What is the capital of Uruguay?

The capital of Uruguay is Montevideo. The city sits on Uruguay's southern coast along the northeastern shore of the Río de la Plata, the broad estuary formed where the Paraná and Uruguay rivers meet the Atlantic Ocean.

Montevideo was established in 1726 by Spanish authorities under Bruno Mauricio de Zabala, partly to strengthen Spain's position against Portuguese expansion in the region. Its strategic harbor helped the settlement grow into a major commercial center. The city's name has several proposed explanations, but no single interpretation is universally accepted.

Montevideo is both Uruguay's political center and its largest city. Government institutions, the port, financial services and much of the country's cultural life are concentrated there. The city is also home to landmarks such as Plaza Independencia, the Palacio Legislativo and Ciudad Vieja, its historic old quarter.

A common mix-up is choosing Buenos Aires, which lies across the Río de la Plata in Argentina. Buenos Aires is much larger, but it is Argentina's capital; Montevideo is the capital on the estuary's northern shore.