France–Uruguay relations

French–Uruguayan relations

France
Uruguay

French-Uruguayan relations are foreign relations between Uruguay and France. Uruguay has an embassy in Paris[1] and France has an embassy in Montevideo.[2]

History

Uruguay became an independent nation during the Peninsular War, a conflict between France and Spain. Uruguay was a Spanish territory by that time, as the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata, and thus at war with France, but the war never left Europe and the Viceroyalty was never attacked directly by French armies. The French attack to Spain indirectly started the Uruguayan War of Independence, France recognized Uruguay as an independent nation by the end of 1830.

France attempted the French blockade of the Río de la Plata during the War of the Confederation, and later the another blockade; both affected Uruguay.

Nevertheless, the French presence in Uruguay has always been strong. During the first half of the 19th century, Uruguay received most of French immigrants to South America. It constituted back then, the second receptor of French immigrants in the New World after the United States. Thus, while the United States received 195,971 French immigrants between 1820 and 1855, 13,922 Frenchmen, most of them from the Basque Country and Béarn, left for Uruguay between 1833 and 1842.[3]

French influence has always been strong in Uruguayan culture. The secondary education and also the University of the Republic follow a French model.

The French ambassador in Montevideo is Jean-Christophe Potton.[4]

There is a French Chamber of Commerce in Montevideo.[5]

See also

Notes and references

  1. ↑ "Uruguayan embassy in Paris". Retrieved 11 September 2012.
  2. ↑ "French Embassy in Uruguay". Retrieved 11 September 2012.
  3. ↑ L'immigration française en Argentine, 1850-1930. L’Uruguay capta seulement 13.922 [immigrants français] entre 1833 et 1842, la plupart d’entre eux originaires du Pays Basque et du Béarn.
  4. ↑ "The French Eastern Strip" (in Spanish). El País. 10 Dec 2012.
  5. ↑ French Chamber of Commerce of Montevideo (Spanish)
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