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85-1147: The main rivers of the La Plata basin are the Paraná River , the Paraguay River (the Paraná's main tributary), and the Uruguay River . The La Plata basin is bounded by the Brazilian Highlands to the north, the Andes Mountains to the west, and Patagonia to the south. The watershed extends mostly northward from the source of the Río de la Plata for roughly 2,400 kilometres (1,500 mi), as far as Brasília and Cuiabá in Brazil and Sucre in Bolivia, spanning latitudes between 14 and 37 degrees south and longitudes between 43 and 67 degrees west. The Paraná River, La Plata's largest tributary,

170-424: A Counterfeit Paradise . However, recent archeological findings have suggested that the region was densely populated. From the 1970s, numerous geoglyphs have been discovered on deforested land dating between 0–1250 AD. Additional finds have led to conclusions that there were highly developed and populous cultures in the forests, organized as Pre-Columbian civilizations. The BBC's Unnatural Histories claimed that

255-544: A Neogene capybara ( Hydrochoerus ), Meizonyx , opossum Didelphis , and Mixotoxodon followed the route north. The terror bird Titanis , the only large carnivore in South American, dispersed into North America. The Americas are thought to have been first inhabited by people from eastern Asia who crossed the Bering Land Bridge to present-day Alaska; the land separated and the continents are divided by

340-421: A South American preliterate civilization, established a trade network and developed agriculture by 900 BCE, according to some estimates and archeological finds. Artifacts were found at a site called Chavín de Huantar in modern Peru at an elevation of 3,177 meters. Chavín civilization spanned 900 to 200 BCE. The Moche thrived on the north coast of Peru between the first and ninth century CE. The heritage of

425-560: A food source at this time. By 2000 BCE, many agrarian village communities had developed throughout the Andes and the surrounding regions. Fishing became a widespread practice along the coast, with fish being the primary source of food for those communities. Irrigation systems were also developed at this time, which aided in the rise of agrarian societies. The food crops were quinoa , corn , lima beans , common beans , peanuts , manioc , sweet potatoes , potatoes , oca and squashes . Cotton

510-558: A great number of gold and silver sculptures, which were melted down before transport to Europe. In 1616, the Dutch, attracted by the legend of El Dorado , founded a fort in Guayana and established three colonies: In 1624 France attempted to settle in the area of modern-day French Guiana , but was forced to abandon it in the face of hostility from the Portuguese , who viewed it as a violation of

595-427: A joint project between Paraguay and Argentina. The massive reservoir formed by the project has been the source of a number of problems for people living along the river, most notably the poorer merchants and residents in the low-lying areas of Encarnación, a major city on the southern border of Paraguay. River levels rose dramatically upon completion of the dam, flooding out large sections of the city's lower areas. From

680-612: A massive, biologically rich island-continent. During approximately 30 million years, the biodiversity of South America was isolated from the rest of the world, leading to the evolution of species within the continent. The event that caused the mass-extinction of dinosaurs 66 Mya gave rise to neotropical rainforest biomes like the Amazonia , replacing species composition and structure of local forests. During ~6 million years of recovery to former levels of plant diversity , they evolved from widely spaced gymnosperm -dominated forests to

765-468: A relatively short time. About 60% of present-day South American mammals have evolved from North American species. Some South American species were able to adapt and spread into North America. Apart from Pliometanastes , during the Irvingtonian stage of the mammal land stages, around 1.9 mya , species as Pampatherium , a giant armadillo , ground sloth Megatherium , giant anteater Myrmecophaga ,

850-662: A series of papal bulls ( Dum Diversas , Romanus Pontifex , and Inter caetera ) paved the way for the European colonization and Catholic missions in the New World . These authorized the European Christian nations to "take possession" of non-Christian lands and encouraged subduing and converting the non-Christian people of Africa and the Americas. In 1494, Portugal and Spain , the two great maritime powers of that time, signed

935-555: A series of seven cascades. This natural feature was said to rival the world-famous Iguazu Falls to the south. The falls were flooded, however, by the construction of the Itaipu Dam , which began operating in 1984. For approximately the next 200 km (120 mi), the Paraná flows southward and forms a natural boundary between Paraguay and Brazil until the confluence with the Iguazu River . Further upstream from this confluence, however,

