Political map of South America (1826)

This map was published by American publisher Anthony Finley in 1826, as part of A New American Atlas (1826) (A New American Atlas). The publication focused on the United States, but included maps covering the entire continent.

This particular map shows the political situation in South America in 1826, based on the information available to Finley at the time of publication. The following entities are represented:

• Gran Colombia (yellow), established in 1819. Here is a detailed map of their territory in 1824..
• British Guiana (pink).
• Dutch Guiana (orange).
• French Guiana (blue).
• Peru (blue), independent since 1821.
• Brazil (green), independent since 1822.
• Bolivia (yellow), independent since 1825.
• The United Provinces of the Río de la Plata (pink), independent since 1816.
• Chile (blue), independent since 1818.
• Patagonia (yellow).

The inclusion of Patagonia as an independent state is curious. At the beginning of the 19th century, the region was mainly populated by indigenous peoples, such as the Mapuche, Ranquel, Pampa and Huarpe, but it did not have a state organisation as this map suggests.

Sources

• Map of South America – David Rumsey