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The Río de la Plata (, "river of silver"), also called the River Plate or La Plata River in English, is the
estuary An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and maritime environm ...
formed by the
confluence In geography, a confluence (also: ''conflux'') occurs where two or more flowing bodies of water join to form a single channel. A confluence can occur in several configurations: at the point where a tributary joins a larger river (main stem); o ...
of the Uruguay River and the
Paraná River The Paraná River ( es, Río Paraná, links=no , pt, Rio Paraná, gn, Ysyry Parana) is a river in south-central South America, running through Brazil, Paraguay, and Argentina for some ."Parana River". Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Br ...
at Punta Gorda. It empties into the
Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...
and forms a funnel-shaped indentation on the southeastern coastline of
South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the sou ...
. Depending on the geographer, the Río de la Plata may be considered a river, an estuary, a
gulf A gulf is a large inlet from the ocean into the landmass, typically with a narrower opening than a bay, but that is not observable in all geographic areas so named. The term gulf was traditionally used for large highly-indented navigable bodie ...
, or a marginal sea. If considered a river, it is the widest in the world, with a maximum width of . The river is about long and widens from about at its source to about at its mouth. It forms part of the border between
Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest ...
and
Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...
. 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 Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...
and
Montevideo Montevideo () is the capital and largest city of Uruguay. According to the 2011 census, the city proper has a population of 1,319,108 (about one-third of the country's total population) in an area of . Montevideo is situated on the southern co ...
, where
Ríoplatense Spanish Rioplatense Spanish (), also known as Rioplatense Castilian, is a variety of Spanish spoken mainly in and around the Río de la Plata Basin of Argentina and Uruguay. It is also referred to as River Plate Spanish or Argentine Spanish. It is the ...
is spoken and tango culture developed. The coasts of the river are the most densely-populated areas of Uruguay and Argentina.


Geography

The Río de la Plata begins at the
confluence In geography, a confluence (also: ''conflux'') occurs where two or more flowing bodies of water join to form a single channel. A confluence can occur in several configurations: at the point where a tributary joins a larger river (main stem); o ...
of the Uruguay and Paraná rivers at Punta Gorda and flows eastward into the
South Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the "Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...
. No clear physical boundary marks the river's eastern end; the
International Hydrographic Organization The International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) is an intergovernmental organisation representing hydrography. , the IHO comprised 98 Member States. A principal aim of the IHO is to ensure that the world's seas, oceans and navigable waters ...
defines the eastern boundary of the Río de la Plata as "a line joining Punta del Este,
Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...
and Cabo San Antonio,
Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest ...
". Though it is generally spoken of as a river, the Río de la Plata is considered by some geographers to be a large
bay A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a gulf, sea, sound, or bight. A cove is a small, circular bay with a na ...
or marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean. For those who regard it as a river, it is the widest in the world, with a maximum width of about and a total surface area of about .


Islands and shoals

The upper river contains several islands, including Oyarvide Island and the
Solís Islands Solís is a resort (''balneario'') in the Maldonado Department of southeastern Uruguay. Location The resort is located on the coast of Río de la Plata, on Route 10 and close to its junction with Ruta Interbalnearia. To its west flows the stre ...
in Argentine waters and
Juncal Island Juncal Island is an island belonging to Uruguay, located where the Uruguay River empties into the Río de la Plata, a bit above the Uruguayan town of Carmelo. It is separated from Uruguay by the ''Canal de Camacho''. The much smaller Juncalito Is ...
,
Islote el Matón Islote is a barrio in the municipality of Arecibo, Puerto Rico. Its population in 2010 was 5,665. "Birth of a New World", a giant sculpture of Christopher Columbus on a ship, is located in Islote. History Puerto Rico was ceded by Spain in the a ...
, Martín García Island and
Timoteo Domínguez Island Timoteo Domínguez Island ( es, Isla Timoteo Domínguez) is an Uruguayan island off the Río de la Plata coast of Uruguay. The Argentine exclave Martín García island Martín García Island ( es, Isla Martín García) is an island in the Rí ...
in Uruguayan waters. Because of deposition of
sediment Sediment is a naturally occurring material that is broken down by processes of weathering and erosion, and is subsequently transported by the action of wind, water, or ice or by the force of gravity acting on the particles. For example, sand ...
s from the heavy stream load carried down from the river's tributaries, the islands in the Río de la Plata generally grow over time. A submerged
shoal In oceanography, geomorphology, and geoscience, a shoal is a natural submerged ridge, bank, or bar that consists of, or is covered by, sand or other unconsolidated material and rises from the bed of a body of water to near the surface. It ...
, the
Barra del Indio Barra del Indio (also known as Del Indio, Barra Indio) is a submerged shoal in the Rio De La Plata river. It is the longest shoal in the world with a length of 220 km. It divides the estuary of the Río de La Plata river from the ocean water. ...
, divides the Río de la Plata into an inner
freshwater Fresh water or freshwater is any naturally occurring liquid or frozen water containing low concentrations of dissolved salts and other total dissolved solids. Although the term specifically excludes seawater and brackish water, it does incl ...
riverine portion and an outer
brackish Brackish water, sometimes termed brack water, is water occurring in a natural environment that has more salinity than freshwater, but not as much as seawater. It may result from mixing seawater (salt water) and fresh water together, as in estua ...
estuarine portion. The shoal is located approximately between
Montevideo Montevideo () is the capital and largest city of Uruguay. According to the 2011 census, the city proper has a population of 1,319,108 (about one-third of the country's total population) in an area of . Montevideo is situated on the southern co ...
and Punta Piedras (the northwest end of
Samborombón Bay Samborombón Bay () is a bay on the coast of Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. Located at the Río de la Plata's mouth on the Argentine Sea, it begins about southeast of Buenos Aires and is about wide. Toponymy The bay is thought to have been n ...
). The inner
fluvial In geography and geology, fluvial processes are associated with rivers and streams and the deposits and landforms created by them. When the stream or rivers are associated with glaciers, ice sheets, or ice caps, the term glaciofluvial or fluviog ...
zone is about long and up to wide, with a depth which varies from about ; the depth of the outer estuary zone increases from . The river's discharge is strong enough to prevent saltwater from penetrating to the inner portion.


