Discoverers of South America table. History of exploration of South America. Excerpt from work

Real discovery South America happened with the help of another navigator - Amerigo Vespucci. This happened at the beginning of the 16th century, when an Italian took part in a journey to the shores of the West Indies.

Then Vespucci realized that his predecessor had discovered not India, but an unknown continent, which was then called the New World. The name came from the name of Vespucci himself - the territory was called the land of Amerigo, which later turned into America.

In 1500, Cabral went to India, but deviated too much to the west, fell into a powerful current, and it carried him to unfamiliar shores. new land he named Terra de Santa Cruz. Soon the Portuguese discovered a valuable mahogany there, which the Portuguese called brazil. The country was given the new name Terra do Brasil. Now we call it Brazil.

The proposal to name the mainland America came from the German cartographer Waldseemüller. Subsequently, one of the countries in South America was named after Columbus.

Pizarro made several attempts to sail along the coast of South America in search of rich countries. However, it was not until 1528 that luck smiled at Pizarro. Crossing the equator, his detachment landed somewhere on the coast of Ecuador or Peru. In one place they were greeted by a female leader, and by the way she and her entourage behaved, how much gold and silver they had, they realized that they were in very rich lands.

With a detachment of 400 people, he rushed to conquer an unknown country. It turned out great empire Incas. Despite the inequality of forces, he managed to capture the supreme ruler of the Incas and subjugate the country

The first European to cross the entire continent was Francisco de Orellana. He served with Pizarro, and then went in search of fairyland El Dorado. Eldorado could not be found, but he went to the upper reaches of the Amazon. Here was built a ship on which Orellana reached the Atlantic Ocean

In 1799, Humboldt and his companion Aimé Bonpland landed in the city of Cumana on the northeastern coast of South America. The researchers intended to travel up the Orinoco River inland to find out if the Orinoco connected to the Amazon.

Exploring the tributary of the Orinoco - the Casiquiare River, travelers discovered that it flows into the Rio Negro, a tributary of the Amazon. The merit of Humboldt is that he gave scientific description interesting phenomenon, which is called the bifurcation of the river, its bifurcation. As a result of this journey, a map of the Orinoco and Rio Negro region was created, which was of not only scientific but also economic importance.

In 1801, Bonpland and Humboldt investigated western part mainland, Equatorial Andes, volcanoes, vegetation belts on mountain slopes. They climbed the Chimborazo volcano, which was then considered the highest point the globe, and although they did not reach its summit (6272 m), they broke the ascent record for that time - 5881 m.

A significant contribution to the study of Brazil was made by the Russian expedition of Academician Grigory Ivanovich Langsdorf. In 1821-1828. she studied the Brazilian Highlands, the right tributaries of the Amazon and penetrated into areas where no European had set foot

The expedition members brought home great material on geography, flora, fauna and ethnography and a collection of living plants for botanical garden. Grigory Ivanovich Langsdorf described in detail the occupations and customs of many Indian tribes.

French expedition 1843-1847 under the direction of Frans Castelnau researched large territories South America. From Rio de Janeiro, the expedition members traveled west across the Brazilian Highlands, exploring the Mato Grosso Plateau, where Castelnau established the sources of the Paraguay River. They then crossed the Gran Chaco region in the central part of the mainland. In Bolivia, Castelnau explored the desert Central Andean Puna, visited the lakes of Poopo and Titicaca. After that, the expedition crossed the Peruvian Andes and reached the city of Lima on the coast Pacific Ocean. back to east coast mainland Castellino passed through the Amazon.

Henry Bates More than 10 years (1848-1859) spent in the Amazon basin English explorer Henry Bates. With his many years of research, he significantly expanded the amount of scientific knowledge about the animal world of the Amazon. Bates collected about 14 thousand species of insects, including 8 thousand species previously unknown to science. The material he collected on ethnography was also very valuable. flora And geological structure Amazonian lowland. Bates discovered that ocean tides raise water in the Amazon about a thousand kilometers from the mouth of the river.

