La Plata

Lore & Background

The Río de la Plata was first explored by the Portuguese in 1512–13. The Spanish first explored it in 1516, when the navigator Juan Díaz de Solís traversed it during his search for a passage between the Atlantic and the Pacific Oceans, calling it the Mar Dulce, or 'freshwater sea'. The Portuguese navigator Ferdinand Magellan briefly explored the estuary in 1520 before his expedition continued its circumnavigation. Explorer Sebastian Cabot made a detailed study of the river and its tributaries and gave it 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. Cabot acquired silver trinkets trading with the Guaraní near today's Asunción, and these objects (together with legends of a 'Sierra de la Plata' in the South American interior brought back by earlier explorers) inspired him to rename the river 'Río de la Plata' ('River of Silver'). The first European colony was the city of Buenos Aires, founded by Pedro de Mendoza on 2 February 1536. This settlement, however, was quickly abandoned. Buenos Aires was re-founded by Juan de Garay on 11 June 1580. During the colonial era, the Río de la Plata was made the center of the Governorate of the Río de la Plata. The primary export was silver from the mines of Potosí. Under the Bourbon monarchy, the governorate was elevated to the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata in 1776. In 1806 and 1807 the river was the scene of an important British invasion that aimed to occupy the area and was defeated by the local garrison and population.

Reader's Guide

The Río de la Plata (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈri.o ðe la ˈplata]; lit. 'River of Silver'), also called the River Plate or La Plata River in English, is the estuary formed by the confluence of the Uruguay River and the Paraná River at Punta Gorda. It empties into the Atlantic Ocean and forms a funnel-shaped indentation on the southeastern coastline of South America. Depending on the geographer, the Río de la Plata may be considered a river, an estuary, a gulf, or a marginal sea. If considered a river, it is the widest in the world, with a maximum width of 220 kilometres (140 mi). The river is about 290 kilometres (180 mi) long and widens from about 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) at its source to about 220 kilometres (140 mi) at its mouth. It forms part of the border between Argentina and Uruguay. The name Río de la Plata is also used to refer to the populations along the estuary, especially the main port cities of Buenos Aires and Montevideo, where Rioplatense Spanish is spoken and tango culture developed. The coasts of the river are the most densely populated areas of Uruguay and Argentina, and 2.5 million people yearly travel across the River Plate. The name Río de la Plata ('River of Silver') was adopted because of a myth that the region around the river basin contained vast amounts of silver. This is also why the country is named Argentina (meaning loosely 'silvery land'). The English name River Plate was adopted using the archaic term plate, meaning 'silver'. The Río de la Plata begins at the confluence of the Uruguay and Paraná rivers at Punta Gorda and flows eastward into the South Atlantic Ocean. The International Hydrographic Organization defines the eastern boundary of the Río de la Plata as 'a line joining Punta del Este, Uruguay and Cabo San Antonio, Argentina'. The upper river contains several islands, including Oyarvide Island and the Solís Islands in Argentine waters and Juncal Island, Islote el Matón, Martín García Island and Timoteo Domínguez Island in Uruguayan waters. A submerged shoal, the Barra del Indio, divides the Río de la Plata into an inner freshwater riverine portion and an outer brackish estuarine portion. The Río de la Plata's drainage basin is the 3,170,000 km2 (1,220,000 mi2)-3,182,064 km2 (1,228,602 mi2) hydrographical area that drains to the Río de la Plata. It includes areas of southeastern Bolivia, southern and central Brazil, the entire country of Paraguay, most of Uruguay, and northern Argentina. Making up about one fourth of the continent's surface, it is the second largest drainage basin in South America (after the Amazon basin).

Did You Know?

• The Río de la Plata is the widest river in the world if considered a river, with a maximum width of 220 kilometres (140 mi).
• The name 'Río de la Plata' ('River of Silver') was inspired by silver trinkets acquired by explorer Sebastian Cabot trading with the Guaraní near Asunción.
• The English name 'River Plate' uses the archaic term 'plate', meaning 'silver'.
• The Río de la Plata's drainage basin is the second largest in South America, covering about one fourth of the continent's surface.
• 2.5 million people yearly travel across the River Plate between Buenos Aires and Montevideo.