Uruguay Environment - 2024

Environment - current issues

water pollution from meat packing, tannery industries; heavy metal pollution; inadequate solid and hazardous waste disposal; deforestation

Environment - international agreements

party to: Antarctic-Environmental Protection, Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Climate Change-Paris Agreement, Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping-London Protocol, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands, Whaling

signed, but not ratified: Marine Dumping-London Convention, Marine Life Conservation

Climate

warm temperate; freezing temperatures almost unknown

Land use

agricultural land: 87.2% (2018 est.)

arable land: 10.1% (2018 est.)

permanent crops: 0.2% (2018 est.)

permanent pasture: 76.9% (2018 est.)

forest: 10.2% (2018 est.)

other: 2.6% (2018 est.)

Urbanization

urban population: 95.8% of total population (2023)

rate of urbanization: 0.4% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)

Revenue from forest resources

1.56% of GDP (2018 est.)

Revenue from coal

0% of GDP (2018 est.)

Air pollutants

particulate matter emissions: 8.48 micrograms per cubic meter (2019 est.)

carbon dioxide emissions: 6.77 megatons (2016 est.)

methane emissions: 25.59 megatons (2020 est.)

Waste and recycling

municipal solid waste generated annually: 1,260,140 tons (2012 est.)

municipal solid waste recycled annually: 100,811 tons (2011 est.)

percent of municipal solid waste recycled: 8% (2011 est.)

Major lakes (area sq km)

salt water lake(s): Lagoa Mirim (shared with Brazil) - 2,970 sq km

Major rivers (by length in km)

Rio de la Plata/Parana river mouth (shared with Brazil [s], Argentina, Paraguay) - 4,880 km; Uruguay river mouth (shared with Brazil [s] and Argentina) - 1,610 km
note – [s] after country name indicates river source; [m] after country name indicates river mouth

Major aquifers

Guarani Aquifer System

Total water withdrawal

municipal: 410 million cubic meters (2020 est.)

industrial: 80 million cubic meters (2020 est.)

agricultural: 3.17 billion cubic meters (2020 est.)

Total renewable water resources

172.2 billion cubic meters (2020 est.)

Geoparks

total global geoparks and regional networks: 1

global geoparks and regional networks: Grutas del Palacio (2023)