The first explorers of Patagonia and the coast of Chile were the British. In 1826-1830. English warships "Adventure" and "Beagle" under the command of Philip King and Robert Fitz-Roy explored the coast of Patagonia. The expedition found that Tierra del Fuego is not a single island, but an archipelago. The second expedition on the ship "Beagle" (1831 - 1836) under the command of Fitz Roy played an even greater role in the study of Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego thanks to the participation of Charles Darwin in it.

The discovery and exploration of South America is closely connected with the name of the Spanish navigator Christopher Columbus. It was thanks to him that the world learned about new, previously uncharted lands. However, this discovery turned out to be accidental, since the main task of the Columbus expedition was to search for shortcut to India.

History of the discovery of South America

Until the 15th century, the territory of South America was inhabited by indigenous people - Indians, who had their own unique culture, traditions and customs. Their civilization developed in a closed territory, without any outside influence.

The long-term isolation of the American Indians was broken on October 12, 1492, when the expedition of Christopher Columbus accidentally stumbled upon one of Bahamas. After a month of wandering in the Atlantic Ocean, his ships "Santa Maria", "Nina" and "Pinta" moored on the land, which the navigator mistakenly took for the western coast of India. After a surface study of the islands and the coastline of the northern coast of South America, the navigator returned to his homeland.

Rice. 1. Christopher Columbus

Having reported his discovery to the king of Spain, Columbus received significant financial support, and returned to the West Indies with 17 ships - Western India- as he continued to count. The purpose of this expedition was simple - to search for gold in new lands. This is how Haiti was conquered and mastered. Later, Christopher Columbus made two more expeditions to the shores of South America, but he never realized his mistake.

The real discovery of South America as a new continent took place in the 16th century thanks to the Italian navigator Amerigo Vespucci. Having moored to the shores of the West Indies, an experienced sailor quickly realized that Columbus was mistaken.

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Rice. 2. Amerigo Vespucci

Vespucci dubbed the discovered and described lands the New World, and later the continent was dubbed in his honor - this is how the name "America" ​​appeared. However, Christopher Columbus also did not go unnoticed - one of the South American countries, Colombia, was named after him.

Table “Discoverers of South America”

Geographical explorations of South America

The discovery of America by Columbus forever changed the way people thought about the globe. This event became one of the most important in the history of all mankind.

Upon learning that Spanish navigator new lands were discovered, a stream of lovers of easy money poured in there. Travelers dreamed of countless treasures that could be found in the New World. Such people - invaders from Portugal or Spain - were called conquistadors.

Rice. 3. Conquistadors

In their blind pursuit of wealth, they ruthlessly destroyed local residents, plundered their settlements, devastated the occupied territories. However, along with this barbarism, new lands were explored: maps of the mainland and coast, descriptions of nature and relief were created.

A great contribution to the study of the mainland was made by one of the most famous explorers of his time - the German scientist Alexander Humboldt. For 20 years he has studied South America: its vegetable and animal world, indigenous people, geological features. The book he wrote later became almost the only complete and reliable source of information about the New World.

What have we learned?

Studying one of interesting topics in geography of the 7th grade, we learned who discovered South America, how the process of conquest and exploration took place, and how the discovery of this continent influenced the idea of ​​​​medieval people about the structure of our planet.

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The discovery of South America is directly related to the name of Christopher Columbus - famous navigator, who was looking for India. His search continued for about a month, three ships "Pinta", "Santa Maria" and "Nina" left Spain in 1492 to cross the Atlantic Ocean. Then Columbus saw the land that is now the Bahamas. Then the famous navigator was sure that he was in Asia, and called the islands of Western India - the West Indies. After that discovery, the navigator made three more sea voyages.