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1020-539: Is South America's second longest river and one of the longest in the world. Politically, the basin includes part or all of the Brazilian states of Mato Grosso , Goiás , Minas Gerais , São Paulo , Mato Grosso do Sul , Paraná , Santa Catarina , and Rio Grande do Sul ; the Bolivian departments of Santa Cruz , Chuquisaca and Tarija ; the entire country of Paraguay; the western and central departments of Uruguay ; and

1105-556: Is a river in south-central South America, running through Brazil, Paraguay, and Argentina for some 4,880 kilometres (3,030 mi). Among South American rivers, it is second in length only to the Amazon River . It merges with the Paraguay River and then farther downstream with the Uruguay River to form the Río de la Plata and empties into the Atlantic Ocean. The first European to go up

1190-617: Is now Brazil. Explorer Christopher Columbus described them at first encounter as a peaceful people, having already dominated other local groups such as the Ciboney . The Arawak had, however, come under increasing military pressure from the Carib , who are believed to have left the Orinoco river area to settle on islands and the coast of the Caribbean Sea. Over the century leading up to Columbus' arrival in

1275-485: Is now known to include most of the South American soil), would belong to Spain, and all land to the east, to Portugal. Because accurate measurements of longitude were not possible at that time, the line was not strictly enforced, resulting in a Portuguese expansion of Brazil across the meridian. In 1498, during his third voyage to the Americas, Christopher Columbus sailed near the Orinoco Delta and then landed in

1360-537: Is one of the larger Norte Chico sites and has been dated to 27th century BCE. It is noteworthy for having absolutely no signs of warfare. It was contemporary with urbanism's rise in Mesopotamia . The Cañari were the indigenous natives of today's Ecuadorian provinces of Cañar and Azuay at the time of European contact. They were an elaborate civilization with advanced architecture and religious belief. Most of their remains were either burned or destroyed from attacks by

1445-669: Is said that the Inca strategically married the Cañari princess Paccha to conquer the people. Many of their descendants still reside in Cañar . The Chibcha-speaking communities were the most numerous, the most extended by territory, and the most socio-economically developed of the Pre-Hispanic Colombian cultures. They were divided into two linguistic subgroups; the Arwako-Chimila languages, with

1530-521: The Amazon Basin . Pottery evidence suggests that manioc , which remains a staple food supply today, was being cultivated as early as 2000 BCE. South American cultures began domesticating llamas and alpacas in the highlands of the Andes circa 3500 BCE. These animals were used for both transportation and meat; their fur was shorn or collected to use to make clothing. Guinea pigs were also domesticated as

1615-692: The Argentine Civil Wars , the Cisplatine and Platine wars, and the Paraguayan War . There are several hydroelectric dams operating in the basin, among them the third largest operating facility in the world, Itaipu , shared between Paraguay and Brazil on the Paraná River; the 21st, Ilha Solteira Dam in Brazil, on the Paraná; the 25th, the Yacyretá Dam shared between Paraguay and Argentina, also on

1700-528: The Argentine provinces of Jujuy , Salta , Formosa , Chaco , Misiones , Tucumán , Santiago del Estero , Santa Fe , Corrientes , Córdoba , Entre Ríos , Buenos Aires , and La Pampa . The precipitation falling within this area is collected by numerous rivers to finally reach the Río de la Plata , almost all of it through the Paraná River , the Paraguay River , and the Uruguay River , La Plata's most important tributaries . The river discharges water into

1785-656: The Bering Strait . Over the course of millennia, three waves of migrants spread to all parts of the Americas. Genetic and linguistic evidence has shown that the last wave of migrant peoples settled across the northern tier, and did not reach South America. Amongst the oldest evidence for human presence in South America is the Monte Verde II site in Chile, suggested to date to around 14,500 years ago. From around 13,000 years ago,

