History Map of Argentina

Here is a very useful map of Argentina, tracing its history.

It shows a short summary of the history of the area of present-day Argentina, illustrated with maps, including historical maps of former countries and empires that included present-day Argentina.

Europeans arrive in present-day Argentina in 1502 with the voyage of Amerigo Vespucci, and later in 1512 Juan Díaz de Solís arrives to the River Plate (Río de la Plata) seeking a passage to the South Sea (Pacific Ocean). Thinking that is not a river but rather an ocean, he calls it Sweet Sea (“Mar Dulce”) because of the taste of its waters. The area is annexed to the Spanish Vice-Royality of Peru in 1534. Spain tries to establish a permanent colony on the site of Buenos Aires in 1536, but it is later abandoned due to the constant conflicts with the so far peaceful local indians and the consequent famine. In 1580, settlers from Asunción of Paraguay headed by Juan de Garay establish a permanent town called City of the Most Holy Trinity and Port of Our Laby of Buenos Ayres (“Ciudad de la Santísima Trinidad y Puerto de Santa María de los Buenos Ayres”), although initial settlement is controlled from Peru. This map shows the location of the Captaincy General of Chile inside Peru, which Buenos Aires limited to. The area of Argentina was divided between the governancy of Tucuman and the governancy of Guayra, later on called Rio de la Plata. After a century, the territory of the later was divided in the governancies of Paraguay and of Rio de la Plata, this one with its seat of government in Buenos Aires.

More maps to follow…