasonally high winds (the pampero is a chilly and occasional
violent wind that blows north from the Argentine pampas), droughts,
floods; because of the absence of mountains, which act as weather
barriers, all locations are particularly vulnerable to rapid changes
from weather fronts
Environment - current issues:
water pollution from meat packing/tannery industry; inadequate
solid/hazardous waste disposal
Environment - international agreements:
party to: Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic-Marine Living
Resources, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate
Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species,
Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone
Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: Marine Dumping, Marine Life Conservation
Geography - note:
second-smallest South American country (after Suriname); most of the
low-lying landscape (three-quarters of the country) is grassland,
ideal for cattle and sheep raising
People
Uruguay
Population:
3,477,778 (July 2008 est.)
Age structure:
0-14 years: 22.7% (male 401,209/female 388,315)
15-64 years: 64% (male 1,105,891/female 1,120,858)
65 years and over: 13.3% (male 185,704/female 275,801) (2008 est.)
Median age:
total: 33.2 years
male: 31.8 years
female: 34.6 years (2008 est.)
Population growth rate:
0.486% (2008 est.)
Birth rate:
14.17 births/1,000 population (2008 est.)
Death rate:
9.12 deaths/1,000 population (2008 est.)
Net migration rate:
-0.18 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2008 est.)
Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.04 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.03 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.99 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.67 male(s)/female
total population: 0.95 male(s)/female (2008 est.)
Infant mortality rate:
total: 11.66 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 13.1 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 10.17 deaths/1,000 live births (2008 est.)
Life expectancy at birth:
total popu
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