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1870-523: The Fishtail projectile point style became widespread across South America, with its disppearance around 11,000 years ago coincident with the disappearance of South America's megafauna as part of the Quaternary extinction event . The first evidence for the existence of agricultural practices in South America dates back to circa 6500 BCE, when potatoes , chilies and beans began to be cultivated for food in

1955-536: The Gulf of Paria (in what is now Venezuela ). Amazed by the great offshore current of freshwater which deflected his course eastward, Columbus stated in his letter to Isabella I and Ferdinand II that he must have reached heaven on Earth (terrestrial paradise): Great signs are these of the Terrestrial Paradise, for the site conforms to the opinion of the holy and wise theologians whom I have mentioned. And likewise,

2040-675: The Inca and later the Spaniards. Their old city "Guapondelig", was replaced twice, first by the Incan city of Tomipamba, and later by the colonial city of Cuenca . The city was believed by the Spanish to be the site of El Dorado , the city of gold from the mythology of Colombia. The Cañari were most notable in having repulsed the Incan invasion with fierce resistance for many years until they fell to Tupac Yupanqui. It

2125-566: The Napoleonic Wars , Spain became an ally of the French, and Britain invaded the region in 1806–1807 unsuccessfully. Conflict in the region intensified after the independence of the former Spanish and Portuguese colonies in the first quarter of the 19th century. Territorial interests and navigation rights in the Platine region were at issue in many armed conflicts throughout the century, including

2210-720: The Pantanal wetland, after which its main tributaries include the Pilcomayo River and the Bermejo River , before it ends in the Paraná. The Uruguay's main tributaries include the Pelotas River , Canoas River , Ibicuí River , and the Río Negro . Another significant tributary to the Río de la Plata is the Salado del Sur River . The Río de la Plata Basin has been the site of much conflict in

2295-542: The Pleistocene Lake Humboldt that existed on the Bogotá savanna until around 30,000 years BP. Their crops were cultivated using irrigation and drainage on elevated terraces and mounds. To the Spanish conquistadors they were best known for their advanced gold-working , as represented in the tunjos (votive offer pieces), spread in museum collections all around the world. The famous Muisca raft , centerpiece in

2380-726: The Quilombo of Palmares . Between 1721 and 1735, the Revolt of the Comuneros of Paraguay arose, because of clashes between the Paraguayan settlers and the Jesuits, who ran the large and prosperous Jesuit Reductions and controlled a large number of Christianized Natives. Between 1742 and 1756, was the insurrection of Juan Santos Atahualpa in the central jungle of Peru . In 1780, the Viceroyalty of Peru

2465-692: The Tairona , Kankuamo , Kogi , Arhuaco , Chimila and Chitarero people and the Kuna-Colombian languages with Kuna , Nutabe , Motilon , U'wa , Lache , Guane , Sutagao and Muisca . Of these indigenous groups, the Muisca were the most advanced and formed one of the four grand civilisations in the Americas. With the Inca in Peru, they constituted the two developed and specialised societies of South America. The Muisca, meaning "people" or "person" in their version of

2550-461: The Treaty of Tordesillas in the expectation of new lands being discovered in the west. Through the treaty, they agreed that all the land outside Europe should be an exclusive duopoly between the two countries. The treaty established an imaginary line along a north–south meridian 370 leagues west of Cape Verde Islands , roughly 46° 37' W. In terms of the treaty, all land to the west of the line (which

2635-460: The Treaty of Tordesillas . However French settlers returned in 1630 and in 1643 managed to establish a settlement at Cayenne along with some small-scale plantations. Since the sixteenth century, there were some movements of discontent to the Spanish and Portuguese colonial system. Among these movements, the most famous being that of the Maroons , slaves who escaped their masters and in the shelter of

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2720-517: The sábalo ) are commercially important, and they are exploited for heavy internal consumption or for export. The Parana River delta ranks as one of the world's greatest bird-watching destinations. Much of the length of the Paraná is navigable , and the river serves as an important waterway linking inland cities in Argentina and Paraguay with the ocean, providing deepwater ports in some of these cities. The construction of enormous hydroelectric dams along