And only in 1498, Columbus visited the territory of South America - he landed on the coast, located opposite the island of Trinidad. Columbus was sure that he had discovered India.

The real discovery of South America happened with the help of another navigator - Amerigo Vespucci. This happened at the beginning of the 16th century, when an Italian took part in a journey to the shores of the West Indies.

Then Vespucci realized that his predecessor had discovered not India, but an unknown continent, which was then called the New World. The name came from the name of Vespucci himself - the territory was called the land of Amerigo, which later turned into America.

The proposal to name the mainland in this way came from the German scientist Waldseemüller. Subsequently, one of the countries in South America was named after Columbus. The significance of the discovery of the mainland of South America is still being discussed. Indeed, in those days, the inhabitants of Europe did not know anything about the other part of the world, and the bold journey of Columbus forever changed the ideas of mankind about our planet. This is the largest geographical discovery.

But after the discovery, a long process of colonization began. After it became known about the discovery of new lands by Columbus, conquerors headed there from Europe, who wanted to find incredible treasures, riches and appropriate the lands. These conquerors were called conquistadors.

But in order to implement their ideas, they needed to exterminate and enslave the indigenous population of South America. This process was accompanied by constant looting and devastation of the newly discovered territories.

Simultaneously with the conquest, many geographical studies of new lands took place: maps of the coast were created, long passages overland.

One of important points In the history of the development of South America, the expedition of the scientist Alexander Humboldt is considered. The German researcher set himself the goal of studying the nature of the mainland and studying its indigenous population.

His works are invaluable - he described the nature around him, studied about 12 thousand plants and even created a map of South America, which can be called geological.

He conducted such in-depth research for 20 years that the book he subsequently wrote was called almost the second discovery of America.

This work has a special scientific significance, since the studies of the German scientist are extensive and relate to many geographical factors.

Russian scientists were also studying South America. For example, the botanist Vavilov investigated the origin of many cultivated plants in 1932-1933 These plants are native to South America.

The history of South American exploration can be divided into two phases:

First stage
Europeans became reliably aware of the existence of South America after the voyage of H. Columbus in 1498, who discovered the islands of Trinidad and Margarita, explored the coastline from the Orinoco River Delta to the Paria Peninsula. In the XV-XVI centuries. The greatest contribution to the exploration of the continent was made by Spanish expeditions. In 1499-1500, the Spanish conquistador A. Ojeda led an expedition to north coast South America, which reached the coast in the area of ​​\u200b\u200bmodern Guiana and, following in a northwesterly direction, explored the coast from 5-6 ° S. sh. to the Gulf of Venezuela.

Later, Ojeda explored the north coast of Colombia and built a fortress there, marking the beginning of the Spanish conquests on this continent. The survey of the northern coast of South America was completed by the Spanish traveler R. Bastidas, who in 1501 explored the mouth of the Magdalena River and reached the Gulf of Uraba.

The expeditions of V. Pinson and D. Lepe, continuing to move south along the Atlantic coast of South America, in 1500 discovered one of the branches of the Amazon delta, explored the Brazilian coast to 10 ° S. sh. H. Solis went further to the south (up to 35 ° S. latitude) and discovered La Plata Bay, the lower reaches of the largest rivers Uruguay and Parana. In 1520, F. Magellan explored the Patagonian coast, then passed into the Pacific Ocean through the strait, later named after him, completing the study of the Atlantic coast.

In 1522-1558. has been studied pacific coast South America. F. Pizarro walked along the shores of the Pacific Ocean to 8 ° S. sh., in 1531-1533. he conquered Peru, plundering and destroying the Inca state and founding the City of the Kings (later called Lima). Later - in 1535-1552. - Spanish conquistadors D. Almagro and P. Valdivia descended along the coast to 40 ° S. sh.

