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31 maps · 1550 to 2020

Historical maps of South America: 1550 to 2020

Every state and empire in South America, year by year, from 1550 to 2020. Pick a year to see which states held the land, which ones were new since the year before, and the atlas chapters that tell their story. Each year opens on the interactive map, where you can move through every year between them and ask the history guide what happened.

OPEN THE INTERACTIVE MAP →How the history guide works
15504 states · the Personal union of Spanish Empire with Habsburg Monarchy, the Spanish Empire and the Portuguese Empire16489 states · the Spanish Empire, the Portuguese Empire and Jesuit Reducciones17008 states · the Spanish Empire, the Portuguese Empire and Jesuit Reducciones17507 states · the Spanish Empire, the Portuguese Empire and Jesuit Reducciones17766 states · the Spanish Empire, the Portuguese Empire and New Netherland17896 states · the Spanish Empire, the Portuguese Empire and New Netherland18004 states · the Spanish Empire, the Portuguese Empire and the British Empire181510 states · the Portuguese Empire, the Spanish Empire and Río de la Plata183013 states · the Empire of Brazil, Gran Colombia and Bolivia185015 states · the Empire of Brazil, Bolivia and Argentina187113 states · the Empire of Brazil, Argentina and Bolivia188014 states · the Empire of Brazil, Argentina and Bolivia190014 states · the Brazilian Republic, Argentina and Bolivia191016 states · the Brazilian Republic, Argentina and Bolivia191416 states · the Brazilian Republic, Argentina and Bolivia191816 states · the Brazilian Republic, Argentina and Bolivia192016 states · the Brazilian Republic, Argentina and Bolivia193016 states · the Brazilian Republic, the Argentine Republic and Bolivia193816 states · Brazil (Vargas era), the Argentine Republic and the Republic of Peru193916 states · Brazil (Vargas era), the Argentine Republic and the Republic of Peru194016 states · Brazil (Vargas era), the Argentine Republic and the Republic of Peru194216 states · Brazil (Vargas era), the Argentine Republic and the Republic of Peru194516 states · Brazil (Vargas era), the Argentine Republic and the Republic of Peru195016 states · the Brazilian Republic, the Argentine Republic and the Republic of Peru196016 states · the Brazilian Republic, the Argentine Republic and the Republic of Peru197020 states · the Federative Republic of Brazil, the Argentine Republic and the Republic of Peru198022 states · the Federative Republic of Brazil, the Argentine Republic and the Republic of Peru199022 states · the Federative Republic of Brazil, the Argentine Republic and the Republic of Peru200023 states · the Federative Republic of Brazil, the Argentine Republic and the Republic of Peru201022 states · the Federative Republic of Brazil, the Argentine Republic and the Republic of Peru202022 states · the Federative Republic of Brazil, the Argentine Republic and the Republic of Peru

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About these borders

The borders come from Cliopatria (v0.2.1, Seshat Global History Databank, CC BY 4.0), the dataset behind our interactive map, with our audited name and border corrections. It records each state's territory year by year from 3400 BC to 2024. Borders before modern surveys are reconstructions: the data draws a state where it held control, and frontier zones, nomadic realms and loose overlordships are approximate. Areas are measured on an equal-area projection. Read how we make our maps.