2805-598: The Amazon rainforest are therefore probably the result of centuries of human management, rather than naturally occurring as has previously been supposed. In the region of the Xinguanos tribe, remains of some of these large, mid-forest Amazon settlements were found in 2003 by Michael Heckenberger and colleagues of the University of Florida . Among those remains were evidence of constructed roads, bridges and large plazas. The Chavín ,

2890-585: The Amazon rainforest, rather than being a pristine wilderness , has been shaped by man for at least 11,000 years through practices such as forest gardening . The discovery of the Upano Valley sites in present-day eastern Ecuador predate all known complex Amazonian societies. The first European to travel the length of the Amazon River was Francisco de Orellana in 1542. The BBC documentary Unnatural Histories presents evidence that Francisco de Orellana, rather than exaggerating his claims as previously thought,

2975-527: The Atlantic Ocean at an average rate of 22,000 cubic metres per second (780,000 cu ft/s), the majority of which comes from the Paraná. The basin serves as the recharge zone for the Guarani Aquifer , one of the world's largest aquifer systems. The rivers of the La Plata Basin carry an estimated 57,000,000 cubic metres (2.0 × 10 cu ft) of silt into the Río de la Plata each year, where

3060-562: The Caribbean archipelago in 1492, the Carib are believed to have displaced many of the Arawak who previously settled the island chains. The Carib also encroached on Arawak territory in what is modern Guyana. The Carib were skilled boatbuilders and sailors who owed their dominance in the Caribbean basin to their military skills. The Carib war rituals included cannibalism ; they had a practice of taking home

3145-448: The Caribbean city of Santa Marta were informed of the rich gold culture and led by Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada and his brother Hernán Pérez , organised the most strenuous of the Spanish conquests into the heart of the Andes in April 1536. After an expedition of a year, where 80% of the soldiers died due to the harsh climate, carnivores such as caimans and jaguars and the frequent attacks of

3230-891: The Chibcha language; Muysccubun , inhabited the Altiplano Cundiboyacense , the high plateau in the Eastern Ranges of the Colombian Andes and surrounding valleys, such as the Tenza Valley . Commonly set at 800 AD, their history succeeded the Herrera Period . The people were organised in a loose confederation of rulers , later called the Muisca Confederation . At the time of the Spanish conquest , their reign spread across

3315-419: The Iguazu river in Brazil are the Bento Munhoz , Ney Braga , José Richa , Salto Santiago , and Salto Osório hydroelectric power plants. On the Pelotas river in Brazil, it is the Machadinho Hydroelectric Power Plant . The Salto Grande Dam is on the Uruguay River and it is shared between Uruguay and Argentina. Also on the Uruguay River but in Brazilian territory is the Itá Hydroelectric Power Plant . On

3400-604: The Moche comes down to us through their elaborate burials, excavated by former UCLA professor Christopher B. Donnan in association with the National Geographic Society . Skilled artisans, the Moche were a technologically advanced people who traded with faraway peoples, like the Maya . Knowledge about the Moche has been derived mostly from their ceramic pottery, which is carved with representations of their daily lives. They practiced human sacrifice, had blood-drinking rituals, and their religion incorporated non-procreative sexual practices (such as fellatio). Holding their capital at

3485-579: The Negro River, in Uruguay, there are the Rincon del Bonete or Gabriel Terra Reservoir, and the Baygorria and Constitucion dams. The dialect of Spanish spoken in the lower Río de la Plata basin is Rioplatense Spanish , named for the river. The Platine region is the birthplace of the tango dance and music. Paran%C3%A1 River (Period: 1971–2000)667 km /a (21,100 m /s) The Paraná River ( Portuguese : Rio Paraná [ˈʁi.u paɾaˈna] ; Spanish: Río Paraná [ˈri.o paɾaˈna] ; Guarani : Ysyry Parana )

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3570-425: The Paraná River was the Venetian explorer Sebastian Cabot , in 1526, while working for Spain. A drought hit the river in 2021, causing a 77-year low. In eastern South America there is "an immense number of river names containing the element para- or parana- ", from Guarani language words meaning "river" or "sea"; attempts to derive a more precise meaning for the name of this, the largest of them, e.g. "kin of

