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Paraguay and Uruguay Or officially the Republic of Paraguay and
the Oriental Republic of Uruguay No way. Yes way
The two South American countries that outsiders often get mixed up that are both between Brazil
and Argentina. The way I’ve always remembered where each is located is P U, and the P is
always over the U. Yeah, I’m a weird guy, what can I say.
But while folks confuse the two, they are actually both quite different.
For starters, Paraguay is about twice as big as Uruguay. It also has about twice the population
of Uruguay. (P- 7,152,703, U- 3,449,285) 90% of Paraguay lives east of the Paraguay river.
Paraguay is also growing at a faster rate.
Paraguay is landlocked, Uruguay borders the Atlantic Ocean, for crying out loud. But hold
up, despite being landlocked, the country has coasts and ports on the Paraguay and Paraná
rivers, and the Paraná-Paraguay Waterway does exit to the Atlantic Ocean. See those
beaches? They are in Paraguay, yo. Oh and Paraguay has the largest navy of any landlocked
country in the world.
Paraguay and Uruguay don’t even border each other. Paraguay borders another landlocked
country, actually...Bolivia.
Being further south and by the ocean, Uruguay has a more temperate climate. It never gets
too hot or cold there, but in Paraguay it's much more varied. This map sums it up. Southeast
Paraguay has a climate more similar to Uruguay, but the more north and west you go the more
tropical it gets. Paraguay actually has two distinct geographic regions, divided by the
Paraguay River. The eastern region, which is mostly grassy plains and wooded hills,
and the western region, also known as the Chaco, which is mostly marshy plains and
random big hills in certain spots. Paraguay also has a wet and dry season. Uruguay, for
the most part, does not.
The median age is younger in Paraguay. (P- 26.3, U- 35.8) The life expectancy is higher
in Uruguay. (P- 74.6, U- 78.4) And the infant mortality rate is also much lower there.
Uruguay has a higher literacy rate (P- 94.6%, U- 98.6%), and the highest in Latin America.
Uruguay has only only two public universities, but they're free so there’s that, and has more
residents with college degrees.
Uruguay has a MUCH lower poverty rate. Supposedly, it has one of the lowest poverty rates in
the world. One source I found put it at just 2.9%, but it’s likely closer to 8 or 9%.
Still, Paraguay’s poverty rate is at closer to 19 or 20%, and Uruguay is known for striving
to be a more egalitarian society and having less income inequality than most other countries.
In Paraguay, 5% of landowners own 90% of the land. From what I could gather, Paraguay does
have lower taxes. And the cost of living is significantly lower there, too.
Less residents in Paraguay have internet access. Ah, but Paraguay spends a higher percentage
of its GDP on education. (P-5%, U-4.4%)
Uruguay is much more urban. Paraguay is one of the most rural countries in the Americas.
Paraguay is more conservative when it comes to social issues. For example, Uruguay legalized
same-sex marriage waay back in 2013, and it is still illegal in Paraguay. Uruguay was
also the first country to fully legalize marijuana, also waay back in 2013.
Uruguay has a higher GDP per capita. (P-$12,063 USD, U- $20,916) Ah, but Paraguay has a lower
unemployment rate. (P- 5.7%, U- 8.5%) And its economy is growing at a faster rate lately.
Plus, Uruguay’s inflation rate is more than triple that of Paraguay.
Major industries in Paraguay include agriculture, food processing, textiles, and timber due
to its vast forests. Major industries in Uruguay also include agriculture and textiles, but
also fishing and tourism.
Uruguay is one of the few countries in all of Latin America where the entire population
has access to clean water.
You can do Street View on Google Maps in Uruguay, not Paraguay. What the heck.
Paraguay is often called the “Heart of South America” due to its central location.
Oh, and why is Uruguay actually the Oriental Republic of Uruguay? Simply because it’s
east of the Uruguay River.
Well what do the two countries have in common? Well I’m glad you asked.
First of all, both are in the Río de la Plata Basin, a huge region of rivers that all empty
into the widest river in the world, the Río de la Plata, which of course empties into
the Atlantic Ocean. Wide? At one point, the Río de la Plata is 140 miles, or 220 km wide.
Hold up, folks call that a river? Oh, ok, I guess geographers do argue about this. Some
call it an estuary, gulf, or even marginal sea.
Anyway, this is why most of Paraguay and Uruguay are relatively flat.
Without major mountains, both have climates influenced by the wind, and the weather can
change quite abruptly. It never gets that cold in both, but it can get pretty hot in
the Chaco of Paraguay.
