Uruguayan People - Immigration Waves

Immigration Waves

Uruguayans share a Spanish linguistic and cultural background with its neighbour country Argentina. Also, like Argentina, most Uruguayans are descended from colonial-era settlers and immigrants from Europe with almost 88% of the population being of European descent.

The majority of these are Spaniards and Italians, followed by the French, Basques, Germans, Portuguese, British (English or Scots), Armenians, Irish, Swiss, Russians, Poles, Croats, Bulgarians, Hungarians, Ukrainians, Lithuanians, Estonians, Latvians, Scandinavians, Dutch, Austrians, Greeks, Turkish, Arab mainly Lebanese and Syrians, and smaller number of Georgians. There are also smaller numbers of Han Chinese and Japanese. The majority of Poles, Russians, Germans and Austrians were and are Ashkenazi Jews so they can be seen as a single ethnic group. Montevideo, like Buenos Aires of nearby Argentina and Rio de Janeiro in Brazil, was a major seaport to dock ships coming from Europe and elsewhere, and European settlement greatly affected Uruguay to have a more western oriented culture.

Many colonies such as Nueva Helvecia-Colonia Suiza a Swiss colony and Colonia Valdense a Piedmontese waldensian colony, are located in the department of Colonia. Also, there are towns founded by early British settlers, like Conchillas and Barker. A Russian colony called San Javier, is found in the department of Río Negro. Also there are Mennonite colonies in the department of Río Negro like Gartental and El Ombú, in Canelones Department called Colonia Nicolich, and in San José Department called Colonia Delta. El Ombú, is famous for its well-known Dulce de Leche "Claldy", and is located near the city of Young.

Many of the European immigrants arrived in Uruguay in the late 19th century and have heavily influenced the architecture and culture of Montevideo and other major cities. For this reason, Montevideo and life within the city are very reminiscent of Western Europe.