3655-407: The Paraná; and the 53rd, the Itumbiara Dam in Brazil on the Paranaíba River . Also on the Paranaíba in Brazil are the Emborcação and São Simão dams. On the Paraná in Brazil also are the Engineer Souza Dias and the Engineer Sérgio Motta dams. On the Grande River in Brazil are the Água Vermelha , Furnas , Peixotos , Marimbondo , Luiz Barreto , Jaguara , and Volta Grande dams. On

3740-441: The Platine basin was largely neglected by the Spanish Empire until the XVIII century when Portugal, after the founding of Colonia del Sacramento and the colonization of Rio Grande do Sul , and Britain threatened to expand into the estuary. The Spanish colonies in the region were separated from the Viceroyalty of Perú and formed into a new Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata in 1776 with the capital city in Buenos Aires . During

3825-419: The Rio Paraná forms a massive drainage basin that encompasses much of the southcentral part of South America, essentially including all of Paraguay, much of southern Brazil, northern Argentina, and the southeastern part of Bolivia . If the Uruguay River is counted as a tributary to the Paraná, this watershed extends to cover most of Uruguay as well. The volume of water flowing into the Atlantic Ocean through

3910-399: The Río de la Plata roughly equals the volume at the Mississippi River delta . This watershed contains a number of large cities, including São Paulo , Buenos Aires , Rosario , Asunción , Brasília , and La Plata . The Paraná and its tributaries provide a source of income and of daily sustenance for fishermen who live along its banks. Some of the species of fish (such as the surubí and

3995-455: The Sun's solar cycle . The course of the Paraná is crossed by the following bridges, beginning upstream: History of South America The history of South America is the study of the past, particularly the written record, oral histories, and traditions, passed down from generation to generation on the continent of South America . The continent continues to be home to indigenous peoples, some of whom built high civilizations prior to

4080-433: The [other] signs conform very well, for I have never read or heard of such a large quantity of fresh water being inside and in such close proximity to salt water; the very mild temperateness also corroborates this; and if the water of which I speak does not proceed from Paradise then it is an even greater marvel, because I do not believe such a large and deep river has ever been known to exist in this world. Beginning in 1499,

4165-704: The arrival of Europeans in the late 1400s and early 1500s. South America has a history that has a wide range of human cultures and forms of civilization. The Norte Chico civilization in Peru dating back to about 3500 BCE is the oldest civilization in the Americas and one of the first six independent civilizations in the world; it was contemporaneous with the Egyptian pyramids. It predated the Mesoamerican Olmec by nearly two millennia. Indigenous peoples' thousands of years of independent life were disrupted by European colonization from Spain and Portugal and by demographic collapse. The resulting civilizations, however, were very different from those of their colonizers, both in

4250-414: The city of Diamante, Entre Ríos , it splits into several arms and it forms the Paraná Delta . The main tributaries from the mouth: tributary tributary (km) (km ) (m /s) Tiestos Grandes de las Conchas Garupá Guazú Piray Guazú Piray Mini Guazú Urugua-i Francisco Falço Braço Sul Francisco Verdadeiro Guaçu (Arantes) Period: 1971–2000 Together with its tributaries,

4335-439: The collection of the Museo del Oro in the Colombian capital Bogotá , shows the skilled goldworking of the inhabitants of the Altiplano. The Muisca were the only pre-Columbian civilization known in South America to have used coins ( tejuelos ). The gold and tumbaga (a gold-silver-copper alloy elaborated by the Muisca) created the legend of El Dorado ; the "land, city or man of gold". The Spanish conquistadors who landed in

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4420-406: The colonial power and despite the capitulation were signed, the Viceroy Manuel Antonio Flórez did not comply, and instead ran to the main leaders José Antonio Galán . In 1796, the Dutch colony of Essequibo was captured by the British during the French Revolutionary Wars . During the eighteenth century, the figure of the priest, mathematician and botanist José Celestino Mutis (1732–1808),

