Uruguay's next president is a former history teacher who swapped the classroom for local government -- and will now lead the nation of 3.4 million following his Sunday win at the polls.

Uruguay's leftist opposition candidate, Yamandú Orsi, became the country's new president in a tight runoff election that ousted the conservative governing coalition.

The candidate of the conservative coalition that has governed for the past five years conceded defeat after a tight runoff, as Uruguay joined others around the world in rebuking the incumbent party in a year of landmark elections.