Hydrology

The Río de la Plata behaves as an
estuary An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and maritime environm ...
in which freshwater and seawater mix. The freshwater comes principally from the
Paraná River The Paraná River ( es, Río Paraná, links=no , pt, Rio Paraná, gn, Ysyry Parana) is a river in south-central South America, running through Brazil, Paraguay, and Argentina for some ."Parana River". Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Br ...
(one of the world's longest rivers and La Plata's main tributary) as well as from the Uruguay River and other smaller streams. Currents in the Río de la Plata are dominated by
tide Tides are the rise and fall of sea levels caused by the combined effects of the gravitational forces exerted by the Moon (and to a much lesser extent, the Sun) and are also caused by the Earth and Moon orbiting one another. Tide tables ...
s reaching to its sources and beyond, into the Uruguay and Paraná rivers. Both rivers are tidally influenced for about . The tidal ranges in the Río de la Plata are small, but its great width allows for a
tidal prism A tidal prism is the volume of water in an estuary or inlet between mean high tide and mean low tide,Luketina, D. 1998. Simple tidal prism models revisited. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science; Vol. 46. pp. 77–84. or the volume of water leavin ...
important enough to dominate the flow regime despite the huge discharge received from the tributary rivers. The river is a salt wedge estuary in which saltwater, being more dense than freshwater, penetrates into the estuary in a layer below the freshwater, which floats on the surface. Salinity fronts, or
halocline In oceanography, a halocline (from Greek ''hals'', ''halos'' 'salt' and ''klinein'' 'to slope') is a cline, a subtype of chemocline caused by a strong, vertical salinity gradient within a body of water. Because salinity (in concert with te ...
s, form at the bottom and on the surface, where fresh and brackish waters meet. The salinity fronts are also pycnoclines due to the water density discontinuities. They play an important role in the reproductive processes of fish species.


Drainage basin

The Río de la Plata's
drainage basin A drainage basin is an area of land where all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, ...
(sometimes called the Platine basin or Platine region) is the - hydrographical area that drains to the Río de la Plata. It includes areas of southeastern
Bolivia , image_flag = Bandera de Bolivia (Estado).svg , flag_alt = Horizontal tricolor (red, yellow, and green from top to bottom) with the coat of arms of Bolivia in the center , flag_alt2 = 7 × 7 square p ...
, southern and central
Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
, the entire country of
Paraguay Paraguay (; ), officially the Republic of Paraguay ( es, República del Paraguay, links=no; gn, Tavakuairetã Paraguái, links=si), is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to t ...
, most of
Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...
, and northern
Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest ...
. Making up about one fourth of the continent's surface, it is the second largest
drainage basin A drainage basin is an area of land where all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, ...
in South America (after the
Amazon basin The Amazon basin is the part of South America drained by the Amazon River and its tributaries. The Amazon drainage basin covers an area of about , or about 35.5 percent of the South American continent. It is located in the countries of Boli ...
) and one of the largest in the world.