The study of inland regions was stimulated by legends about the hypothetical "country of gold" - Eldorado, in search of which the Spanish expeditions of D. Ordaz, P. Heredia and others in 1529-1546 crossed the Northwestern Andes in different directions, traced the currents of many rivers. The agents of the German bankers A. Ehinger, N. Federman and others surveyed, mainly, the northeast of the continent, the upper reaches of the Orinoco River. In 1541, the detachment of F. Orellana crossed the mainland for the first time in its widest part, tracing the middle and downstream rivers of the Amazon; S. Cabot, P. Mendoza and others in 1527-1548 traveled along the large rivers of the Paraná-Paraguay basin.

Extreme south point continent - Cape Horn - was discovered Dutch sailors J. Lemer and V. Schouten in 1616. The English navigator D. Davies discovered the "Earth of the Virgin" in 1592, suggesting that it was a single land; only in 1690 D. Strong proved that it consists of many islands and gave them the name Falkland Islands.
In the 16-18 centuries. detachments of the Portuguese mestizo-Mamiluks, who made aggressive campaigns in search of gold and jewelry, repeatedly crossed the Brazilian Plateau and traced the course of many tributaries of the Amazon. Jesuit missionaries also took part in the study of these areas.

Second phase
To test the hypothesis of the spheroidal shape of the Earth, the Paris Academy of Sciences sent an Equatorial Expedition to Peru in 1736-1743 to measure the meridian arc, led by P. Bouguer and C. Condamine, which confirmed the validity of this assumption. In 1781-1801, the Spanish topographer F. Azara carried out comprehensive studies of the La Plata Bay, as well as the basins of the Parana and Paraguay rivers. A. Humboldt explored the Orinoco river basin, the plateau of Quito, visited the city of Lima, presenting the results of his research in the book "Journey to the Equinox Regions of the New World in 1799-1804."

The English hydrographer and meteorologist R. Fitzroy in 1828-1830 (on the expedition of F. King) surveyed south coast South America, and later led the famous world tour on the ship "Beagle", in which Charles Darwin also took part. The Amazon and the Brazilian Plateau adjacent to it from the south were explored by the German scientist V. Eschwege (1811-1814), the French biologist E. Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire (1816-1822), the Russian expedition led by G. I. Langsdorf (1822-1828), English naturalist A. Wallace (1848-1852), French scientist A. Coudro (1895-98). German and French scientists studied the Orinoco River basin and the Guiana Plateau, American and Argentinean - the lower reaches of the Parana and Uruguay rivers in the La Plata region.

The Russian scientists N. M. Albov made a great contribution to the study of this continent, who in 1895-1896 studied Tierra del Fuego, G. G. Manizer (1914-1915), N. I. Vavilov (1930, 1932-1933).

Opening

Europeans became reliably aware of the existence of South America after the voyage of Christopher Columbus in 1498, who discovered the islands of Trinidad and Margarita, explored the coastline from the Orinoco River Delta to the Paria Peninsula.

In 1499-1504, Amerigo Vespucci made three voyages to the South American continent at the head of the Portuguese expeditions, discovering the northern coast of South America, the Amazon delta, the bay of Rio de Janeiro, the Brazilian Highlands.

Research. As a result of voyages along the northern and eastern shores of the newly discovered land, A. Vespucci formed a correct idea of ​​​​it as a southern transatlantic continent, and in 1503, in a letter to his homeland, he proposed calling the continent the New World. In 1507, the Lorraine cartographer Martin Waldseemuller attributed the discovery of the "fourth part of the world" made by Columbus to A. Vespucci and "christened" this continent America in honor of Amerigo Vespucci. In 1538, this already recognized name was extended on the Mercator map and on North America.

