Manual descriptivo del Uruguay.

Manual descriptivo del Uruguay.

Uruguay used to be known as the 'Switzerland of South America, ' but clearly not because of any geographical similarity. Although it is the second smallest republic in South America (after Surinam), Uruguay is more than four times larger than landlocked Switzerland, and its highest peak is only 501 meters. Rather, the analogy was made because Uruguay enjoyed other Swiss-like attributes. It was a peaceful, conservative country with a bountiful, livestock-based economy. It was also home to South America's first social democracy; a cradle-to-grave welfare system; and a largely urban, homogeneous, and relatively well-educated population. A political slogan of the 1940s proudly boasted, 'There is no place like Uruguay.'