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The name Uruguay comes from the Guaraní language.
The Guaraní language is originary of one of the native tribes populating what is today know as the south of brazil, paraguay, part of argentina and uruguay. It is in fact, paraguay's second official language.
Uruguay is guaraní for "river of the birds", or "river of the painted birds", or "river of the snails" depending on the interpretation. The most accepted is river of the birds. And the whole name of the country is República Oriental del Uruguay, meaning republic at the west of this river. Before the creation of the republic this chunk of land in the world was known as "Banda Oriental" (oriental band? oriental stripe? i dunno), so it was already named in reference to the river. This is why sometimes uruguayans are referred to as "orientales", which can be sometimes confusingly funny, because it's the same term used for talking about asiatic people, orientals.
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10 comments:
Now I know why it's called Uruguay.
Regards.
I would like to add that in the past “La Banda Oriental” or The Oriental Strip was through many years land of dispute between Brazil and Argentina; it was historically populated by the Spanish and so part of nowadays Argentina territory. Uruguay was created after the intervention of Lord John Ponsomby in 1928 to stop the constant war between Buenos Aires and Rio de Janeiro for this strategic and grass land. So in the end Uruguay is no more than an English invention with a Guarani name.
Although being an English invention and the fact that there aren’t more native Guaranis or any other Native Americans in Uruguay, the country got this name which sometimes people confuses it with Paraguay and also has a difficult pronunciation (I was never able to pronounce it well in French and have difficult to pronounce it in English). But in the end I think it is as your birth name you have to live with it and go on.
Well...let's face it, the "ORIENTAL" bit of R. O. U. is a pathetic throwback to a time that is no longer. So the name of the country needs to be changed ASAP. La Banda Oriental WAS a province of, and a strip of land on, the eastern side of what used to be Las Provincias Unidas del Rio de la Plata. But today Uruguay is an independent sovereign country, NOT just a strip of land on the eastern side of Argentina.
Please do not change Uruguay's complete name. It has good history and everyone in Uruguay should be proud of their history.
If one researches the countries that have changed their names over the past 50 years, you will see a common denominator (generally) and that common denominator does not represent Uruguay. You have a beautiful country.
Uruguay an invention of an English Lord? and in 1928? You must be taking some type of Cold medicine. Grab a Book, a real History Book. Trust me. They do not bite....By the way, I believe our National Heroe, Don Jose Gervasio Artigas, just did a 180 in his grave....
good info
Let's take into consideration two points. First Oriental, means easterly, literally giving Uruguay a name due to geographic reference. The Republic on the easterly side of the Uruguay River.
BTW dude, I love the blog, I'm a canadian living in Uruguay.
On to my second point. Jose Artigas is the country's hero, but let's recognize that he never fought for Uruguay, he fought for La Banda Oriental. He left the region, in self-exile to Paraguay, years before Uruguay became independant.
muy buena in formacion como uruguayo vreo que esta todo muy bien esplicado
gracias por mostrar mi pais al mundo
sepo: you made a little 'typo', it wasn't 1928 but 1828.
Actually Uruguay is independent because of England, it's funny. We were just happy belonging to Argentina and fighting Brazil until some englishman decided we didn't belong to any of them.
Now, more than a century and a half later, I thank him for that :)
What exactly you're writing is a horrible mistake.
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