Uruguay the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, is a country in the southeastern region of South America. It borders Argentina to its west and Brazil to its north and east, with the Río de la Plata to the south and the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast. Uruguay is home to an estimated 3.45 million people, of whom 1.8 million live in the metropolitan area of its capital and largest city, Montevideo. With an area of 176,000 square kilometers, Uruguay is geographically the second-smallest nation in South America, after Suriname. Uruguay was inhabited by the Charrúa people for 4,000 years before the Portuguese established Colónia do Sacramento in 1680. Montevideo was founded as a military stronghold by the Spanish in the early 18th century, signifying the competing claims over the region. Uruguay won its independence between 1811 and 1828, following a four-way struggle between Portugal and Spain, Argentina and Brazil, it remained subject to foreign influence and intervention throughout the 19th century, with the military playing a recurring role in domestic politics.

A series of economic crises put an end to a democratic period that had begun in the early 20th century, culminating in a 1973 coup, which established a civic-military dictatorship. The military government persecuted leftists and political opponents, resulting in several deaths and numerous instances of torture by the military. Uruguay is today a democratic constitutional republic, with a president who serves as both head of state and head of government. Uruguay is ranked first in Latin America in democracy, low perception of corruption, e-government, is first in South America when it comes to press freedom, size of the middle class and prosperity. On a per-capita basis, Uruguay contributes more troops to United Nations peacekeeping missions than any other country, it tops the rank of absence of a unique position within South America. It ranks second in the region on economic freedom, income equality, per-capita income and inflows of FDI. Uruguay is the third-best country on the continent in terms of HDI, GDP growth and infrastructure.

It is regarded as a high-income country by the UN. Uruguay was ranked the third-best in the world in e-Participation in 2014. Uruguay is an important global exporter of combed wool, soybeans, frozen beef and milk. Nearly 95% of Uruguay's electricity comes from renewable energy hydroelectric facilities and wind parks. Uruguay is a founding member of the United Nations, OAS, Mercosur, UNASUR and NAM. Uruguay is regarded as one of the most advanced countries in Latin America, it ranks high on global measures of personal rights and inclusion issues. The Economist named Uruguay "country of the year" in 2013, acknowledging the policy of legalizing the production and consumption of cannabis. Same-sex marriage and abortion are legal; the name of the namesake river comes from the Spanish pronunciation of the regional Guarani word for it. There are several interpretations, including "bird-river"; the name could refer to a river snail called uruguá, plentiful in the water. In Spanish colonial times, for some time thereafter and some neighbouring territories were called the Cisplatina and Banda Oriental for a few years the "Eastern Province".

Since its independence, the country has been known as la República Oriental del Uruguay, which means "the eastern republic of the Uruguay ". However, it is translated either as the "Oriental Republic of Uruguay" or the "Eastern Republic of Uruguay"; the documented inhabitants of Uruguay before European colonization of the area were the Charrúa, a small tribe driven south by the Guarani of Paraguay. It is estimated that there were about 9,000 Charrúa and 6,000 Chaná and Guaraní at the time of contact with Europeans in the 1500s. Fructuoso Rivera – Uruguay's first president – organized the Charruas' genocide; the Portuguese were the first Europeans to enter the region of present-day Uruguay in 1512. The Spanish arrived in present-day Uruguay in 1516; the indigenous peoples' fierce resistance to conquest, combined with the absence of gold and silver, limited their settlement in the region during the 16th and 17th centuries. Uruguay became a zone of contention between the Spanish and Portuguese empires.

In 1603, the Spanish began to introduce cattle. The first permanent Spanish settlement was founded in 1624 at Soriano on the Río Negro. In 1669–71, the Portuguese built a fort at Colonia del Sacramento. Montevideo was founded by the Spanish in the early 18th century as a military stronghold in the country, its natural harbor soon developed into a commercial area competing with Río de la Plata's capital, Buenos Aires. Uruguay's early 19th century history was shaped by ongoing fights for dominance in the Platine region, between British, Spanish and other colonial forces. In 1806 and 1807, the British army attempted to seize Buenos Aires and Montevideo as part of the Napoleonic Wars. Montevideo was occupied by a British force from February to September 1807. In 1811, José Gervasio Artigas, who became Uruguay's national hero, launched a successful revolt against the Spanish authorities, defeating them on 18 May at the Battle of Las Piedras. In 1813, the new gover

Sir John Peter Jonas is a British arts administrator and opera company director. Jonas studied at Worth School, took an English Literature degree at the University of Sussex, he studied History of Music at Royal Northern College of Music Manchester, the Royal College of Music London, with a final semester at Eastman School of Music, University of Rochester US. In 1974, Jonas became the assistant to Sir Georg Solti, the Music Director of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, becoming the orchestra's Artistic Administrator in 1976, and, in 1977, the Director of Artistic Administration of the Chicago Orchestral Association. Returning to England, he took over the management of the English National Opera, holding the position from 1985 to 1993, succeeding Lord Harewood, he became a patron of The Solti Foundation. He was awarded an honorary doctorate of music from the University of Sussex in 1993. In September that year, Munich's Bavarian State Opera invited Jonas to become its Staatsintendant. While there he extended the company's repertoire within baroque opera, promoted its opera for all project and supported contemporary composers by introducing fourteen new-work premieres.

