Environment
Uruguay
Climate
mild temperate; occurrences of freezing temperatures are nearly nonexistent
Geoparks
global geoparks and regional networks
Grutas del Palacio (2023)
total global geoparks and regional networks
1
Land use
other
7.3% (2023 est.)
forest
11.4% (2023 est.)
agricultural land
81.4% (2023 est.)
agricultural land: arable land
arable land: 12.6% (2023 est.)
agricultural land: permanent crops
permanent crops: 0.2% (2023 est.)
agricultural land: permanent pasture
permanent pasture: 68.6% (2023 est.)
Urbanization
urban population
95.8% of total population (2023)
rate of urbanization
0.4% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)
Methane emissions
other
2.8 kt (2019-2021 est.)
waste
115.4 kt (2019-2021 est.)
energy
18.1 kt (2022-2024 est.)
agriculture
730.6 kt (2019-2021 est.)
Waste and recycling
municipal solid waste generated annually
1.26 million tons (2024 est.)
percent of municipal solid waste recycled
24.8% (2022 est.)
Environmental issues
contamination of water due to the meat-packing and tanning sectors; pollution from heavy metals; insufficient disposal of solid and hazardous waste; deforestation
Total water withdrawal
municipal
424.428 million cubic meters (2022)
industrial
603.701 million cubic meters (2022)
agricultural
3.479 billion cubic meters (2022)
Carbon dioxide emissions
total emissions
6.896 million metric tonnes of CO2 (2023 est.)
from consumed natural gas
177,000 metric tonnes of CO2 (2023 est.)
from coal and metallurgical coke
39,000 metric tonnes of CO2 (2023 est.)
from petroleum and other liquids
6.681 million metric tonnes of CO2 (2023 est.)
Particulate matter emissions
8.5 micrograms per cubic meter (2019 est.)
Total renewable water resources
172.2 billion cubic meters (2022 est.)
International environmental 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, Conservation of Marine Life