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Montevideo

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Montevideo (monteβi'ðeo) is the largest city, capital and chief port of Uruguay. Montevideo is the primate city in Uruguay, the only city in the country with a population over 1,000,000. Montevideo has a privileged harbor, one of the most important in the Americas. Also, it has beautiful beaches, like Pocitos, Buceo, Malvín, Playa de los Ingleses, Playa Verde, Punta Gorda and Carrasco. Many monuments and museums cover the city, as well as historic buildings and squares. The city's mayor is Ricardo Ehrlich. According to the Mercer Human Resource Consulting, Montevideo is the Latin American city with the highest quality of life (followed by Buenos Aires and Santiago de Chile). See also La Nación -Chilean newspaper article that mentions the three Latin American cities with highest quality of life according to the MHRC 2007 investigation (Spanish). It is the seat of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Montevideo.

Population

The current population estimates for Montevideo are 1,349,000 habitants in the city proper and 1,814,400 habitants in the greater metropolitan region.

The musical style of tango began in Montevideo(as in Buenos Aires) at the beginning of the 20 century. Montivideans have very strong European origins, with Italian and Spanish descent being the most common. There are also important African descent and Jewish communities.

Montevideo's population makes up roughly 44% of the entire country of Uruguay. The surrounding department of Canelones, essentially Montevideo's suburbs and direct rural area, makes up another 12%.

Geography

Montevideo is situated in the south of the country, The geographic coordinates are 34.5° S, 56°W.

18 de Julio is the city's main avenue and extends from the Plaza Independencia, which is the junction between the Ciudad Vieja (the historical quarter) and the rest of the city, to the limit between the neighborhoods of Cordón and Parque Batlle.

History

Origin of name

There are at least two explanations for the name Montevideo: The first states that it comes from the Portuguese "Monte vide eu" which means "I see a hill". The second is that the Spaniards recorded the location of a mountain in a map as "Monte VI De Este a Oeste" meaning "The sixth hill from east to west". The city's full original name is San Felipe y Santiago de Montevideo.

Early history

The Portuguese founded Colonia del Sacramento in the 17th century despite Spanish claims to the area due to the Treaty of Tordesillas. The Spanish chased the Portuguese out of a fort in the area in 1724. Then, Bruno Mauricio de Zabala – governor of Buenos Aires – founded a military base there on December 24, 1726 to prevent further incursions. By 1730 the population increased and the military base got the right to have its own Cabildo (Town-Hall), which stimulated its growth. The first settlers arrived from Canary Islands, brought by Francisco de Alzáibar. The city's first economic boom occurred when the Spanish Crown gave Montevideo the right to be the only slave port in the Viceroyalty of la Plata, which infuriated the Viceroyalty's capital, Buenos Aires.

In 1828, the town became the capital of Uruguay.

The city fell under heavy British influence from the early 19th century until the early 20th century as a way to circumvent Argentine and Brazilian commercial control. It was repeatedly besieged by Argentine dictator Juan Manuel de Rosas between 1838 and 1851. Between 1878 and 1911, British-owned railway companies built an extensive railway network linking the city and its port to the countryside.

20th century

During World War II, a famous incident involving the German pocket battleship Admiral Graf Spee took place in Punta del Este, 200 km from Montevideo. After the Battle of the River Plate with the British navy on December 13, 1939, the Graf Spee retreated to Montevideo's port, which was considered neutral then. To avoid risking the crew in what he thought would be a losing battle, Captain Hans Langsdorff scuttled the ship on December 17. Langsdorff committed suicide two days later. On 10 February 2006, the eagle figurehead of the Admiral Graf Spee was salvaged. To protect the feelings of those still sensitive to Nazi Germany, the swastika on the figurehead was covered as it was pulled from the water.

Since 2005 the Mayor of Montevideo (styled Intendente Municipal in Spanish) has been Ricardo Ehrlich, of the Frente Amplio (Broad Front), gaining 61% of the vote in the Mayoral elections, beating Pedro Bordaberry of the Partido Colorado, who scored 27%.

Growth/economy

Montevideo began as a minor settlement. In 1860, Montevideo had a population of 37,787. By 1884, the population had grown to 104,472, including many immigrants.

During the mid-20th century, military dictatorship and economic stagnation caused a decline whose residual effects are still seen today. Many rural poor flooded the city, with a large concentration in Ciudad Vieja.

Recently, economic recovery and stronger trade ties with Uruguay's neighbors have led to renewed agricultural development and hopes for greater future prosperity.

As of 2004, the city has a population of 1.35 million out of a total of 3.43 million in the country as a whole. The greater metropolitan area has 1.8 million people.

Montevideo is served by Carrasco International Airport.

World city formation

The city shows "some evidence" of world city formation.

Neighborhoods

Education

Culture

Montevideo has a rich architectural heritage and an impressive number of writers, artists, and musicians. Uruguayan tango is the form of dance that originated in the neighborhoods of Montevideo, Uruguay towards the end of the 1800s. Tango, candombe and murga are the three main styles of music in this city.

Sports

Montevideo hosted all the matches of the 1^st FIFA World Cup in 1930. Uruguay won the tournament by defeating Argentina 4-2, and later in 1950 defeated heavy favored hosts Brazil 2-1, achieving its second World Cup Championship. Uruguay also won several Olympic medals in soccer including 2 gold medals, and has won the most "Copa America" tournaments, the world's second most prestigious tournament after the World Cup (tied with Argentina at 14 wins). Its Estadio Centenario is considered a temple of world football. The city is home to two of the most important South American football clubs: Nacional and Peñarol. Consistently since its early successes, Uruguayan footballers have been among the worlds best, recently producing such soccer greats as Diego Forlan, Paolo Montero and Alvaro Recoba, and currently exports many world class players to the European leagues, a surprising feat when considering the population of just over 3 million is a small fraction of most other South American countries.

There is strong world-wide sentiment that the centennial anniversary FIFA World Cup tournament be held in 2030, be played at least in part in Uruguay, namely in the Centenario Stadium, which was built specifically as the inaugural stadium for the tournament of 1930, and fittingly translates to "The Centennial Stadium".

Sites of interest

Sister cities

References

External links

Montevideo official website
PRESS The First Uruguayan Neighborhood and Documentatio Agency
/ A City Built by Us All
Many nice pictures of Montevideo
Uruguayan Photographer, Ricardo Saporta; many photos of Montevideo
Panoramic pictures of Montevideo
Montevideo Hotels
A Maverick's Odyssey - Photo blog of life in Montevideo, Uruguay.
Montevideo and Uruguay described by a Uruguayan
Uruguay Dreaming - Blog about life and customs in Montevideo and Uruguay.
Montevideo photos - Montevideo photos

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Last updated on Tuesday March 11, 2008 at 13:45:54 PDT (GMT -0700)
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