Bits of Culture
I have taken the following from Wikipedia, because I'm lazy (remember, I'm Uruguay):
Contemporary Uruguayan culture is diverse in its nature since the nation's population is one of multicultural origins. The country has an impressive legacy of artistic and literary traditions, especially for its small size. The contribution of its alternating conquerors, Spain and Portugal, and diverse immigrants - Italians, Germans, Swiss, Russians, Jews, and Armenians, among others - has resulted in traditions that integrate this diversity with Native American elements. Uruguay has centuries-old remains and fortresses of the colonial era. Its cities have a rich architectural heritage, and an impressive number of writers, artists, and musicians. Carnival and candombe are the most important examples of African influence by slaves, as well as Umbanda religious beliefs and practices. Guarani traditions can be seen in the national drink, mate. The folk and popular music of Uruguay shares with Argentina, not only its gaucho roots, but also the tango.
I agree with everything, except with the Umbanda thing; it makes it sound as if it were something very common, and it's not!
About the population, let me put it like this: According to a study from the goverment of Italy, Uruguay's inhabitants are 40% "Italian", that is, mostly decendants, and quite a few that can still be seen around with their particular accent. So, my free calculation is that there's another 40% of Spaniards and Spanish descendants (mainly from the Canary Islands and Galicia). We have a 5% that came from Africa. German's must account for another 5% or so. That leaves 10% for British (not mentioned in the article!), Swiss (me... not aware of), Russians and Armenians. (Sorry, Wikipedia, "Jews" is not a nationality.... :-o Most of our Jewish people are from Germany, so that would be doble-counting.)
And, we all live in harmony! We all put on the Celeste jersey!!! :)
One more thing, and I'm going to repeat this in the Candombe section, our "black" people, our "negros", are not "afroamericans" or any other eufemism. They're black! No problems whatsover. You know, one of our most popular musicians, Rubén Rada (mainly knows as "el negro Rada") is, well, black. He is very popular in Argentina. During TV show, this lady referred to him as "morocho", which would be somewhat similar to "colored", and he responded very quickly, "NO! I'm BLACK!" He wasn't mad or anything, but he just made his point.
On the same note, calling someone "negro" in Uruguay is NOT racist. Like I said, everybody calls Rubén Rada "el negro Rada" (he even put it into one of his lyrics). We have all kinds of nice "negros", and, since there are not enough or them, many times we call each other "negro", "negra", "negrito/a" as a endearment name, even if our skin is paper white! (I'm thinking of "my old man" in English, kind of the same thing, no dad would get offended by that, right?) Anyway...