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Uruguay SOCIETY
Population: In 1991 estimated at 3.1 million;
annual
rate of growth averaged 0.7 percent during 1981-88 period
but
fell to 0.6 percent in 1990-91. Relatively low birth rate
(17 per
1,000 population in 1991). According to 1985 census, 87
percent
of population lived in urban areas, Latin America's
highest
percentage.
Literacy and Education: In 1990 literacy rate 96
percent (highest in Latin America). System of universal,
free,
and secular education required total of nine years of
compulsory
school attendance, from ages six to fourteen. By 1985 an
estimated 70 percent of secondary school-age children
enrolled in
secondary school (also highest rate in Latin America).
Despite
inadequate teaching resources, quality of education
generally
high.
Health: In 1984 total health care spending
represented
8.1 percent of gross domestic product
(
GDP--see Glossary).
In
1985 number of inhabitants per physician 466 (proportion
similar
to developed countries). In 1987 Montevideo had over sixty
public
health facilities, including seven major public hospitals.
Total
mortality rate just below 10 per 1,000 population in
1980s. In
1990 infant mortality 22 deaths per 1,000 population.
Average
life expectancy at birth in 1991 sixty-nine years for men
and
seventy-six years for women.
Language: Spanish.
Ethnic Groups: Largely homogeneous society. In
1990
about 88 percent of population white and of European
descent; 8
percent mestizo; and 4 percent black.
Religion: In 1990 about 66 percent were
professed Roman
Catholics; 2 percent Protestants; and 2 percent Jews.
Remainder
nonprofessing or other (less than half of adult population
attended church regularly).
Data as of December 1990
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