Río de la Plata

The Río de la Plata is an estuary located on the south side of Uruguay and the northeast side of Argentina. Río de la Plata is where the Paraná river and the Uruguay rivers meet. By some people, the Río de la Plata is considered a river, but for most, it is considered an estuary. Due to the Río de la Plata having a maximum width of 140 miles it is one of the largest estuaries in the world, unless you consider it a river, then it would be the largest river in the world. On the coast of the Río de la Plata is the capital of Uruguay, Montevideo. The locals in Montevideo use the Río de la Plata as a vital waterway for transportation and trading, but it is also commonly used for agriculture, fishing, and recreation.  Before the arrival of the Europeans in the 16th century, the nomadic hunter-gatherers, the Bororo and Guayacurú lived in the Alto Paraná and Paraguay rivers. Farther south the Guaraní established more permanent villages where they raised crops such as maize and manioc , which are still main staples in those regions today. The river's first sighting was in 1516 by Juan Díaz de Solís, a European Spanish seaman born in Lebrija, Seville who made the discovery of the river during his search for a passage between the Atlantic and the Pacific Oceans.The climate in the Río de la Plata area is generally hot and humid with rainy summers and mostly dry winters . More than 80 percent of the annual rainfall occurs in summer with torrential downpours that are accompanied quite often by hail. The plant life within the vast Río de la Plata region is unbelievably diverse. The western area is mostly grassland used for cattle grazing, but to the east in the upper Paraná basin and higher elevations are forests with valuable evergreens such as the Paraná pine tree which is valued for softwood lumber. In the flooded areas are plants that thrive in wetlands like the beautiful water hyacinth, Amazon water lily, trumpetwood, and guama. In the flooded areas mostly along the Uruguay River, before it makes the Río de la Plata are plants that thrive in wetlands like the beautiful water hyacinth, Amazon water lily, trumpetwood, and guama. The Río de la Plata is a habitat for the rare La Plata Dolphin, various species of sea turtles, and, of course, the Capybara.