History of South America

Take a look at our visitors map which features the South American countries of Chile and Argentina, including Uruguay and the Falkland Islands (Malvinas). Historical points on the map are detailed to give you an overview of South American history.

Uruguay

Juan Diaz de Solís an explorer, along with most of his party were killed when they encountered Uruguay's aboriginal inhabitants the Charrúa Indians in 1516. Eventually by the 17th century, the Charrúas had prospered and abandoning hostilities, began trading with the Spanish.

Uruguay 's fragile independence was repeatedly threatened during the 19th century - militarily by Argentina and Brazil, and economically by Britain. In the early 20th century the visionary President José Batlle y Ordóñez achieved far-reaching reforms and made Uruguay the only 'welfare state' in Latin America. During his two terms as president (1903-07 and 1911-15) he implemented a range of free social services, abolished capital punishment and sought to curb the country's legacy of strong-arm rule.

Argentina

Two indigenous groups existed in Argentina before the European arrival. In the northwest near Bolivia and the Andes was a people known as the Diaguita, whilst further south and to the east were the Guarani. Together the Diaguita and the Guarani constitute the origins of permanent agricultural civilization in Argentina, both developing the cultivation of maize. An unevenly distributed Indian population, which could not be milked for its labor, led to the creation of huge cattle ranches known as haciendas - the genesis of the gaucho (cowboy) and the source of great wealth for some lucky few.

Buenos Aires

Buenos Aires was successfully established in 1580 and as it was forbidden to trade with foreign countries by the then ruling Spain the city became a smuggler's haunt. The British attacked in 1806 and 1807 of which Argentina managed to defend itself against, despite not having aid from Spain and by 1816 it was apparent that there was a large division between Argentina and its mother country and a party of separatists decided to declare Argentina 's independence.

The capital of Argentina, Buenos Aires, sprawls across an area of 77 square miles not including it's large suburbs. It stands on the muddy Rio de la Plata which is kept open for sea going vessels by continuous dredging. More than one-third of the country's 32 million people live in Buenos Aires, which along with other urban areas accounts for almost 90% of the total population. The universal language of Argentina is Spanish but many immigrant mother tongues are still used as a matter of pride and tradition.

Chile

Originally Chile was peopled by a variety of ancient cultures, many of them politically subject to the Incas who they predated by many centuries. All territory west of Brazil was granted to Spain by the 1494 Spanish-Portuguese treaty (Treaty of Tordesillas). The Spanish assigned the task of conquering Chile to Pedro de Valdivia, whose expedition reached Chile 's fertile Mapocho Valley in 1541 with Santiago being founded in the same year. Valdivia rewarded his followers with enormous land grants. Unfortunatley the native population was devastated by the unwitting introduction of infectious diseases.

During the 1820's Simón Bolívar and José de San Martín led armies of freedom fighters in order to claim independence from Spain for all South American countries. Chile quickly achieved a degree of political stability and relative democracy enabling rapid agricultural development and the advancement of mining, industry and commerce. During the 2 th Century Chile has had its fair share of scandal including the dictatorship of General Pinochet.