South America
Video Chat with People from Uruguay
Uruguay is a compact country tucked between Argentina and Brazil. You might meet people in Montevideo, where the long Rambla promenade follows the shore of the Río de la Plata, in the beach towns around Punta del Este, on the cobblestone streets of Colonia del Sacramento, in Salto with its hot springs, or in the cattle country of the interior. Spanish is the national language, spoken with a Rioplatense accent much like Buenos Aires, and near the Brazilian border you'll hear a Spanish-Portuguese mix often called portuñol. Many younger adults in Montevideo speak some English.
Uruguay doesn't change its clocks; it sits three hours behind GMT, an hour or two ahead of New York depending on the season. Bring up mate (you'll often see people carrying a thermos and gourd around town), weekend asados, the chivito steak sandwich, candombe drumming, the long carnival season with its murga performers, and football, a subject close to the national heart. Learned Spanish somewhere else? Skim our Spanish page, then let your partner show you how vos changes the verbs.
Uruguay at a glance
| Flag | 🇺🇾 |
|---|---|
| Official name | Oriental Republic of Uruguay |
| Capital | Montevideo |
| Region | Americas · South America |
| Official language | Spanish |
| Currency | Uruguayan peso ($, UYU) |
| Calling code | +598 |
| Time zone | Uruguay Standard Time (America/Montevideo) |
How to say hello
A few words of Spanish make a great first impression, even if you switch to English right after.
| Language | Phrase | Say it | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spanish | ¡Hola! ¿Todo bien? | OH-lah, TOH-doh bee-EN | Hi! All good? |
| Spanish (Uruguay) | ¿Qué hacés? | keh ah-SESS | What's up? (literally "What are you doing?") |
| Spanish (Uruguay) | ¡Ta! | tah | OK! / Sure! |
Tips for chatting with people from Uruguay
- You'll hear "ta" constantly as a short form of "está bien" (OK), and "bo" as a casual "hey" to get someone's attention.
- The Rioplatense accent turns y and ll into a "sh" sound, so "yo me llamo" comes out like "sho me shamo".
- Ask about mate etiquette: who serves, how the gourd is passed around, and why you should never stir the bombilla (the metal straw).
- Football is a safe, lively topic; ask which club they support, since the Peñarol versus Nacional rivalry runs deep.
Only meet people from Uruguay
Omlet matches you Worldwide by default. To meet only people from Uruguay, use the country filter, the only filter Omlet has:
- Open Omlet and press Country on the control panel.
- Search for Uruguay and select it.
- Press Start. Press Next to meet someone else from Uruguay, or switch back to Worldwide any time.
Your first day is free: you add a card through Stripe to start it, and nothing is charged that day. When the 24 hours end, the country filter costs $3 one time, charged to that card, unless you cancel before then in Settings (if you cancel, you can still pick a country until the day ends). It's not a subscription, and it stays unlocked on that device and browser. It doesn't carry over to other devices or browsers, and clearing your browser data removes it. There's one free day per device, home network and card. Payment goes through Stripe, so Omlet never sees your card number.
The filter works both ways, and matching can be slower when fewer people from Uruguay are online. Chatting itself is free, and Worldwide matching never costs anything.
Your own country is detected automatically and shown to the people you meet as a flag.
Neighboring countries
Uruguay borders 2 countries. Curious about the people next door? Meet them too: