Q 01/05

Uruguay's official name is the 'Oriental Republic of Uruguay'. Why 'Oriental'?

A) It lies east of the river it is called after

B) It was named by traders from the East Indies

C) It faces the sunrise over the Atlantic

D) Its first settlers came from Portuguese Goa

Answer · why

A) It lies east of the river it is called after

'República Oriental del Uruguay' literally means 'Republic East of the Uruguay River'; in colonial times the land was simply the Banda Oriental, the e...

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) Brazil and Bolivia

Answer · why

B) Argentina and Brazil

Its whole history has been shaped by sitting between the two South American giants; the fourth side of the country is the Río de la Plata and the Atla...

Q 03/05

Roughly what share of Uruguay's population lives in the metropolitan area of the capital?

A) About a tenth

B) About a quarter

C) More than half

D) Almost all of it

Answer · why

C) More than half

Around 1.9 million people live in and around the capital; the rest of the urban population is spread across only about 30 towns.

Q 04/05

Uruguay is the second-smallest sovereign nation in South America. Which country is the smallest?

A) Guyana

B) Ecuador

C) Paraguay

D) Suriname

Answer · why

D) Suriname

Uruguay covers about 176,000 square kilometres; only French Guiana, an overseas region of France, is smaller on the continent than these two.

Q 05/05

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

A) 1,046 m

B) 514 m

C) 2,061 m

D) 3,180 m

Answer · why

B) 514 m

It sits in the Sierra Carapé range; the country is mostly rolling plains and low ridges called cuchillas, with 660 km of coastline.