Columbus' first voyage

On August 3, 1492, three ships sailed from the port of Paloe: Santa Maria, Pinta, Nina with 90 participants. The crews of the ships consisted mainly of convicted criminals. After the repair of the ship "Pinta" at the Canary Islands, weary days dragged on. 33 days have passed since the expedition left Canary Islands and the ground was not visible.
The team started murmuring. To calm her down, Columbus wrote down the distances traveled in the ship's log, deliberately underestimating them. Watching the compass needle, he once noticed that it was behaving unusually, deviating from the normal direction by polar star. This threw the most battered admiral into confusion. After all, he did not know and could not assume that there were areas of magnetic anomalies, then they were not yet known.

Soon there were signs of the proximity of land: the color of the water changed, flocks of birds appeared. And from the observation barrel on the mast, the lookout announced: “Earth! » But the navigators were bitterly disappointed - it was not land, but a mass of long algae floating on the surface. The ships entered the Sargasso Sea. Hope dissipated like a mirage. Soon, behind this sea, signs of land appeared. On October 12, they really saw a dark strip of land on the horizon.
It was small island with lush tropical vegetation. Stately people lived here tall people with swarthy skin. The natives called their island Guanahani. Columbus named it San Salvador and declared it a possession of Spain. This name stuck to one of the Bahamas. Columbus was sure that he had reached Asia. Having visited other islands, he everywhere asked the locals whether it was Asia.

The natives called their island Guanahani. Columbus named it San Salvador and declared it a possession of Spain. This name stuck to one of the Bahamas. Columbus was sure that he had reached Asia. Having visited other islands, he everywhere asked the locals whether it was Asia.
But I did not hear anything consonant with this word. The sailors were especially interested in the gold jewelry of local residents. There were few of them, and the inhabitants valued ornaments no more than beautiful shells. Columbus and his companions noticed that the islanders were chewing or burning, holding some dry grass in their teeth. It was tobacco first seen by Europeans.

Columbus left some of the people on the island of Hispaniola, led by his brother, and sailed to Spain. As proof that he discovered the way to Asia, Columbus took with him several Indians, feathers of unseen birds, some plants, among them maize, potatoes and tobacco, as well as gold taken from the inhabitants of the islands. March 15, 1493 in Palos he was greeted with triumph, as a hero.

This is how the first visit by Europeans to the islands took place. Central America and the beginning was laid for the further discovery of unknown lands, their conquest and colonization. For the first time, the width of the Atlantic Ocean became reliably known; the existence of a current from east to west was established, the Sargasso Sea was discovered, and for the first time an incomprehensible behavior of the magnetic needle was noted.
The return of Columbus caused an unprecedented "fever" in Spain. Thousands of people were eager to go with him to "Asia" in the hope of profiting from easy prey.

Second voyage of Columbus

Columbus set off from the city of Cadiz on his second voyage, which lasted from 1493 to 1496. Many new lands were discovered in the ridge of the Lesser Antilles (Dominica, Guadeloupe, Antigua), the islands of Puerto Rico, Jamaica, the southern coasts of Cuba and Hispaniola were explored. But this time, Columbus did not reach the mainland. With rich booty, the ships returned to Spain.

Third voyage of Columbus

This voyage of Columbus took place in 1498-1500.
on six courts. He sailed from the city of San Lucar. On the island of Hispaniola, Columbus was expecting a heavy blow. The treacherous rulers of Spain, fearing that Columbus might become the ruler of the lands he discovered, sent a ship after him with an order to arrest him. Columbus was shackled and taken to Spain. On a false accusation of withholding royal income, he was deprived of all the titles and privileges recorded in the contract. Columbus spent almost two years to prove his innocence. In 1502, he again embarked on his last voyage to the west. This time Columbus visited many of the islands he had discovered, crossing from south coast cuba caribbean and reached

Fourth voyage of Columbus

Columbus returned from his fourth voyage in 1504. His fame has faded. The Spanish government did not intend to fulfill the agreement with him. In 1506, Columbus died almost forgotten in one of the small monasteries. Researchers of the life and work of Columbus claim that until the end of his life he was convinced that he had opened the way to Asia.