Both are named after water. Uruguay is named after the Uruguay River, and Paraguay….um,
well no one knows for sure, but it probably means “water of the Payaguá.” The Payagua
are an extinct tribe native to the area who lived there for thousands of years before
European arrival, but they were just one of the many tribes of indigenous people in the area
known as the Guaraní. In Chaco, there were different nomadic tribes. Of note, the
Guaycuru peoples. Meanwhile, Uruguay also had the Charrúa , another nomadic tribe.
In the 1500s, the first Europeans to colonize what later became Paraguay were the Spanish,
while the first Europeans to colonize what later became Uruguay were the Portuguese.
But the Spanish came to Uruguay soon after, and both Spain and Portugal fought for the
area. The Spanish explorer Juan de Salazar de Espinosa founded Asunción on August 15,
1537. Jesuit missionaries also tried to turn much of Paraguay and part of Uruguay into
their own self governing Christian American Indian nation. This was an alternative many
indigenous peoples preferred over the Spanish encomienda system.
Throughout the 1600s, the Spanish were able to gain control of both by bringing more settlers
and more cows. By the way, today Uruguay has the most cattle per capita in the world
So while the Spanish made a presence, in 1671 the Portuguese did establish a fort at Colonia
del Sacramento in southwest Uruguay. To counter this, the Spanish founded Montevideo in 1726
as its own fort. Montevideo proved to have a darn good harbor and it grew into a big
commercial port city that rivaled nearby Buenos Aires. Both Paraguay and Uruguay were part
of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata, established by Spain in 1776.
During the Napoleonic Wars, the British army tried to take over Montevideo because of course
they did. Ultimately, the Spanish had a hard time holding onto control of Paraguay and
Uruguay like they had a hard time holding onto control over the rest of Latin America.
1811 was a pretty big freaking year for both Paraguay and Uruguay. In both, settlers rose
up against Spanish rule and declared independence. Paraguay had an easier time becoming independent.
A dude named José Gaspar Rodríguez de Francia became its first dictator in 1814 and definitely
ruled with an iron fist. He was a bit different, though, compared to most dictators. First
of all, he had integrity and was not greedy. He tried to create a utopian society based
on Rousseau’s The Social Contract. He also made laws that reduced the powers of the Catholic
Church and even prevented people of European descent from marrying other people of European
descent. You heard that right. And finally, Rodríguez de Francia completely isolated
Paraguay from the rest of South America. He ruled until his death in 1840.
Meanwhile, Uruguay struggled more for independence from multiple imperial powers. Sure, by 1813
Spain was off their backs, but now the folks in Buenos Aires controlled them, as part of
the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata. Well the Uruguayan national hero, José Artigas
got fed up with their crap, so he broke with them as well. However, in 1816 the Portuguese
invaded and took control four years later, renaming Uruguay Cisplatina after annexing
it. But in 1822, Brazil declared independence from Portugal. In response to this, a revolutionary
group known as the Thirty-Three Orientals declared Uruguay once again independent on
August 25, 1825, and this led to the Cisplatine War. Fortunately for Uruguay, the United Provinces
of the Río de la Plata helped them out. The war ultimately led to Uruguay becoming an
independent state, but within a few years it faced a civil war that lasted almost two decades.
The 1860s were a turbulent decade for both countries. In Uruguay, another civil war with
Argentina helping on one side and Brazil on the other called the Uruguayan War. And a
far more devastating war in Paraguay. The Paraguayan War, fought between Paraguay and
Argentina, Brazil, and yes Uruguay, resulted in the deaths of as many as 90% of all military
age men. Some historians estimate the war caused the deaths of HALF the ENTIRE population
of Paraguay. Paraguay also lost much territory to both Brazil and Argentina and had to pay
an enormous war debt afterward. However, it would have been worse if it weren’t for
Rutherford Hayes. Huh? Rutherford Hayes?
Yep, Rutherford Hayes, the obscure American President, is a really big deal down there.
There’s statues of him everywhere and even a city named after him. Why? Because of his
efforts during the Paraguayan War. Because of him, Paraguay got to keep 60 percent of
its present territory and really...survive as a country. Emperortigerstar has more about
this crazy connection in a new video he just released on his channel. Be sure to check
it out when you’re done watching this one!
Anyway, the Paraguayan War remains the bloodiest war in the history of the Americas.
So things did calm down in Paraguay for the rest of the 1800s, and meanwhile Uruguay had
mostly authoritarian rule for the rest of the century. Political instability returned
to both countries in the first half of the 1900s. From 1904 to 1954, Paraguay had 31
presidents, most of whom were kicked out forcefully. Since the 1980s, both countries have become
more democratic and divided up power to increase government stability, although there were
certainly setbacks when the economies went sour. Throughout all of the 20th century,
both countries consistently remained places of refuge for immigrants.
