Q 01/05

Why is Uruguay officially the 'Oriental Republic of Uruguay'?

A) East Indies traders named it

B) It lies east of the Uruguay River

C) It faces the Atlantic sunrise

D) Its settlers came from Goa

Answer · why

B) It lies east of the Uruguay River

It lies east of the Uruguay River: in colonial times the land was simply the Banda Oriental, the 'eastern bank', and the republic kept the word.

Q 02/05

Which two countries share a land border with Uruguay?

A) Argentina and Paraguay

B) Argentina and Brazil

C) Brazil and Paraguay

D) Paraguay and Bolivia

Answer · why

B) Argentina and Brazil

Argentina and Brazil are its only neighbours: Uruguay was created in 1828 as a buffer between the two after neither could win a war over it.

Q 03/05

Which emblem fills the top corner of Uruguay's blue-and-white striped flag?

A) The Southern Cross

B) An Andean condor

C) The Sun of May

D) A Phrygian cap

Answer · why

C) The Sun of May

The Sun of May, a golden sun with a human face, also shines from the flag across the Río de la Plata, because both countries grew out of the same Unit...

Q 04/05

Which country is the only sovereign nation in South America with a smaller area than Uruguay?

A) Guyana

B) Ecuador

C) Paraguay

D) Suriname

Answer · why

D) Suriname

Suriname is the smallest; French Guiana is smaller than both, but it doesn't count because it is an overseas region of a European state, not a country...

Q 05/05

Cerro Catedral, the highest point in famously flat Uruguay, rises to roughly what elevation?

A) 170 m

B) 514 m

C) 1,600 m

D) 4,900 m

Answer · why

B) 514 m

514 m: Cerro Catedral, in the Sierra Carapé hills, is lower than New York's One World Trade Center, which reaches 541 m.