The Misiones Orientales (, ) or Sete Povos das Missões/Siete Pueblos de las Misiones (, ) is a historic region in South America, in present-day Rio Grande do Sul, the southernmost State of Brazil. Together with present-day

Misiones Province Misiones (, ''Missions'') is one of the 23 provinces of Argentina, located in the northeastern corner of the country in the Mesopotamia region. It is surrounded by Paraguay to the northwest, Brazil to the north, east and south, and Corrientes ...

in Argentina and the old Misiones Department in Paraguay (later subdivided into

Misiones Misiones (, ''Missions'') is one of the 23 provinces of Argentina, located in the northeastern corner of the country in the Mesopotamia region. It is surrounded by Paraguay to the northwest, Brazil to the north, east and south, and Corrientes P ...

and Itapúa) it formed the ''

Jesuit Reductions , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders = ...

'' between 1609 and 1756, an almost fully independent territory created and ruled by the Spanish Catholic order of the

Jesuits The Society of Jesus ( la, Societas Iesu; abbreviation: SJ), also known as the Jesuits (; la, Iesuitæ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

. It was famous for its resistance to enslavement and its egalitarian laws based on the Bible. The seven missions were called San Miguel, Santos Ángeles, San Lorenzo Mártir, San Nicolás, San Juan Bautista, San Luis Gonzaga, and San Francisco de Borja. The King of Spain was the nominal ruler of these lands and in the Treaty of Madrid (1750) he gave the eastern part of the Jesuit Reductions to Portugal. The seven Jesuit missions here were to be dismantled and relocated on the Spanish western side of the

Uruguay River The Uruguay River ( es, Río Uruguay, ; pt, Rio Uruguai, ) is a major river in South America. It flows from north to south and forms parts of the boundaries of Brazil, Argentina, and Uruguay, separating some of the Argentine provinces of La M ...

. The Guarani people living there refused, which led to the Guarani War, won by Portugal and Spain. The territory returned to Spain in 1777 in the

First Treaty of San Ildefonso The First Treaty of San Ildefonso was signed on 1 October 1777 between Spain and Portugal. It settled long-running territorial disputes between the two kingdoms' possessions in South America, primarily in the Río de la Plata region. Background ...

, but was definitively ceded to Portugal in the

Treaty of Badajoz (1801) The Treaty of Badajoz was signed by Spain and Portugal on 6 June 1801. Portugal ceded the border town of Olivenza to Spain and closed its ports to British military and commercial shipping. On the same day, Portugal signed a separate Treaty of ...

. It became part of Brazil when this country gained its independence from Portugal in 1822.

See also