Uruguay has a population of around 3.5 million, of whom roughly half live in or around Montevideo. It is one of the most urbanised countries in South America and also one of the most homogeneous: the vast majority of Uruguayans are of European descent, predominantly Spanish and Italian, with smaller German, French, and British communities. Indigenous Amerindian populations were largely eliminated during the colonial period. The Afro-Uruguayan community, concentrated in Montevideo, makes up around 8% of the population and has had an outsized influence on music and culture, particularly through candombe drumming.
Uruguayan society is defined by a calm confidence and a strong sense of egalitarianism. There is little of the dramatic wealth gap visible in neighbouring Brazil or Argentina — Uruguay has long had a robust welfare state and public education system, legacies of early 20th-century reforms under President José Batlle y Ordóñez. Those reforms also separated church and state, making Uruguay the most secular country in the Americas; less than half the population identifies as religious, and public life is conspicuously free of religious influence.
The country has been at the forefront of progressive social legislation in Latin America: same-sex marriage was legalised in 2013, as was the regulated sale of cannabis. Education is free and universal, and literacy rates are among the highest on the continent.
Uruguayans tend to be reserved with strangers at first but warm once acquainted. Tranquilidad — a relaxed, unhurried approach to life — is a national trait. Don't mistake it for indifference. Offering and sharing mate, the ubiquitous herbal drink, is the primary social gesture; refusing is mildly rude.