Tributaries

The main rivers of the La Plata basin are the
Paraná River The Paraná River ( es, Río Paraná, links=no , pt, Rio Paraná, gn, Ysyry Parana) is a river in south-central South America, running through Brazil, Paraguay, and Argentina for some ."Parana River". Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Br ...
, the
Paraguay River The Paraguay River (Río Paraguay in Spanish, Rio Paraguai in Portuguese, Ysyry Paraguái in Guarani) is a major river in south-central South America, running through Brazil, Bolivia, Paraguay and Argentina. It flows about from its headwaters i ...
(the Paraná's main tributary), and the Uruguay River. The Paraná River's main tributaries include the Paranaíba River, Grande River, Tietê River,
Paranapanema River The Paranapanema River (Portuguese language, Portuguese, ''Rio Paranapanema'') is one of the most important rivers of the interior of the Brazilian state of São Paulo (state), São Paulo. The river forms most of the boundary between the states of ...
,
Iguazu River __NOTOC__ The Iguazu River ( pt, Rio Iguaçu, br , es, Río Iguazú} ), also called Rio Iguassu, is a river in Brazil and Argentina. It is an important tributary of the Paraná River. The Iguazu River is long, with a drainage basin of . Cour ...
, Paraguay River, and the Salado River, after which it ends in the large Paraná Delta. The Paraguay River flows through the Pantanal wetland, after which its main tributaries include the
Pilcomayo River Pilcomayo (in Hispanicized spelling) ( Quechua Pillkumayu or Pillku Mayu, ''pillku'' red, ''mayu'' river, "red river", Guarani Ysyry Araguay ) is a river in central South America. At long, it is the longest western tributary of the Paraguay Riv ...
and the Bermejo River, before it ends in the Paraná. The Uruguay's main tributaries include the
Pelotas River The Pelotas River ( Portuguese, ''Rio Pelotas'') () is a river in southern Brazil, and a tributary of the Uruguay River. The river originates in the Serra Geral at Alto do Bispo and flows northeast for before meeting the Canoas River, forming ...
, Canoas River, Ibicuí River, and the Río Negro. Another significant tributary to the Río de la Plata is the Salado del Sur River.


History


European exploration

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 Juan Díaz de Solís ( – 20 January 1516) was a 16th-century navigator and explorer. He is also said to be the first European to land on what is now modern day Uruguay. Biography His origins are disputed. One document records him as a Portuguese ...
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 Ferdinand Magellan ( or ; pt, Fernão de Magalhães, ; es, link=no, Fernando de Magallanes, ; 4 February 1480 – 27 April 1521) was a Portuguese explorer. He is best known for having planned and led the 1519 Spanish expedition to the Eas ...
briefly explored the estuary in 1520 before his expedition continued its circumnavigation, and in 1521
Cristóvão Jacques Cristóvão Jaques (Christopher Jaques), also known as Cristóvão Valjaques (c. 1480 in Algarve, Kingdom of Portugal – after 1530), was a Portuguese noble of Aragonese descent. He was the illegitimate son of Pero Jaques, and was legitimized ...
also explored the Plate River estuary and ascended the Parana River for the first time, entering it for about 23 leagues (around 140 km) to near the present city of
Rosario Rosario () is the largest city in the central Argentine province of Santa Fe. The city is located northwest of Buenos Aires, on the west bank of the Paraná River. Rosario is the third-most populous city in the country, and is also the most p ...
. 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 Asunción (, , , Guarani: Paraguay) is the capital and the largest city of Paraguay. The city stands on the eastern bank of the Paraguay River, almost at the confluence of this river with the Pilcomayo River. The Paraguay River and the Bay of ...
, and also explored up the Paraguay River. 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; the failure to establish a settlement on the estuary led to explorations upriver and the founding of Asunción in 1537. The area was visited by
Francis Drake Sir Francis Drake ( – 28 January 1596) was an English explorer, sea captain, privateer, slave trader, naval officer, and politician. Drake is best known for his circumnavigation of the world in a single expedition, from 1577 to 1580 ...
's fleet in early 1578, in the early stages of his circumnavigation. Buenos Aires was refounded by
Juan de Garay Juan de Garay (1528–1583) was a Spanish conquistador. Garay's birthplace is disputed. Some say it was in the city of Junta de Villalba de Losa in Castile, while others argue he was born in the area of Orduña (Basque Country). There's n ...
on 11 June 1580.


