The evolution of the Uruguayan population

Uruguay is usually considered an immigrants' country that, unlike other South American countries, has no native population and only a slight African contribution. The perception of its identity frequently refers to this characteristic: there are no regional differences and population variability is minimal. The object of this paper is to analyze the processes that shaped the present population and the regional diversity in their historical context. For this purpose parish and civil archives of three Departments were reviewed for the period 1840–1990: Cerro Largo and Tacuarembo, in the Northeast and Montevideo, in the south. The origin of the population, individual migration distance, consanguinity and marriage age were taken into account. With the exception of age, differences were found between the capital, Montevideo, and the Northeast for the selected variables during most of the period analyzed. On the basis of these results, the importance of Montevideo as the point of entry of both immigrants and slaves, the regional homogeneity and the concept of national identity are discussed.