4505-425: The confluence with the Paraguay River, the Paraná again turns to the south for another approximately 820 km (510 mi) through Argentina, making a slow turn back to the east near the city of Rosario for the final stretch of less than 500 km (310 mi) before merging with the Uruguay River to form the Río de la Plata . This flows into the Atlantic Ocean . During the part of its course downstream from

4590-606: The degree they did their religion. In fact, the missionary work of the Roman Catholic Church in Quechua , Nahuatl , and Guarani actually contributed to the expansion of these American languages, equipping them with writing systems. Eventually, the natives and the Spaniards interbred, forming a Mestizo class. Mestizos and the Native Americans were often forced to pay unfair taxes to the Spanish government (although all subjects paid taxes) and were punished harshly for disobeying their laws. Many native artworks were considered pagan idols and destroyed by Spanish explorers. This included

4675-803: The depopulation of the Native American population. Systems of forced labor (such as encomiendas and mining industries mita ) under Spanish control also contributed to depopulation. Lower bound estimates speak of a decline in the population of around 20–50 percent, whereas the highest estimates reach 90 percent. Following this, enslaved Africans, who had developed immunity to these diseases, were quickly brought in to replace them. The Spaniards were committed to converting their American subjects to Christianity and were quick to purge any native cultural practices that hindered this end. However, most initial attempts at this were only partially successful; American groups simply blended Catholicism with their traditional beliefs. The Spaniards did not impose their language to

4760-492: The development of sensitive habitats. In the Paleozoic and Early Mesozoic eras, South America and Africa were connected in a landmass called Gondwana , as part of the supercontinent Pangaea . In the Albian , around 110 mya , South America and Africa began to diverge along the southern Mid-Atlantic Ridge , giving rise to a landmass of Antarctica and South America. During the late Eocene , around 35 mya , Antarctica and South America separated and South America became

4845-422: The early nineteenth century through hard-fought wars , while Portuguese Brazil first became the seat of the Portuguese empire and then an empire independent of Portugal. With the revolution for independence from the Spanish crown achieved during the 19th century, South America underwent yet more social and political changes. These have included nation building projects, absorbing waves of immigration from Europe in

4930-412: The explorers, who carried them as an endemic disease. There were two main north–south axes of pre-Columbian population; producing maize in the west and manioc in the east. Large parts of the llanos plains were cultivated through a combination of slash and burn and permanent settled agriculture. Before the arrival of Europeans 20–30 million people lived in South America. Between 1452 and 1493,

5015-418: The forest communities organized free communities. Attempts to subject them by the royal army were unsuccessful because the Maroons had learned to master the South American jungles. In a royal decree of 1713, the king gave legality to the first free population of the continent: Palenque de San Basilio in Colombia today, led by Benkos Bioho . Brazil saw the formation of a genuine African kingdom on their soil, with

5100-515: The forests with thick canopies which block sunlight, prevalent flowering plants and high vertical layering as known today. Geological evidence suggests that approximately 3 million years ago, South America became connected to North America when the Bolivar Trough marine barrier disappeared and the Panamanian land bridge formed. The joining of these two land masses led to the Great American Interchange , in which biota from both continents expanded their ranges. The first species known to have made

5185-508: The great puma-shaped city of Cuzco , the Inca civilization dominated the Andes region from 1438 to 1533. Known as Tawantin suyu , or "the land of the four regions," in Quechua , the Inca civilization was highly distinct and developed. Inca rule extended to nearly a hundred linguistic or ethnic communities, some 9 to 14 million people connected by a 25,000-kilometre road system . Cities were built with precise, unmatched stonework, constructed over many levels of mountain terrain. Terrace farming

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5270-469: The indigenous peoples found along the route, Tisquesusa , the zipa of Bacatá, on the Bogotá savanna , was beaten by the Spanish on April 20, 1537, and died "bathing in his own blood", as prophesied by the mohan Popón. For a long time, scholars believed that Amazon forests were occupied by small numbers of hunter-gatherer tribes. Archeologist Betty J. Meggers was a prominent proponent of this idea, as described in her book Amazonia: Man and Culture in