Colonial period

During the colonial era, the Río de la Plata was made the center of the Governorate of the Río de la Plata. The Río de la Plata region, particularly
Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...
, was a significant site of trade throughout the 17th century. The Crown initially intended Buenos Aires to be a military establishment for the protection of the Potosí mines, but it soon became evident that a settlement large enough to provide military defense would attract trade. The primary export was silver from the mines of Potosí, and imports generally included European luxury goods, slaves, and sugar. This trade occurred outside of the fleet system authorized by the Spanish Crown, and therefore was generally considered "illicit." However, under the monarchy of the
Spanish Habsburgs Habsburg Spain is a contemporary historiographical term referring to the huge extent of territories (including modern-day Spain, a piece of south-east France, eventually Portugal, and many other lands outside of the Iberian Peninsula) ruled b ...
, the line between licit and illicit trade was quite blurry. Crown officials and military outposts in Buenos Aires often relied upon profits from illicit trade to support their administrative structures. Under the Bourbon monarchy, the governorate was elevated to the
Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata The Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata ( es, Virreinato del Río de la Plata or es, Virreinato de las Provincias del Río de la Plata) meaning "River of the Silver", also called " Viceroyalty of the River Plate" in some scholarly writings, i ...
in 1776. This occurred as a result of the
Bourbon Reforms The Bourbon Reforms ( es, Reformas Borbónicas) consisted of political and economic changes promulgated by the Spanish Crown under various kings of the House of Bourbon, since 1700, mainly in the 18th century. The beginning of the new Crown's ...
, which attempted to restore the decaying wealth of the Spanish Crown. The reforms elevated the status of trade along the Río de la Plata and expanded what constituted "legal" trade so that the Crown could tax trade what had previously been "contraband." However, the plan did not go as intended. Although trade along the Río de la Plata flourished, very little silver was actually remitted to the Crown. Then, Spanish war with Britain and the simultaneous eruption of revolts in the mining regions of Peru led to a shortage of silver, putting strain on the merchant class of Buenos Aires. This caused a schism between merchants who wanted to try to continue reviving the Spanish Empire through silver trade and those who wanted to move on from silver and prioritize agricultural exports, ultimately tearing at the fabric of the Río de la Plata region's relationship with the Spanish Empire. In 1806 and 1807 the river was the scene of an important
British invasion The British Invasion was a cultural phenomenon of the mid-1960s, when rock and pop music acts from the United Kingdom and other aspects of British culture became popular in the United States and significant to the rising "counterculture" o ...
that aimed to occupy the area and was defeated by the local garrison and population.


Revolutionary period

Conflict in the region intensified after the independence of the former Spanish and Portuguese colonies in the first quarter of the 19th century. Interests in the territories and the navigation rights over the Platine region played a major role in many armed conflicts throughout the century, including the
Argentine civil wars The Argentine Civil Wars were a series of civil conflicts of varying intensity that took place through the territories of Argentina from 1814 to 1853. Initiation concurrently with the Argentine War of Independence (1810–1820), the conflict p ...
, the Cisplatine and Platine wars, and the Paraguayan War. The river was blockaded by France and Britain in 1838–1840 and 1845–1850.


Naval Battles


Battle of Juncal (1827)

During the Cisplatine War, the Battle of Juncal (named after
Juncal Island Juncal Island is an island belonging to Uruguay, located where the Uruguay River empties into the Río de la Plata, a bit above the Uruguayan town of Carmelo. It is separated from Uruguay by the ''Canal de Camacho''. The much smaller Juncalito Is ...
) took place in the waters of the Río de la Plata from 8–9 February 1827 between squadrons of the newly independent United Provinces of the River Plate and the
Brazilian Empire The Empire of Brazil was a 19th-century state that broadly comprised the territories which form modern Brazil and (until 1828) Uruguay. Its government was a representative parliamentary constitutional monarchy under the rule of Emperors Dom ...
. The Argentines scored a decisive victory, capturing or destroying fifteen Brazilian vessels and losing none.


