Uruguay: Physical Geography

Uruguay is a small country on the southeastern coast of South America, wedged between Argentina to the west and Brazil to the north and east, with the Atlantic Ocean and the broad estuary of the Río de la Plata forming its southern and southeastern limits. Covering about 176,000 square kilometers, it is the second-smallest country on the continent, and its landscape forms a gentle transition between the flat pampas of Argentina and the hilly uplands of southern Brazil.

Most of Uruguay consists of a rolling plain with an average elevation of only about 117 meters. Flat, sandy, and occasionally marshy plains line the Atlantic coast and the banks of the Río de la Plata and the Uruguay River, while the interior rises into a low plateau marked by ranges of hills that grow more pronounced toward the Brazilian border. The Cuchilla Grande in the southeast and the Cuchilla de Haedo in the north, both southward extensions of the Brazilian Highlands, contain the country's highest ground; Cerro Catedral, in the Cuchilla Grande, reaches 514 meters and is Uruguay's highest point.

Uruguay is a well-watered country, with numerous lakes, lagoons, and three distinct river systems draining its territory: rivers flowing west to the Uruguay River, which forms the border with Argentina; others flowing east to the Atlantic coast and its lagoons; and others flowing south to the Río de la Plata. The Río Negro, the longest river entirely within the country, crosses Uruguay from northeast to southwest before joining the Uruguay River, and a dam has impounded part of its course into a large reservoir, one of the largest artificial lakes in South America. Along the Brazilian border, the Laguna Merín forms the country's largest natural lake.