Today, both are melting pots because of this. If you look at the ethnic backgrounds of residents
in both, however, most trace at least some of their ancestry to European countries. The
vast majority of Paraguayans trace their ancestry to both Europeans and indigenious people.
Geographers call this group “mestizos.” And yes, both have minorities of residents
who trace their ancestry to other continents.
The majority of residents of both countries speak Spanish, although most Paraguayans are
bilingual, with even more speaking Guaraní, the indigenous language, believe it or not.
Paraguay is the only country in the world where the majority of the population speaks
an indigenous language. In Uruguay, along the northern border with Brazil, lots of folks
speak a mix of Spanish and Portuguese known as Portuñol.
Football, aka soccer... is the most popular sport in both countries. Ah but Uruguay hosted
the first-ever World Cup.
Both have freedom of religion, but the majority of residents in both identify as Christian.
Of those, most identify as Roman Catholic. 88%, as matter of fact, in Paraguay, compared
to 37% in Uruguay. Over 41% of Uruguayans are not religious.
The largest city in both countries is also the capital, but Asunción, Paraguay is bigger.
(Montevideo- 2 million, Asunción- 3.3 million). About 1 in 3 Paraguayans live in Gran Asunción,
the metropolitan area of Asunción, while more than half of Uruguayans live in the Montevideo
metropolitan area.
Both are two of the safest countries in all of Latin America, although the murder rate
is higher in Uruguay and has been on the rise in recent years. Both have universal healthcare.
Both are democratic republics, but according to the organization Freedom House, Uruguayans
enjoy more political rights and civil liberties. In fact, Freedom House ranks Uruguay as the
sixth most free country in the world. Well this doesn’t sound free, though. Uruguay
has mandatory voting. Until two years ago, Paraguay did, too.
Both were founding members of Mercosur, or the Southern Common Market, a South American
trading bloc. And yes, both have a wonderful trading relationship. Lots of tourists from
Uruguay visit Paraguay and vice versa.
Both have a long tradition of pistol duels. A lot of folks on THE INTERNET say that pistol
duels are still legal in Paraguay as long as both parties are registered blood donors.
As it turns out, this is, uh NOT true after all. Dang folks on the internet.
Both are known for being leaders in the world for their use of renewable energies. Around
95% of Uruguay’s electricity comes from renewable sources, and check it…Paraguay
creates the highest percentage of renewable energy per capita in the world. 100% of Paraguay’s
electricity comes from hydropower, and it has the capacity to create five times its
national electricity requirements. Look at that human achievement. It’s the Itaipu
Dam, which borders Paraguay and Brazil, and it’s the largest hydroelectric energy producer
in the world.
And finally, residents of both countries have no beef with each other. So why am I comparing
them then? Because of their similar names and similar histories. And yes, those not
familiar with the two wonderful countries DO get them mixed up, but hopefully this video
helps put that to an end.
Most of you already know this, but the news media is broken. media
Just a handful of giant corporations own most of news media.
And there's a lot of fake news out there.
There's misinformation, disinformation, and we're all trapped in our bubbles on social media, only getting news spoon fed to us that already agrees with our biases.
And so I'm very excited to announce that this video is sponsored in part by Newsvoice.
Newsvoice is an app that gives you a personalized
news feed by aggregating major news sites, including international and independent media.
But here’s the difference with Newsvoice. It shows multiple sources for the same stories,
and tags the bias and perspective of each source. Newsvoice is also created by its readers.
You can upvote stories you find interesting and add stories or links that are missing.
It’s a completely open and democratized platform for news. Newsvoice also saves you
time. You get all the news in just one app. Oh yeah, and it’s free! So dig deeper, and
download Newsvoice for free. There's a link in the description of this video. You downloading actually supports the channel. Thanks to Newsvoice for sponsoring this video.
And you probably noticed my shirt.
I'm wearing a George Washington S-Tier since 1789 shirt. This shirt, as well as another one, are both for sale exclusively and for a limited time on my Bonfire site.
I put the link in the description for that as well.
So which countries should I compare next? Let me know in the comments below. It’s
good to look at places outside of the United States every now and then, especially lately
since I’ve been trapped in my home. Also, don’t forget to check out EmperorTigerstar’s new
video about why Rutherford B. Hayes is a hero to Paraguayans.
And here is my monthly shout out to my Patreon supporters who donate at least $15 or more a month to my channel.
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Thank you all for your support, and thank YOU for watching
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