In the lands discovered by Columbus a flood of money-hungry people poured out of Spain. It especially intensified in the first decades of the 16th century. In just twenty years, Spanish ships have visited almost all of the Bahamas, Large and Small Antilles, crossed the Caribbean Sea, passed along the southern coast of North America from Florida to Yucatan, explored the eastern shores of the isthmus between the American continents, got acquainted with the northern coast of South America from the mouth of the Orinoco to the Gulf of Darien.
Many Spanish settlements arose on the islands of Central America. At the same time, the colonialists not only took away land and gold from the indigenous inhabitants of "Western India", as these lands were called (hence the name of the inhabitants themselves - "Indians"), but also brutally dealt with them, turned them into slaves.

Discovery of South America by the Portuguese and Spaniards

Vespucci's first voyage

In 1499-1500 Vespucci was navigator on the expedition of Alonso Ojeda (on three ships), commanding two ships equipped at his own expense. In the summer of 1499, the flotilla approached the northern coast of South America at 5° or 6° north latitude, where it split up. Vespucci moved to the southeast, on July 2 he discovered the Amazon delta and its mouth branch Para, penetrated up to 100 km in boats. Then he continued sailing to the southeast to San Marcos Bay (44 ° west longitude), discovered about 1200 km of the northern coastal strip of South America, discovered the Guiana Current. From there, Vespucci turned back and in August caught up with Alons Ojeda near 66 ° west longitude. Traveling west together, they discovered more than 1600 km of the southern coast of the mainland with the Paraguana and Guajira peninsulas, Triste and Venezuelan bays, the Maracaibo lagoon and several islands, including Curaçao. In the autumn, Vespucci again separated from Ojeda, explored the coast of South America 300 km to the southwest, and returned to Spain in June 1500.

Second voyage

In 1501-02 Vespucci was in the Portuguese service as an astronomer, navigator and historiographer in the 1st Portuguese expedition of Gonçalo Cuelho on 3 ships. In mid-August 1501, they approached the Atlantic coast of South America at 5 ° 30 "south latitude and went up to 16 °, repeating the discoveries of the Spaniard Bortolome Roldan (1500). On January 1, 1502, the expedition discovered the bay of Rio de Janeiro (Guanabara), traced the coast 2000 km southwest (up to 25 ° S) and, making sure that the land still stretches in the same direction, turned back. One caravel arrived in Portugal at the end of June, the other with Cuella and Vespucci at the beginning of September ( the third, which had fallen into disrepair, had to be burned).

Third voyage

In 1503-04 Vespucci commanded a caravel in the 2nd expedition of Gonçalo Cuelho on six ships. In early August 1503, near Ascension Island (8 ° south latitude), they discovered, one ship sank, 3 went missing. The caravels Vespucci and Cuelho reached the bay of All Saints, discovered in the previous voyage at 13 °. The detachment that landed on the orders of Vespucci for the first time climbed a steep ledge of the Brazilian Highlands and penetrated 250 km into the interior of the country. In the harbor at 23 ° south latitude, during a 5-month stay, the Portuguese built a fleet, where they left 24 sailors, and returned to Lisbon with a cargo of sandalwood at the end of June 1504.

As a result of voyages along the northern and eastern shores of the newly discovered land, Vespucci formed a correct idea of ​​it as a southern transatlantic continent, and in 1503, in a letter to his homeland, he proposed calling the continent the New World. In 1507, the Lorraine cartographer Martin Waldseemüller attributed the discovery of the “fourth part of the world” made by Columbus to Vespucci and “christened” this continent America in honor of Amerigo Vespucci. In 1538 this already recognized name was extended on the Mercator map to North America. In 1505, after a second move to Spain, Vespucci received Castilian citizenship. In 1508 he was appointed to the newly established position of chief pilot of Spain and held it until his death.

