Gran Chaco - Provinces/departments in the Gran Chaco, Indigenous peoples of the Gran Chaco

Lowland plain covering part of N Argentina, W Paraguay, and S Bolivia; consists of Chaco Boreal in the N (250 000 km²/100 000 sq mi), Chaco Central (130 000 km²/50 000 sq mi), and Chaco Austral in the S (250 000 km²/100 000 sq mi); drained chiefly by Paraná, Paraguay, and Pilcomayo rivers; scrub forest and grassland, with a tropical savannah climate and sparse population; cattle raising; tannin, cotton, sunflowers, maize, sorghum; disputed area in the Chaco War between Paraguay and Bolivia (1932–5).

The Gran Chaco (Quechua chaqu, "hunting land"), dubbed by some as "the last South American frontier", is a sparsely populated, hot and semi-arid lowland region of the Río de la Plata basin, divided between Bolivia, Paraguay, Argentina and a small portion in Brazil called Mato Grosso. It is about 647,500 square kilometres in size, though estimates differ, and located west of the Paraguay River and east of the Andes in Paraguay, Bolivia, and Argentina. Officially, it was supposed to be part of Bolivia, but Paraguay began to push the natives out and settle there while Bolivia ignored it. It was the scene of The Gran Chaco War (1932-1935) (though violence started as early as December 5, 1928) between Paraguay and Bolivia over supposed oil in the Chaco Boreal (a region north of the Pilcomayo River and to the west of the Paraguay River). Bolivia sought the Paraguay River for shipping oil out into the sea (it had become a land-locked country after the loss of its Pacific coast in the War of the Pacific) and Paraguay claimed ownership of the land. Eventually, a treaty was signed in 1938 which gave Paraguay three quarters of Chaco Boreal and gave Bolivia a corridor to the Paraguay River with the ability to use the Puerte Cosado and the right to construct their own port.

The area is mostly inhabitable only in the east and west of the Paraguay River. Paraguay also cultivated mate in the lower part of the Chaco.

In September 1995, the Kaa Iya del Gran Chaco National Park was established in an area of the Chaco in Bolivia.

Provinces/departments in the Gran Chaco

Alto Paraguay Department, Paraguay Boquerón Department, Paraguay Catamarca Province, Argentina Chaco Province, Argentina Chuquisaca Department, Bolivia Córdoba Province, Argentina Formosa Province, Argentina Jujuy Province, Argentina La Rioja Province, Argentina Presidente Hayes Department, Paraguay Salta Province, Argentina Santa Cruz Department, Bolivia Santa Fe Province, Argentina Santiago del Estero Province, Argentina Tarija Department, Bolivia Tucumán Province, Argentina

The Gran Chaco has some of the hghest temperatures on the continent

Indigenous peoples of the Gran Chaco

Abipón - no longer exist Ayoreo Chamacoco Chiquitano Enxet Enlhet Guana Pai Tavytera Sanapaná Ava Guaraní Mbyá Simba Guaraní Guarayo Kaiwá Chiripá Chané Tapieté Maskoy Wichí Nivaclé Chorote Mocoví Pilagá Toba Maká Yuqui