Geographical, Statistical and Historical map of the United Provinces of South America.

Colored map of the United Provinces of South America. Among these we can find the territories that today belong to the countries of Bolivia, Chile, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay. This map was published in Philadelphia in the year 1823 by Henry Charles Carey (1793-1879). He was an American economist and publisher with an interest in cartography. He directed the publishing house Carey & Lea, which published the Complete Historical, Chronological, and Geographical American Atlas (1822), a key work in American cartography. His maps detailed the territorial expansion and economic development of the USA. Although better known for his protectionist economic theory, his contribution to cartography helped to spread geographical knowledge. As for the provinces that we see appear on the map, we find: Buenos Aires, Córdova, Salta, Paraguay, Potosí, Charcas, Cochabamba, La Paz, Gobernación de Chiquitos and Gobernación de Moxos. These territories formed part of the Viceroyalty of La Plata which in turn formed part of the Spanish Empire, although on the date of publication of the map these no longer formed part of Spain and were in the midst of a process of construction and definition of their borders. As a curiosity, we can see how Uruguay still forms part of the province of Buenos Aires, since on the date of publication of the map (1823) the official separation of the Eastern State of Uruguay from the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata had not yet been constituted. Around the map we can find an extensive text in English that tells us about various qualities of the territory. Among these we can find descriptions of the soil, products, lakes, rivers, climate, civil divisions, administration, trade, religion, government, principal cities, and a section on the historical context of the region. Among the most important cities we can find we see Montevideo, Buenos Aires, Córdova, Corrientes, Asunción, La Paz, Potosí, Santiago, and Concepción. In addition, on this map we find that Atacama forms part of Bolivian territory and that it gave it access to the sea, but this territory would come to form part of Chile at the end of that same century.