5355-473: The late 19th and 20th centuries, dealing with increased international trade, colonization of hinterlands, and wars about territory ownership and power balance . During this period there has also been the reorganization of Indigenous rights and duties, subjugation of Indigenous peoples living in the states' frontiers, that lasted until the early 1900s; liberal-conservative conflicts among the ruling classes, and major demographic and environmental changes accompanying

5440-425: The limbs of victims as trophies. It is not known how many indigenous peoples lived in Venezuela and Colombia before the Spanish Conquest ; it may have been approximately one million, including groups such as the Auaké , Caquetio , Mariche , and Timoto-cuicas . The number of people fell dramatically after the Conquest, mainly due to high mortality rates in epidemics of infectious Eurasian diseases introduced by

5525-473: The mestizos and the indigenous cultures of the continent. Through the trans-Atlantic slave trade , South America (especially Brazil) became the home of millions of people of the African diaspora . The mixing of ethnic groups led to new social structures. The tensions between Europeans, indigenous peoples, and African slaves and their descendants shaped South America as a whole, starting in the sixteenth century. Most of Spanish America achieved its independence in

5610-411: The modern history of South America , much of it because the basin contained the (contested) frontiers between the Portuguese and Spanish Empires in South America and their successor states. A series of wars has been fought over territorial control in the region, particularly in the nineteenth century. Explorer Sebastian Cabot made a detailed study of the Río de la Plata and its tributaries and gave

5695-437: The modern departments Cundinamarca and Boyacá with small parts of southern Santander with a surface area of approximately 25,000 square kilometres (9,700 sq mi) and a total population of between 300,000 and two million individuals. The Muisca were known as "The Salt People", thanks to their extraction of and trade in halite from brines in various salt mines of which those in Zipaquirá and Nemocón are still

5780-416: The most important. This extraction process was the work of the Muisca women exclusively and formed the backbone of their highly regarded trading with other Chibcha-, Arawak- and Cariban-speaking neighboring indigenous groups. Trading was performed using salt, small cotton cloths and larger mantles and ceramics as barter trade . Their economy was agricultural in nature, profiting from the fertile soils of

5865-402: The muddy waters are stirred up by winds and tides; the shipping route from the Atlantic to Buenos Aires is kept open by continual dredging . The Paraná River's main tributaries include the Paranaíba River , Grande River , Tietê River , Paranapanema River , Iguazu River , Paraguay River, and the Salado River , after which it ends in the large Paraná Delta . The Paraguay River flows through

5950-470: The north-western coast of present-day Peru , the Caral-Supe civilization , also known as the Norte Chico civilization emerged as one of six civilizations to develop independently in the world. It was roughly contemporaneous with the Egyptian pyramids. It preceded the civilization of Mesoamerica by two millennia. It is believed to have been the only civilization dependent on fishing rather than agriculture to support its population. The Caral Supe complex

6035-409: The northward migration was Pliometanastes , a fossil ground sloth roughly the size of a modern black bear . Migrations to the Southern Hemisphere were undertaken by several North American mammalian carnivores. Fewer species migrated in the opposite direction from south to north. The result of the expansion of a North American fauna was a mass extinction in which hundreds of species disappeared in

6120-404: The people and natural resources of South America were repeatedly exploited by foreign conquistadors , first from Spain and later from Portugal. These competing colonial nations claimed the land and resources as their own and divided it into colonies. European diseases ( smallpox , influenza , measles and typhus ) to which the native populations had no resistance were the overwhelming cause of

6205-449: The population had fallen to 1 million, and by the early 1980s, it was less than 200,000. Researchers have found that the fertile terra preta (black earth) is distributed over large areas in the Amazon forest. It is now widely accepted that these soils are a product of indigenous soil management . The development of this soil enabled agriculture and silviculture to be conducted in the previously hostile environment. Large portions of

6290-678: The river is dammed by the Itaipu Dam, the third largest hydroelectric power plant in the world (following the Three Gorges Dam and the Baihetan Dam , both in the People's Republic of China ), creating a massive, shallow reservoir behind it. After merging with the Iguazu, the Paraná becomes the natural border between Paraguay and Argentina. Overlooking the Paraná River from Encarnación, Paraguay , across

