France–Uruguay relations are the current and historical relations between the

French Republic France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

and the

Oriental Republic of Uruguay Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast, while bordering the Río de la Plata to the south and the A ...

. Both nations enjoy friendly relations, the importance of which centers on the history of French migration to Uruguay. In the late 19th century, one-third of Uruguay's population was of French descent. Both nations are members of the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

History

In 1825, Uruguay obtained its independence after the

Cisplatine War The Cisplatine War was an armed conflict fought in the 1820s between the Empire of Brazil and the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata over control of Brazil's Cisplatina province. It was fought in the aftermath of the United Provinces' an ...

. Soon afterwards, both nations established diplomatic relations. In March 1838, France imposed a two-year blockade of Río de la Plata against

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

during the

War of the Confederation The War of the Confederation () was a military confrontation waged by the United Restoration Army, the alliance of the land and naval forces of Chile and the Restoration Army of Peru, formed in 1836 by Peruvian soldiers opposed to the conf ...

. In 1839, the

Uruguayan Civil War The Uruguayan Civil War, also known in Spanish as the ''Guerra Grande'' ("Great War"), was a series of armed conflicts between the leaders of Uruguayan independence. While officially the war lasted from 1839 until 1851, it was a part of armed ...

commenced. From the beginning, France looked for allied forces to fight

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...

Governor,

Juan Manuel de Rosas Juan Manuel José Domingo Ortiz de Rozas y López de Osornio (30 March 1793 – 14 March 1877), nicknamed "Restorer of the Laws", was an Argentine politician and army officer who ruled Buenos Aires Province and briefly the Argentine Confedera ...

, on their behalf. For this purpose the French supported Uruguayan President

Fructuoso Rivera José Fructuoso Rivera y Toscana (17 October 1784 – 13 January 1854) was a Uruguayan general and patriot who fought for the liberation of Banda Oriental from Brazilian rule, thrice served as President of Uruguay and was one of the instigat ...

and helped him to defeat Constitutional President

Manuel Oribe Manuel Ceferino Oribe y Viana (August 26, 1792 – November 12, 1857) was the 2nd Constitutional president of Uruguay and founder of Uruguay's National Party, the oldest Uruguayan political party and considered one of the two Uruguayan "tr ...

, who was on good terms with Governor Rosas. On 24 October 1838, Manuel Oribe resigned and fled to Buenos Aires, and Fructuoso Rivera assumed power. At the end of the 19th century, the French community represented about a third of Uruguay's population, most from the

French Basque Country The French Basque Country (; ; ), or Northern Basque Country (, or , ), is a region lying on the west of the French department of the Pyrénées-Atlantiques. Since 1 January 2017, it constitutes the Basque Municipal Community (; ) presided ...

and

Béarn Béarn (; ; or ''Biarn''; or ''Biarno''; or ''Bearnia'') is one of the traditional provinces of France, located in the Pyrenees mountains and in the plain at their feet, in Southwestern France. Along with the three Northern Basque Country, ...

Province.Francia y Uruguay (in Spanish)
/ref> In October 1964, French President

Charles de Gaulle Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle (22 November 18909 November 1970) was a French general and statesman who led the Free France, Free French Forces against Nazi Germany in World War II and chaired the Provisional Government of the French Re ...

paid a visit to Uruguay, becoming the first French head-of-government to visit the South American Nation. During his visit, de Gaulle met with Uruguayan President

Daniel Fernández Crespo Daniel Fernández Crespo(28 April 1901 – 28 July 1964) was a Uruguayan political figure. Background and early career A political reformer, Fernández Crespo belonged to the National Party, and entered politics in the early 1930s. Formerly a s ...

. In 1973, Uruguay entered into a civic-military dictatorship. As a result, political opponents were persecuted and many fled to exile, most to other

Latin America Latin America is the cultural region of the Americas where Romance languages are predominantly spoken, primarily Spanish language, Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese. Latin America is defined according to cultural identity, not geogr ...

n nations. France hosted numerous Uruguayan exiles and suspended diplomatic relations during the military period. In 1985, diplomatic relations were restored between both nations with the fall of the Uruguayan dictatorship and the restoration of democracy. Much of the Uruguayan State was inspired by the French model (

Secularism Secularism is the principle of seeking to conduct human affairs based on naturalistic considerations, uninvolved with religion. It is most commonly thought of as the separation of religion from civil affairs and the state and may be broadened ...

Napoleonic Code The Napoleonic Code (), officially the Civil Code of the French (; simply referred to as ), is the French civil code established during the French Consulate in 1804 and still in force in France, although heavily and frequently amended since i ...

and educational system). In 2012, Uruguay became an Observer nation for the

Organisation internationale de la Francophonie The (OIF; sometimes shortened to ''La Francophonie'', , sometimes also called International Organisation of in English) is an international organization representing where there is a notable affiliation with French language and culture. ...

