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United Provinces of South America
The United Provinces of the Rio de la Plata, originally called the United Provinces of South America was the union founded in 1810 as a result of the independence of the southernmost part of South America from Spain. It was formed by most of the territories of the former Spanish Viceroyalty of the Rio de la Plata and had Buenos Aires as its capital.
The Argentinian constitution used this name as the first official name of present day Argentina, a view which persisted until the 1826 constitution, when the name Republica Argentina was first time used. The name remains the official moniker for what is better known as Argentina.
The United Provinces of South America neighboured to the South (including most of the Pampa and Patagonia) sparsely populated indigenous territories settled by Amerindian nations such as the Mapuche, Ranquel and Het; to the North it was in contact with the indigenous territories of Gran Chaco populated by the guaycuru nations.
Ever since the United Provinces foundation, Buenos Aires portenos attempted to assert control over the Union, trying to stablish a unitary centralist state, something which was fought by the Federales.
The Liga Federal or Liga de los Pueblos Libres was created in 1815, by the provinces of Cordoba, Corrientes, Republic of Entre Rios, Misiones, Santa Fe and the Provincia Oriental (what would become later Uruguay) it was led by Jose Gervasio Artigas in opposition to the unitarists, and dissolved in 1820.
The Provincia Oriental was temporarily annexed by Portugal to its Brazilian dependences in 1821.
In 1830, the end of the Liga Federal saw the foundation of the Pacto Federal with Entre Rios and Santa Fe.
In 1853, the Pacto Federal merged into the United Provinces with the creation of a Constitutional Assembly and the official recognition of Argentina as the national title.
The ousting of of the viceroy and the May Revolution took the United Provinces to war against the remaining parts of Spanish Empire in various fronts across South America, such as in the regions of the Tucuman and the Alto Peru, and in the east, the Provincia Oriental and the Misiones Orientales (a territory of the former Jesuit Missions).
Then the war was also waged against Portugal (in its Brazilian colony) and the subsequent Empire of Brazil.
Post-empire
The result of the wars was the independence of the four provinces of Upper Peru to become the Republic of Bolivia, the independence of the Eastern Province to become Uruguay and the award of an extensive section of Misiones to Brazil to become the states of Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Catarina and parts of Parana and Mato Grosso do Sul.
Internal Divisions
Buenos Aires
Provincia Oriental (now Uruguay)
Entre Rios
Corrientes
Santa Fe
Mendoza,
San Juan
Catamarca
Tucuman
Santiago del Estero
Salta
Jujuy
Charcas (now part of Bolivia)
Cochabamba (now part of Bolivia)
Mizque (now part of Bolivia)
Chichas (now part of Bolivia)
Misiones Orientales (now part of Brasil)
Misiones
Cordoba
Islas Malvinas (Falkland islands)
Carmen de Patagones in Patagonia.
See also
Origin and history of the name of Argentina
Viceroyalty of Rio de la Plata
Sources
"Simbolos Nacionales de la Republica Argentina" I.S.B.N. 950-691-036-7
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This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article United Provinces of South America