6375-511: The river its modern name. He explored the Paraná and Uruguay rivers between 1526 and 1529, ascending the Paraná as far as the present-day city of Asunción , and also explored up the Paraguay River. Cabot acquired silver trinkets trading with the Guaraní near today's Asunción, and these objects gave rise to the name Río de la Plata, "river of silver". The first European colony in the Platine region

6460-488: The river's length has blocked its use as a shipping corridor to cities further upstream, but the economic impact of those dams offsets this. The Yacyretá Dam and the Itaipu Dam on the Paraguay border have made the small, largely undeveloped nation of Paraguay the world's largest exporter of hydroelectric power . Due to its use for oceangoing ships, measurements of the water tables extend back to 1904. The data correlates with

6545-409: The river, is downtown Posadas, Argentina. The river continues its general southward course for about 468 km (291 mi) before making a gradual turn to the west for another 820 km (510 mi), and then encounters the Paraguay River , the largest tributary along the course of the river. Before this confluence, the river passes through a second major hydroelectric project, the Yacyretá Dam ,

6630-515: The sea", have been discounted. The course is formed at the confluence of the Paranaiba and Rio Grande rivers in southern Brazil. From the confluence the river flows in a generally southwestern direction for about 619 km (385 mi) before encountering the city of Saltos del Guaira , Paraguay. This was once the location of the Guaíra Falls (Sete Quedas waterfalls, where the Paraná fell over

6715-574: The three most important Native peoples who developed societies of sedentary agriculture in South America. In the last two thousand years, there may have been contact with the Polynesians who sailed to and from the continent across the South Pacific Ocean. The sweet potato, which originated in South America, spread through some areas of the Pacific. There is no genetic legacy of human contact. On

6800-450: Was a useful form of agriculture. There is evidence of excellent metalwork and successful skull surgery in Inca civilization. The Inca had no written language, but used quipu , a system of knotted strings, to record information. Ongoing Kiphu research suggests that the Inca used a phonetic system as a form of writing in the kiphu. The Arawak lived along the eastern coast of South America, from present-day Guyana to as far south as what

6885-709: Was also grown and was particularly important as the only major fiber crop. Among the earliest permanent settlements, dated to 4700 BC is the Huaca Prieta site on the coast of Peru, and at 3500 BC the Valdivia culture in Ecuador. Other groups also formed permanent settlements. Among those groups were the Muisca or "Muysca," and the Tairona, located in present-day Colombia. The Cañari of Ecuador, Quechua of Peru, and Aymara of Bolivia were

6970-441: Was correct in his observations that an advanced civilization was flourishing along the Amazon in the 1540s. It is believed that the civilization was later devastated by the spread of infectious diseases from Europe, such as smallpox , to which the natives had no immunity. Some 5 million people may have lived in the Amazon region in 1500, divided between dense coastal settlements, such as that at Marajó , and inland dwellers. By 1900

7055-693: Was delegated by the Viceroy Antonio Caballero y Gongora to conduct an inventory of the nature of the Nueva Granada , which became known as the Botanical Expedition, which classified plants, wildlife and founded the first astronomical observatory in the city of Santa Fé de Bogotá . On August 15, 1801, the Prussian scientist Alexander von Humboldt reached Fontibón where Mutis had begun his expedition to New Granada , Quito. The meeting between

7140-624: Was met with the insurrection of curaca Joseph Gabriel Condorcanqui or Tupac Amaru II , which would be continued by Tupac Katari in Upper Peru . In 1763, the African Coffy led a revolt in Guyana which was bloodily suppressed by the Dutch. In 1781, the Revolt of the Comuneros (New Granada) , an insurrection of the villagers in the Viceroyalty of New Granada , was a popular revolution that united indigenous people and mestizos. The villagers tried to be

7225-400: Was the city of Buenos Aires , founded by Pedro de Mendoza on 2 February 1536. This settlement, however, was quickly abandoned; the failure to establish a settlement on the La Plata estuary led to explorations upriver and the founding of Asunción in 1537. Buenos Aires was subsequently refounded by Juan de Garay on 11 June 1580. During the colonial era because of the lack of precious metals,

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