The Pacific coast of South America was discovered in 1522-58 by Spanish sea expeditions. In 1522, P. Andagoya traced northwest coast South America. up to 4° s. sh. In 1526-27, F. Pizarro explored the coast to 8 ° S. sh., opening the Gulf of Guayaquil on the way, from where he began the conquest of Peru in 1532. After the conquest of the country and the founding of the city of Lima (1535), Spanish sailors got acquainted with the coast at least up to 12 ° S. sh., and after campaigns in Chile D. Almagro (1535-37) and P. Valdivia (1540-52) - up to 40 ° S. sh. In 1558, J. Ladrillero discovered between 44 and 47 ° S. sh. the Chonos Archipelago and the Taitao Peninsula, and P. Sarmiento de Gamboa in 1579-80 - a series of islands between 47 and 52 ° S. sh. In 1616, the Dutch J. Lemer and W. Schouten discovered and rounded Cape Horn (56° S). In 1592, the Englishman J. Davis discovered in Atlantic Ocean at 52°S sh. "Earth of the Maiden", R. Hawkins described it in 1594 northern shores, taking it as a single land, and J. Strong proved that it is divided into two large and many small islands, and called them Falkland Islands (1690).

In the 15-16 centuries. The greatest contribution to the exploration of the continent was made by the Spanish expeditions of the conquistadors (from the Spanish qoncuista - conquest).

In search of the "golden country - Eldorado" Spaniards D. Ordaz, P. Heredia, G. Quesada, S. Belalcasar and agents of the German bankers Welsers and Ehingers (A. Ehinger, N. Federman, G. Hoermuth, F. Hutten), who received in 1528 from Charles V a patent for the colonization of the south coast caribbean, in 1529-46 they discovered and crossed in all directions the Northwestern Andes and Llanos-Orinsco, traced the course of all the large left tributaries of the Orinoco and Magdalena with Cauca. G. Pizarro in 1541-42 went down the river. Napo to the Amazonian lowland, and F. Orellana, who separated from his detachment, in 1541 went down the Amazon to the sea, making the first crossing of South America. In search of silver in the La Plata basin in 1527-48, S. Cabot, P. Mendoza, J. Ayolas, A. Caves de Vaca, D. Irala discovered and explored several major rivers Parana - Paraguay systems and crossed the Gran Chaco. The lower reaches of the tributaries of the river. The Amazon was discovered by the Portuguese expedition of P. Teixeira - B. Acosta 1637-39, who ascended from the city of Para to the Equatorial Andes and returned down the river. In the 2nd half of the 16th and in the 17th-18th centuries. Portuguese mestizos (Mamiluks), uniting in detachments to hunt Indian slaves, search for gold and precious stones, crossed the Brazilian Plateau in all directions and traced the course of all the large tributaries of the middle and lower Amazon. The system of the upper Amazon in the 17th century. and in the first half of the 18th century. explored mainly by Jesuit missionaries, including the Czech P. S. Fritz.

In 1520, Ferdinand Magellan explored the Patagonian coast, then passed into the Pacific Ocean through the strait, later named after him, completing the study of the Atlantic coast.

In 1522-58. Spanish conquistadors explored the Pacific coast of South America. Francisco Pissarro walked along the Pacific coast to 8 s. sh., in 1531-33. he conquered Peru, plundering and destroying the Inca state and founding the City of the Kings (later called Lima). Later in 1524-52. Spanish conquistadors organized expeditions along west coast South America conquered Peru and Chile, waged a fierce struggle against the Araucans. went down along the coast to 40 s. sh.

The extreme southern point of the continent, Cape Horn, was discovered by the Dutch navigators LEMER (Le Maire) Jacob (1585-1616), a Dutch merchant and navigator.

In the 16-18 centuries. detachments of the Portuguese mestizo-Mamiluks, who made aggressive campaigns in search of gold and jewelry, repeatedly crossed the Brazilian Plateau and traced the course of many tributaries of the Amazon.

