Montevideo (
IPA [monteßi'ðeo]) is the largest city, the capital and chief port of
Uruguay (Or Ur-a-
gay). 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 are found in the city, as well as historic buildings and squares. The city's mayor is
Ricardo Ehrlich. According to
Mercer Human Resource Consulting, Montevideo is the
Latin American city with the highest quality of life (followed closely by
Buenos Aires and
Santiago de Chile).
[1][2][3]. It is the seat of the
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Montevideo.
Montevideo is situated in the south of the country, The geographic coordinates are 34.5° S, 56°W.
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.
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 the 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.
