Southeastern+South+America


 * Page by: Alisa Bennion

__Primary Education Enrollment Falling in Uruguay__ ||
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 * On Wednesday, September 30th it was reported that public primary schools will lose around 30,000 students in 2010. The main factor for the decline in enrollment is the drop in the birth rate in the country. In 2000, 54,000 children were born in Uruguay. This figure dropped to 47,770 in 2006 and is trending downward every year. About 5,000 students change between public and private schools, depending on the economic prosperity of the country. Emigration is another factor that the primary education administration notes as a reason for lower enrollment.

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__Population demographics __
= = My Region is Southeastern South America. It includes the countries of Uruguay, Paraguay and Argentina. The population of Argentina is 40,913,584, and 92% is Urban. Most people live in cities. 92% of the population is white (mostly Spanish and Italian), 97% are mestizo (mixed white and Amerindian ancestry) and the rest are Amerindian, or other non-white. Uruguay’s population is 3,494,382 people and it is 92% urban. Paraguay holds 6,995,655 people and 60% of the country is urban.[|CIA World Factbook]

 Argentina's Population  Uruguay's Population     Paraguay's Population 

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = __ The supreme court in Argentina has ruled that it is unconstitutional to punish people for using marijuana for personal consumption. __ = The aim of such moves is to enable police to focus their efforts on the big criminals in the drugs trade rather than dealing with petty cases, but it also marks a shift a dramatic regional shift to the decades-old US-backed policy of running repressive military-style wars on the drug trade. The decision follows a case of five young men who were arrested with a few marijuana cigarettes in their pockets. The Argentine court ruled that: "Each adult is free to make lifestyle decisions without the intervention of the state." The initiative has been supported by the government - Congress is expected to introduce amendments to the current drug laws. Argentina's move follows rulings by several other countries across the region, including Venezuela, Ecuador and Colombia. [|Argentina rules on marijuana use]