Discovery of South America. In 1799 - 1804, the expedition was composed of the geographer A. Humboldt

Alexander Humboldt explored the Orinoco river basin, the plateau of Quito, visited the city of Lima, presenting the results of his research in the book Journey to the Equinox Regions of the New World in 1799-1804.

In 1799-1804 Humboldt, together with the French botanist E. Bonpland, traveled to Central and South America. Returning to Europe with rich collections, he processed them in Paris for more than 20 years, along with other prominent scientists. In 1807-34, a 30-volume "Journey to the Equinox Regions of the New World in 1799-1804" was published, most which consists of descriptions of plants (16 vols.), astronomical, geodetic and cartographic materials (5 vols.), the other part - zoology and comparative anatomy, a description of the journey, etc. Based on the materials of the expedition, G. published a number of other works, including "Paintings nature"

The first scientists to explore South America were the French participants in the Equatorial Expedition to measure the meridian arc of 1736-43 (headed by C. Condamine and P. Bouguer). At the end of the colonial period, complex scientific studies of the La Plata basin (Spanish F. Asara) and the river basin were carried out. Orinoco (German A. Humboldt and Frenchman E. Bonpland). The exact outlines of South America were established mainly by an English expedition in the second quarter of the 19th century. (F. King and R. Fitzroy).

English hydrographer and meteorologist Fitzroy (Fitzroy) Robert (1805-1865), Vice Admiral in 1828-30 surveyed the southern coast of South America.

In the 19th and 20th centuries studies of the Brazilian plateau and the Amazonian lowland intensified [German W. Eschwege (1811-1814), Frenchman E. Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire (1816-22), members of the Austro-Bavarian expedition of 1817-20 K. Martius, I. Spiks, I. Paul , I. Natterer; members of the Russian complex academic expedition of 1822-28 by G. I. Laigsdorf; French complex expedition F. Castelnau (1844-45), British A. Wallace (1848-52), G. Bates (1848-58), W. Chandless (1860-69), J. Wells (1868-84), German K. Steinen (1884 and 1887-88) and Frenchman A. Coudro (1895-98)].

The Guiana plateau and the Orinoco basin were studied: in 1835-44 by the Germans in the English service, the brothers Robert and Richard Schomburgk; in 1860-72 by the Pole in the English service K. Appun; in 1877-89 the Frenchmen J. Krevo, A. Coudro and J. Chaffanzhon, who discovered the source of the river. Orinoco (1887). Bass. La Plata was studied by the American hydrographer T. Page (1853-56) and the Argentine topographer L. Fontana (1875-81).

The following worked in the Northern and Equatorial Andes: the Frenchman J. Bussengo (1822-1828); German geologists A. Stübel and V. Reis (1868-74); English topographer F. Simone (1878-80 and 1884); German geographers A. Getner (1882-84) and V. Sivere, who studied mainly the ranges of the Sierra de Perija, Cordillera Merida (1884-86) and the Maritime Caribbean Andes (1892-93). Central Andes explored naturalists - the German E. Poppig (1829-31) and the Frenchman A. Orbigny (1830-33); in 1851-69 the Peruvian Andes and the region of La Montagna were studied and photographed by the geographer and topographer, an Italian in the Peruvian service, A. Raimondi. Southern Andes- The Chilean-Argentine Cordilleras and the Patagonian Andes - were studied in Chile mainly by the Europeans who settled there: the Pole I. Domeiko (1839-44), the Frenchman E. Pissy (1849-75), the German botanist R. Philippi (1853-54). In Argentina, the English sheep breeder J. Masters crossed all of Patagonia from south to north and laid the foundation for the study of the river basin. Chubut (1869-70) Then the Argentine topographers F. Moreno (1874-97), K. Moyano (1877-1881), L. Fontana (completed the study of the Chubut river basin in 1886-88) came to the fore.

A large amount of Yu. -15), botanist and geographer N. I. Vavilov (1930, 1932-33).