Battle of the River Plate (1939)

In the first naval battle of the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...
the German
pocket battleship The ''Deutschland'' class was a series of three ''Panzerschiffe'' (armored ships), a form of heavily armed cruiser, built by the ''Reichsmarine'' officially in accordance with restrictions imposed by the Treaty of Versailles. The ships of the cl ...
'' Admiral Graf Spee'' was engaged by the
Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against Fr ...
(RN)
cruiser A cruiser is a type of warship. Modern cruisers are generally the largest ships in a fleet after aircraft carriers and amphibious assault ships, and can usually perform several roles. The term "cruiser", which has been in use for several ...
s and , and the
Royal New Zealand Navy The Royal New Zealand Navy (RNZN; mi, Te Taua Moana o Aotearoa, , Sea Warriors of New Zealand) is the maritime arm of the New Zealand Defence Force. The fleet currently consists of nine ships. The Navy had its origins in the Naval Defence Act ...
cruiser , off the estuary of the River Plate in December 1939. The German ship retired up the estuary with a crippled fuel system and put into port at Montevideo. A few days later, rather than fight when believing himself outgunned, her captain scuttled her in the estuary. This engagement was part of the early
Battle of the Atlantic The Battle of the Atlantic, the longest continuous military campaign in World War II, ran from 1939 to the defeat of Nazi Germany in 1945, covering a major part of the naval history of World War II. At its core was the Allies of World War II, ...
.


English names

The historical English name "River Plate" uses an obsolete sense of the word "plate", which was used extensively as a term for "silver" or "gold" from the 12th century onwards, especially in
Early Modern English Early Modern English or Early New English (sometimes abbreviated EModE, EMnE, or ENE) is the stage of the English language from the beginning of the Tudor period to the English Interregnum and Restoration, or from the transition from Middle E ...
. The estuary has been known as the ''River Plate'' or ''Plate River'' in English since at least the time of Francis Drake. This English version of the name served as an inspiration for one of Argentina's most important
football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly ...
clubs,
Club Atlético River Plate Club Atlético River Plate, commonly known as River Plate, is an Argentine professional sports club based in the Núñez neighborhood of Buenos Aires. Founded in 1901, the club is named after the English name for the city's estuary, Río de la ...
. A more literal translation of the name is "Silver River", though this is virtually never used in practice.


Fauna

The Río de la Plata is a habitat for the
loggerhead sea turtle The loggerhead sea turtle (''Caretta caretta'') is a species of oceanic turtle distributed throughout the world. It is a marine reptile, belonging to the family Cheloniidae. The average loggerhead measures around in carapace length when fully ...
,
green sea turtle The green sea turtle (''Chelonia mydas''), also known as the green turtle, black (sea) turtle or Pacific green turtle, is a species of large sea turtle of the family Cheloniidae. It is the only species in the genus ''Chelonia''. Its range exten ...
,
leatherback sea turtle The leatherback sea turtle (''Dermochelys coriacea''), sometimes called the lute turtle or leathery turtle or simply the luth, is the largest of all living turtles and the heaviest non-crocodilian reptile, reaching lengths of up to and weight ...
, the rare
La Plata dolphin The La Plata dolphin, franciscana or toninha (''Pontoporia blainvillei'') is a species of dolphin found in coastal Atlantic waters of southeastern South America. It is a member of the river dolphin group and the only one that lives in the ocea ...
, and many species of fish.


See also

* Rioplatense Spanish *
Argentina–Uruguay relations Foreign relations between the Argentina, Argentine Republic and the Uruguay, Oriental Republic of Uruguay have existed for over a century. Both countries were part of the Spanish Empire until the early 19th century. History Initially, both mod ...
*
1973 Boundary Treaty between Uruguay and Argentina The Treaty between Uruguay and Argentina concerning the Rio de la Plata and the Corresponding Maritime Boundary was signed in Montevideo on 19 November 1973 by Dr. Juan Carlos Blanco Estradé, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Uruguay and Mr. Albe ...
*The Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi, in Rome's Piazza Navona, contains a figure representing the River Plate. * 1888 Río de la Plata earthquake


References


Bibliography

* * * * *Real, Walter. ''España en el Río de la Plata: Descubrimiento y Poblamientos (1516–1588)''. Montevideo: Club Español. 2001. . *


External links


Treaty between Uruguay and Argentina concerning the Rio de la Plata and the Corresponding Maritime Boundary (19 November 1973)Paraguay, or the Province of the Rio de la Plata, with the Adjacent Regions Tucamen and Santa Cruz de la Sierra
is a map from 1616 depicting the area
"An Account of a Voyage up the River de la Plata, and Thence over Land to Peru: With Observations on the Inhabitants, as Well as Indians and Spaniards, the Cities, Commerce, Fertility, and Riches of That Part of America"
from 1698 * {{DEFAULTSORT:Plata, Rio De La Rivers of Argentina Rivers of Uruguay Argentina–Uruguay border International rivers of South America La Plata basin Border rivers Estuaries of South America Rivers of Buenos Aires Province Rivers of Canelones Department Rivers of Colonia Department Rivers of Maldonado Department Rivers of Montevideo Department Rivers of San José Department Temperate South America