Greek Uruguayans

Greek Uruguayans (Greek: Έλληνες της Ουρουγουάης) are Uruguayan residents either fully or partially of Greek descent or Greece-born people who reside in Uruguay.

Greek Orthodox Church in Montevideo.

Overview

The Greek community in Uruguay numbers between 25,000 and 28,000 people (1% of total population); most of them live in the Montevideo area. Some of them also settled in the frontier city of Rivera.

The 2011 Uruguayan census revealed 103 people who declared Greece as their country of birth.

The Greek community center and the Greek Orthodox Church of Saint Nikolaos are located on 19 de Abril Avenue in Prado. Another important Greek institution in Montevideo is the Maria Tsakos Foundation which offers free lessons of the Greek language, of Greek dances and cooking and organizes cultural activities. The Great Uruguayan footballer, Obdulio Varela was of part-Greek descent and is to date the only footballer with any Greek blood in them to win the FIFA World Cup.

There was also a very small number of Greek Jews.

Notable people

• Fernando Kanapkis, footballer
• Obdulio Varela, footballer
• Carlos Linaris, footballer
• Graciela Paraskevaidis, musicologist
• Circe Maia, poet

See also

• Greek people
• Greek diaspora
• Greek-Uruguayan relations

External links

• Bilateral relations between Greece and Uruguay Archived 2006-07-17 at the Wayback Machine
• A Greek association
• Greek embassy in Uruguay
• Hellenic Community in Uruguay