At present, there are 36 recognized developed countries by the United Nations, of which 28 are concentrated in the European region; only 4 in the Asian region, namely Japan, South Korea, Israel and Singapore; 2 in Oceania, australia and New Zealand; 2 in North America, namely the United States and Canada; and there are no developed countries in Africa and Latin America.
However, in Latin America, which has long been lagging behind and developing, there is an unusually rich small country , Uruguay , with a per capita GDP of $17,000 in 2020. This stands out in Latin America, where GDP per capita is generally below $10,000. What is it that has allowed this population of only 3.5 million to rise in Latin America?
Why was Uruguay not annexed?
Located on the southeast coast of South America, between the coastlines of Brazil and Argentina, Uruguay has an area of 176,000 square kilometers and a population of about 3.5 million, and was inhabited by the Early Chalua Indians. In 1516, Spanish colonists came here and began to carry out colonial aggression against Uruguay. In 1726, Spanish colonists established montevideo, the current capital of Uruguay, on the eastern coast, and officially began colonial rule over Uruguay.
In 1776, Spanish colonists established the Viceroyalty of La Plata in the Plain of La Plata, which was responsible for the colonial area of the Plain of La Plata. The Plain of La Plata is the second largest plain in South America, between the Andes, the Brazilian Plateau and the Patagonia Plateau, with a total area of 1.5 million square kilometers, covering Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguay and Uruguay.
Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguay and Uruguay are actually the same language, are all Spanish colonies, the population is mostly the descendants of immigrants from Spanish, Italian, German and other European countries, as well as some Indo-European mixed race and African population, coupled with the geographical environment, natural climate, cultural customs are similar, in theory should become a unified country.
Jose Hervasio Artigas
But that's not how history is headed. In 1811, the Uruguayan national hero José Hervacio Artigas led the War of Independence against Spanish colonial rule, and together with rebel armies from other regions, captured the city of Montevideo, the capital of the Viceroyalty of La Plata, drove out the Spanish colonists, and formed a "federal alliance" with Argentina and other countries.
However, the Federal League was divided over the form of state government. The Executive Committee of the West Bank of the Rio de la Plata advocated centralization, but Artigas advocated federalism. The Confederation was divided, and Artigas led the rebel army on the east bank of the Río de la Plata out and took control of the entire plain on the east bank of the Río de la Plata, which is now Uruguay.
In 1816, the Portuguese invaded the East Bank and occupied the city of Montevideo the following year, but the West Bank refused to send troops to help, and watched at the defeat of Artigas, who was forced to retreat to Paraguay.
In 1822, Brazil declared its independence from Portugal and established the Brazilian Empire, bringing the leaderless Uruguay under its rule.
Brazil's demands on The Uruguayans to speak Portuguese instead provoked a strong resentment among the Uruguayans. On August 25, 1825, under the leadership of the Uruguayan patriot Juan Antonio La Valleja, Uruguay declared its independence and occupied the city of Montevideo. It also became Uruguay's Independence Day.
Argentina, which had become independent, did not want to see Brazil dominate, so it firmly supported Uruguay's independence, causing disputes between the two countries. Finally, under british mediation, Brazil and Argentina signed the Treaty of Montevideo, recognizing Uruguay's independence.
The Quartets were all happy with the result. Uruguay gained independence, Argentina achieved its stated goals, Brazil was virtually powerless to control Uruguay, and no recognition would help, while Britain gained great prestige by mediating in the trilateral conflict and retained some influence in South America.
In this way, the four countries found a balance of power in the repeated game, and this balance point was Uruguay.
"Switzerland in South America"
Small countries between large countries are often faced with the problem of balance of the situation, and they must adjust their foreign strategies in a timely manner according to the development of the situation, and meet each other left and right between the two major forces in exchange for space for peaceful development.
But there is a situation where when the two major powers are in absolute equilibrium, the small countries in it will have unprecedented development opportunities, such as Switzerland and Liechtenstein. They remained neutral among the great powers, had access to resources and markets for each country at the same time, and could take advantage of their location as financial hubs between the powers, which was how Switzerland and Liechtenstein became developed countries.
Newly independent Uruguay also faced development difficulties, with a small population, a sparse population, and a military coup d'état that other South American countries had. It was not until 1984 that Uruguay became a democratic constitutional State.
After a stable international and domestic political environment, Uruguay's economy began to take off. Uruguay's own natural geography is very superior, although it faces the Atlantic Ocean, there are no natural disasters, no volcanoes, tsunamis and hurricanes, high vegetation coverage, fertile land and abundant rainfall, making it very suitable for the development of agriculture and livestock.
According to statistics, Uruguay has agriculture, animal husbandry and fisheries as the economic pillar, and 90% of the country's land is suitable for farming, of which 85% is used for grazing, 4% for planting and 4% for forestry. 13 per cent of the country's population is engaged in agriculture and contributes about 9 per cent of the gross national product. Beef, mutton, wool and leather products are traditional export products, of which wool production accounts for 3% of the world total and more than 20% of the country's total exports.
Supported by developed agriculture, livestock and fisheries, Uruguay was recognized by the World Bank as a high-income country in 2013 with a GDP of $17,000 per capita, which has reached the standards of a moderately developed country. However, Uruguay's economy is structured and its human development index is low and cannot be counted as a developed country.
This is related to Uruguay's economic policy of heavy agriculture and animal husbandry. The government has clear laws that do not allow the development and construction of heavy industry, resulting in a lack of heavy industrial production capacity in the country, and the industrial output value mainly comes from the processing of agricultural and animal husbandry products, textile industry, etc.
There are also benefits to doing so. In the case of the general deterioration of the global environment, Uruguay has retained a precious pure land, the domestic air quality is very high, the natural environment is beautiful, attracting a large number of foreign tourists to visit every year, creating a considerable tourism income.
Relevant data show that among the 12 Latin American countries and regions, Uruguay has the highest degree of development, ranks first in per capita GDP, and has the highest degree of wealth, so it is called "South American Switzerland".