He was awarded the Bayerische Verfassungsmedaille in 2001. Jonas became a faculty member and lecturer at the University of St. Gallen in 2003, a lecturer at the University of Zürich, a visiting lecturer for the Bavarian Theatre Academy Munich in 2004, he was the first chairman of the German Speaking Opera Intendants Conference from 2001 to 2005, a judging panel member for the 2006 International Wagner Competition, Seattle. Jonas, with Plácido Domingo, journalist Christine Lemke-Matwey, Dr Charles Barber, contributed to a documentary on the life and art of Carlos Kleiber on BBC Radio 3. Sir Peter Jonas is a maternal first cousin of Lady Colin Campbell, British writer and television personality. Sir Peter's mother was the daughter of Tewfik Ziadie, brother of Michael Ziadie, Lady Colin's father. National Opera Studio. Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. Jonas and the ENO “over-title” debacle at Archive.today The Guardian 8 June 2005. Retrieved 9 September 2010. ECM label Awards Retrieved 9 September 2010.

Peter Jonas German Wikipedia article Portrait of Peter Jonas by Charlotte Harris at Archive.today Retrieved 9 September 2010. Peter Jonas Sleeve notes for Axel Wolf: Johann Adolph Hasse: Opera for Lute Retrieved 9 September 2010. ENO, our gateway to Opera The Times Literary Supplement 30 December 2009. Retrieved 9 September 2010. Guardian interview 28 July 2006. Retrieved 9 September 2010. German British Forum. Retrieved 9 September 2010. International Wagner Competition. Retrieved 9 September 2010. Biography at Bayerische Staatsoper. Retrieved 6 January 2011

TeachAids is a nonprofit social enterprise that develops global HIV prevention education technology products, based on an approach invented through research at Stanford University. The TeachAids software has been cited as a model health intervention. Since the materials bypass issues of stigma, they allow HIV prevention education to be provided to communities where it has not been allowed. In other communities, the tutorials provide the highest learning effects and comfort rates of any tested educational approach; the TeachAids products are animated, interactive software tutorials, developed for individual cultures and languages, incorporating the voices of celebrities from each region. In India, these include national icons such as Amitabh Bachchan, Shabana Azmi, Akkineni Nagarjuna and Sudeep Ssanjeev. In Botswana, they include musicians Scar and former President of Botswana, Festus Mogae. TeachAids operates globally, with its software in use in more than 80 countries, its materials are made available for free under a Creative Commons License, funded by sponsorships and donations.

Backers include Barclays, Covington & Burling, Microsoft, UNICEF, Yahoo!. TeachAIDS began in 2005 as a research project at Stanford University. From 2005 to 2009, a new interdisciplinary approach to HIV/AIDS education was developed through IRB-approved research by Piya Sorcar. Key advisors included professors Shelley Goldman, Martin Carnoy, Cheryl Koopman, Randall Stafford, Clifford Nass; the project's goal was to find a way to address the taboo subjects associated with sexual issues and HIV/AIDS specifically. One major finding was that 2D cartoon figures were the optimal balance between comfort and clarity in terms of visual representation for sex-related topics. On that basis, animated storyboards were created which emphasized the biological aspects of HIV transmission and used cultural euphemisms to overcome social stigma. In addition, specific pedagogical techniques were utilized to create a coherent conception of HIV transmission for learners, as opposed to the fragmented knowledge created by mass media campaigns.

Early research versions of the software were sponsored by Time Warner, the Government of South Korea, Neeru Khosla, used custom illustrations drawn by Sorcar's father, award-winning animator Manick Sorcar. Pilot versions were subsequently created in English, Kinyarwanda and Spanish. Additional experts contributed to the design and evaluation of the materials, including Stanford professors David Katzenstein, Douglas Owens, Roy Pea. TeachAIDS was spun out of Stanford in 2009 as an independent 501 organization, co-founded by Piya Sorcar, Clifford Nass, Shuman Ghosemajumder, Ashwini Doshi, it began developing its infrastructure and new versions of its software for additional countries and languages around the world. The first additional versions of the software in Indian English and Tswana were launched in 2010; the TeachAIDS interactive software implements animated avatars of cultural icons to improve pedagogical efficacy. Over time, numerous international actors and celebrities have lent their voices and likenesses to the TeachAIDS materials.

These include: The TeachAIDS advisory board includes film director Mahesh Bhatt, HIV/AIDS treatment pioneer Nimmagadda Prasad, Global Fund for Women founder Anne Firth Murray, former President of Botswana Festus Mogae. Actress Amala Akkineni is a trustee of TeachAIDS in India; the TeachAIDS tutorials are available for free online and are used in more than 80 countries around the world, distributed by over 200 partner organizations. Numerous AIDS service organizations, AIDS education and training centers, NGOs, government agencies distribute and utilize the tutorials as part of their own HIV/AIDS prevention efforts; some of the organizations partnered with TeachAIDS include CARE, the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation, the U. S. Peace Corps. In India, the National AIDS Control Organisation approved the TeachAIDS materials in January, 2010, marking the first time HIV/AIDS education could be provided decoupled from sex education; that year, the Government of Karnataka approved the materials for their state of 50 million and committed to distributing them in 5,500 government schools.

In Assam, Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi helped launched TeachAIDS. Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, other Indian states have joined with official support and distribution. In Botswana, the TeachAIDS tutorials were adopted nationally as the standard method for HIV/AIDS education. In 2011, the Ministry of Education began distributing the tutorials to every primary and tertiary educational institution in the country, reaching all learners from 6 to 24 years of age nationwide. June 15 in Botswana was declared "National TeachAIDS Day". In the United States, the Stanford Program on International and Cross-Cultural Education distributes the tutorials on CD along with a custom educator handbook, both of which are made available at no cost; the creation of TeachAIDS has been cited as an important innovation in achieving the United Nations Millennium Development Goal for combating the spread of HIV/AIDS. In 2012, TeachAIDS was named one of 12 global laureates by The Tech Awards, referred to as the "Nobel prize of tech philanthropy".

AIDS education and training centers HIV/AIDS in Africa HIV/AIDS in India Sex education TeachAIDS official website TeachAIDS official channel on YouTube TeachAIDS software versions on the Internet Movie Database