Uruguay

Uruguay is South America's quiet overachiever. Sandwiched between the giants of Brazil and Argentina, this small nation of 3.5 million people has built one of the most progressive, stable, and prosperous societies in Latin America. It was the first country in the world to fully legalize cannabis, one of the first in the Americas to legalize same-sex marriage, and generates nearly 100% of its electricity from renewable sources. Uruguayans enjoy free education, universal healthcare, and a social safety net that would make many European countries envious.

But Uruguay is not just policy achievements — it has soul. The country is obsessed with mate, the bitter herbal tea sipped from a gourd that Uruguayans carry everywhere, literally walking down the street with thermos under one arm and mate in hand. Montevideo, the capital, holds half the country's population and has a crumbling, beautiful charm — art deco buildings, a 22-kilometer coastal promenade, and legendary Sunday markets. Uruguay hosted and won the first FIFA World Cup in 1930, and then shocked the world again by winning the 1950 final in Brazil's Maracanã — the Maracanazo, considered the greatest upset in football history. Punta del Este is South America's most glamorous beach resort, and the country's gaucho culture in the interior keeps the traditions of horseback herding alive.