Los Animales en la Estancia (5451915873)

An estancia is a large, private plot of land used for farming or raising cattle or sheep. Estancias in the southern South American grasslands, the '' pampas'', have historically been estates used to raise livestock, such as cattle or sheep. In Puerto Rico, an estancia was a farm growing ; that is, crops for local sale and consumption, the equivalent of a truck farm in the United States. In Argentina, they are large rural complexes with similarities to what in the United States is called a ranch.

History

In the early Caribbean territories and Mexico, holders of ''

encomienda The ''encomienda'' () was a Spanish labour system that rewarded conquerors with the labour of conquered non-Christian peoples. The labourers, in theory, were provided with benefits by the conquerors for whom they laboured, including military ...

s'' acquired land in the area where they had access to Indian labor. They needed on-site Hispanic supervisors or labor bosses called . In Mexico, multiple estancias owned by the same individual could be termed a

hacienda An ''hacienda'' ( or ; or ) is an estate (or ''finca''), similar to a Roman ''latifundium'', in Spain and the former Spanish Empire. With origins in Andalusia, ''haciendas'' were variously plantations (perhaps including animals or orchards), ...

. The term ''estancia'' is used in various ways in Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay, southern Chile and

southern Brazil The South Region of Brazil (; ) is one of the five regions of Brazil. It includes the states of Paraná, Rio Grande do Sul, and Santa Catarina, and covers , being the smallest region of the country, occupying only about 6.76% of the territory ...

. The equivalent in other Spanish American countries would be ''

''. During the first centuries of Spanish colonial rule, the Spanish introduced cattle into the colonies for livestock. In the peripheral areas of northern Mexico and the southern part of South America, these animals roamed free; settlers conducted periodic raids to catch and slaughter them. In the 19th century stationary ranching ventures started to form in the '' pampas'', with permanent buildings and marked livestock that clearly defined ownership. They were called ''estancias'', the term indicating the stationary, permanent character. The estancia's ranch worker on horseback in Argentina, the '' gaucho'', has similar status in national folklore and identity to the

cowboy A cowboy is an animal herder who tends cattle on ranches in North America, traditionally on horseback, and often performs a multitude of other ranch-related tasks. The historic American cowboy of the late 19th century arose from the '' vaquer ...

of North America. Since the late 20th century, agriculture has intensified as an industry; landowners have often shifted from livestock to crop farming in the pampas of Argentina and Uruguay, due to the region's high soil fertility. A small number of estancias in Argentina and Uruguay, as well as in Paraguay or Chile, particularly those with historic architecture, have been converted into guest ranches called '' paradores.'' Several cities and villages, mainly but not exclusively in Latin America, developed from such estancias and are named accordingly, for example: *

Estância An estancia is a large, private plot of land used for farming or raising cattle or sheep. Estancias in the southern South American grasslands, the '' pampas'', have historically been estates used to raise livestock, such as cattle or sheep. In P ...

in Sergipe state, Brazil * Estancia

El Brete EL, El or el may refer to: Religion * El (deity), a Semitic word for "God" People * EL (rapper) (born 1983), stage name of Elorm Adablah, a Ghanaian rapper and sound engineer * El DeBarge, music artist * El Franco Lee (1949–2016), American po ...

Salta Province Salta () is a province of Argentina, located in the northwest of the country. Neighboring provinces are from the east clockwise Formosa, Chaco, Santiago del Estero, Tucumán and Catamarca. It also surrounds Jujuy. To the north it borders Boliv ...

, Argentina * Estancia, Iloilo in the province of Iloilo, Philippines.

California mission estancias

Many California missions in North America had separate farms and ranchos associated with them. These were known as California mission estancias, which were different from the

California ranchos The Spanish and Mexican governments made many concessions and land grants in Alta California (now known as California) and Baja California from 1775 to 1846. The Spanish Concessions of land were made to retired soldiers as an inducement for ...

, based on land grants to individuals.

In Puerto Rico

An estancia, during Spanish colonial times in Puerto Rico (1508–1898), was a plot of land used for cultivating (minor crops). That is, the crops in such farms were produced in relatively small quantities and thus were meant, not for wholesale or exporting, but for local, island-wide sale and consumption. Some such were rice,

corn Maize ( ; ''Zea mays'' subsp. ''mays'', from es, maíz after tnq, mahiz), also known as corn (North American and Australian English), is a cereal grain first domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 10,000 years ago. Th ...

bean A bean is the seed of several plants in the family Fabaceae, which are used as vegetables for human or animal food. They can be cooked in many different ways, including boiling, frying, and baking, and are used in many traditional dishes th ...

s, batatas, ñames, yautías, and

pumpkin A pumpkin is a vernacular term for mature winter squash of species and varieties in the genus ''Cucurbita'' that has culinary and cultural significance but no agreed upon botanical or scientific meaning. The term ''pumpkin'' is sometimes use ...

s;Guillermo A. Baralt. ''Buena Vista: Life and work in a Puerto Rican Hacienda, 1833-1904.'' Translated from the Spanish by Andrew Hurley. (Originally published in 1988 by Fideicomiso de Conservación de Puerto Rico as ''La Buena Vista: Estancia de Frutos Menores, fabrica de harinas y hacienda cafetalera''.) 1999. Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA: University of North Carolina Press. p. 1. among fruits were plantains,

banana A banana is an elongated, edible fruit – botanically a berry – produced by several kinds of large herbaceous flowering plants in the genus ''Musa''. In some countries, bananas used for cooking may be called "plantains", distinguis ...

s, oranges, avocados, and

grapefruit The grapefruit (''Citrus'' × ''paradisi'') is a subtropical citrus tree known for its relatively large, sour to semi-sweet, somewhat bitter fruit. The interior flesh is segmented and varies in color from pale yellow to dark pink. Grapefruit is ...

s. A farm equipped with industrial machinery used for processing its crops into derivatives such as juices, marmalades,

flour Flour is a powder made by grinding raw grains, roots, beans, nuts, or seeds. Flours are used to make many different foods. Cereal flour, particularly wheat flour, is the main ingredient of bread, which is a staple food for many culture ...

s, etc., for wholesale and export was not called an estancia, but instead was called a ''

''. Most haciendas produced sugar, coffee and tobacco, which were the crops for export. Some estancias were larger than some haciendas, but generally this was the exception and not the norm.Ivette Perez Vega. ''Las Sociedades Mercantiles de Ponce (1816-1830).'' Academia Puertorriqueña de la Historia. San Juan, PR: Ediciones Puerto. 2015. p. 389.

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