. There have been numerous visits and reunions between leaders of both nations. In March 2016, French President

François Hollande François Gérard Georges Nicolas Hollande (; born 12 August 1954) is a French politician who served as President of France from 2012 to 2017. Before his presidency, he was First Secretary of the Socialist Party (France), First Secretary of th ...

paid a visit to Uruguay and met with President

Tabaré Vázquez Tabaré Ramón Vázquez Rosas (; 17 January 19406 December 2020) was a Uruguayan politician and oncologist who served as the 39th and 41st President of Uruguay from 2005 to 2010 and from 2015 to 2020. During his political career, Vázquez was a ...

. In December 2018, Uruguayan President Tabaré Vázquez paid a visit to France and met with President

Emmanuel Macron Emmanuel Jean-Michel Frédéric Macron (; born 21 December 1977) is a French politician who has served as President of France and Co-Prince of Andorra since 2017. He was Ministry of Economy and Finance (France), Minister of Economics, Industr ...

.Francia y Uruguay firmaron siete acuerdos de cooperación (in Spanish)
/ref>

High-level visits

High-level visits from France to Uruguay * President

(1964) * Secretary of State for French Abroad

Édouard Courtial Édouard Courtial (born 28 June 1973 in Neuilly-sur-Seine) is a French politician of The Republicans who currently serves as a member of the French Senate, representing the Oise department. Political positions Courtial cosigned a bill that wo ...

(2011) * Minister Delegate for La Francophonie

Yamina Benguigui Yamina Benguigui (born Yamina Zora Belaïdi; in Lille on 9 April 1955) is a French film director and politician of Algerian descent. She is known for her films on gender issues in the North African (both Berbers in France, Berbers and Arabs in F ...

(2013) * President

(2016) * Special Envoy

Jean-Pierre Bel Jean-Pierre Bel (born 30 December 1951) is a French retired politician who served as President of the Senate from 2011 to 2014 (the sole non-right-wing in the Fifth Republic). From the Ariège department, Bel is a member of the Socialist Party ...

(2018) High-level visits from Uruguay to France * Minister of the Economy

Álvaro García Rodríguez Álvaro García Rodríguez (born 19 September 1961) is a Uruguayan politician. Background He has a professional background in both private and public sector appointments in finance and planning. García also taught at two Uruguayan universitie ...

(2010) * Minister of Education and Culture Ricardo Ehrlich (2012, 2013, 2014) * Foreign Minister

Luis Almagro Luis Leonardo Almagro Lemes (; born June 1, 1963) is a Uruguayan lawyer, diplomat, and politician who served as the 10th Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS) from 2015 to 2025. A former member of the Broad Front, Alm ...

(2014) * President

(2015, 2018)

Bilateral agreements

Both nations have signed several agreements such as an Agreement of Cooperation in a scholarship program for master's and doctorate degrees for Uruguayan students to study in France (2018); Agreement for the mutual recognition of university degrees (2018); Agreement for Environment Cooperation (2018); Agreement of Cooperation on the teaching of the French language in Uruguay (2018); Agreement for Defense Cooperation (2018); Agreement for Scientific and Academic Cooperation (2018); and an Agreement of Cooperation in research and public teaching.

Trade

In 2017, two-way trade between both nations totaled €276 million Euros. France's main exports to Uruguay include: perfumes and cosmetics; vehicles and auto accessories; mechanical equipment and industrial machinery. Uruguay's main exports to France includes: pulp purchases and beef. Uruguay ranks as France's 8th largest trading partner in Latin America. France is also one of Uruguay's main investors. Over sixty French companies operate in Uruguay and are responsible for approximately 8,000 jobs. In 2011, French global automotive supplier,

Faurecia Forvia SE (stylized in all-uppercase), formerly Faurecia SE, is a French global automotive supplier headquartered in Nanterre, in the western suburbs of Paris. In 2022 it was the 7th largest international automotive parts manufacturer in the worl ...

, opened a factory in Uruguay.

Resident diplomatic missions

* France has an embassy in

Montevideo Montevideo (, ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Uruguay, largest city of Uruguay. According to the 2023 census, the city proper has a population of 1,302,954 (about 37.2% of the country's total population) in an area of . M ...

.Embassy of France in Montevideo
/ref> * Uruguay has an

embassy A diplomatic mission or foreign mission is a group of people from a Sovereign state, state or organization present in another state to represent the sending state or organization officially in the receiving or host state. In practice, the phrase ...

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. File:Embajada de Francia en Montevideo.jpg, Embassy of France in Montevideo File:Ambassade d'Uruguay en France, 33 rue Jean-Giraudoux, Paris 16e.jpg, Embassy of Uruguay in Paris

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:France-Uruguay

Uruguay Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast, while bordering the Río de la Plata to the south and the A ...