Rio De La Plata

The Río de la Plata is an inlet or estuary on the east coast of South America, where the Paraná and Uruguay rivers cross before going into the Atlantic Ocean. Stretching around 170 miles long, it is basically a natural border between southwestern Uruguay and Buenos Aires, Argentina. The Paraná River is 1,300 miles long, and the Uruguay River, spanning 1,000 miles, plays a part in this estuary, which covers a total area of about 1.2 million square miles, roughly one-fifth of the Earth's surface. The first European to explore the region was Amerigo Vespucci, who arrived in 1501. Over the next 400 years, control of the Río de la Plata was contested by various people, including indigenous peoples, the Spanish and Portuguese empires, and later Argentina and Uruguay. Today, it is still a big deal and is very important in Uruguayan geography and culture