{{Short description|River or estuary in South America}} {{Other uses|Río de la Plata (disambiguation)|River Plate (disambiguation)|Platte River (disambiguation)}} {{Infobox river | name = Río de la Plata | native_name = | native_name_lang = | name_other = River Plate, La Plata River | name_etymology = Spanish for "river of silver" <!---------------------- IMAGE & MAP --> | image = Rio de la Plata BA 2.JPG | image_size = 300 | image_caption = NASA photo of the {{Lang|es|Río de la Plata|italic=no}} looking from northwest to southeast. Buenos Aires is visible on the right bank near the Paraná River delta. River sediments turn its water brown as far as Montevideo, visible on the left bank at the outer estuary. | map = Riodelaplatabasinmap.png | map_size = 300 | map_caption = Map of the Río de la Plata basin, showing the Río de la Plata at the mouths of the Paraná and Uruguay rivers, near Buenos Aires | pushpin_map = | pushpin_map_size = 300 | pushpin_map_caption= <!---------------------- LOCATION --> | subdivision_type1 = Countries | subdivision_name1 = Argentina and Uruguay | subdivision_type2 = | subdivision_name2 = | subdivision_type3 = | subdivision_name3 = | subdivision_type4 = | subdivision_name4 = | subdivision_type5 = Cities | subdivision_name5 = {{hlist|Buenos Aires|Montevideo|La Plata|Quilmes|Colonia del Sacramento|San Isidro|Punta Lara|Vicente López|Avellaneda|San Fernando|Berazategui|Hudson|Atalaya|San Clemente del Tuyú|Ciudad del Plata|Ciudad de la Costa}} <!---------------------- PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS --> | length = {{convert|290|km|mi|abbr=on}}<ref name=britannica>{{cite encyclopedia |title= Río de la Plata |encyclopedia= Encyclopædia Britannica |url= http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/463804/Rio-de-la-Plata |access-date= 11 August 2010 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20150509112732/http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/463804/Rio-de-la-Plata |archive-date= 9 May 2015 |url-status= live }}</ref> <small>{{convert|4876|km|0|abbr=on}} including the Paraná</small> | width_min = | width_avg = | width_max = | depth_min = | depth_avg = | depth_max = | discharge1_location=Río de la Plata, Atlantic Ocean | discharge1_min ={{convert|12,000|m3/s|cuft/s|abbr=on}} | discharge1_avg = (Period 1971-2010) {{convert|27,225|m3/s|cuft/s|abbr=on}}<ref name="balance-hidrico">{{cite web|url=https://issuu.com/comunicacioncicplata/docs/balance_hidrico_en_la_cuenca_del_pl/47&ved=2ahUKEwjr9ayfg8HzAhUVi8MKHXz2BV84MhAWegQIBxAB&usg=AOvVaw1ZiUkaMD1bTMyLbqhPKSM1|title=Balance hídrico en la Cuenca del Plata}}</ref> {{convert|22,000|m3/s|cuft/s|abbr=on}}<ref name=britannica/> {{convert|884|km3/year|m3/s|abbr=on}}<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.fao.org/3/ca2141en/CA2141EN.pdf|title=Transboundary River Basin Overview – La Plata}}</ref> | discharge1_max = {{convert|50,000|m3/s|cuft/s|abbr=on}} | source1 = Confluence of Paraná and Uruguay rivers | source1_location = Argentina/Uruguay | source1_coordinates= {{coord|34|0|5|S|58|23|37|W|display=inline}}<ref>{{GEOnet2|32FA87C246353774E0440003BA962ED3|Río Paraná Guazú}} (main distributary of the Río Paraná)</ref> | source1_elevation = | mouth = Atlantic Ocean | mouth_location = Argentine Sea, Argentina | mouth_coordinates = {{coord|35|40|S|55|47|W|type:_river|display=inline,title}}<ref name=iho/> | mouth_elevation = | progression = | river_system = | basin_size = {{convert|3,170,000|km2|mi2|abbr=on}}<ref name=Guerrero97>{{cite journal|journal=Continental Shelf Research|volume=17|issue=7| date=June 1997 |pages=727–742|title=Physical oceanography of the Río de la Plata Estuary, Argentina|author=Raúl A. Guerrero|doi=10.1016/S0278-4343(96)00061-1|display-authors=etal|bibcode=1997CSR....17..727G}}</ref> {{convert|3,182,064|km2|mi2|abbr=on}}<ref name="balance-hidrico"/> | tributaries_left = Uruguay River, San Juan River, Santa Lucía River | tributaries_right = Paraná River, Luján River, Salado River | custom_label = | custom_data = | extra = }}
The '''Río de la Plata''' ({{IPA|es|ˈri.o ðe la ˈplata|-|ES-pe - Río de la Plata.ogg}}; {{lit|River of Silver}}), also called the '''River Plate''' or '''La Plata River''' in English, is the estuary formed by the confluence of the Uruguay River and the Paraná River at Punta Gorda. It empties into the Atlantic Ocean and forms a funnel-shaped indentation on the southeastern coastline of South America. Depending on the geographer, the Río de la Plata may be considered a river, an estuary, a gulf, or a marginal sea.<ref name="britannica"/><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.state.gov/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/LIS-44.pdf|title=Limits in the Sea No. 44 Straight Baselines: Argentina |date=August 10, 1972 |publisher=The Geographer, Bureau of Intelligence and Research, Department of State of United States of America}}</ref>{{bettersource|date=October 2021}} If considered a river, it is the widest in the world, with a maximum width of {{convert|220|km|mi}}.
thumb|Río de la Plata in Argentina The river is about {{convert|290|km|mi|0}} long and widens from about {{convert|2|km|mi}} at its source to about {{convert|220|km|mi}} at its mouth.<ref name=fossati>{{cite web |last1= Fossati |first1= Monica |first2= Ismael |last2= Piedra-Cueva |title= Salinity Simulations of the Rio de la Plata |publisher= International Conference on Estuaries and Coasts |url= http://www.irtces.org/pdf-hekou/075.pdf |access-date= 11 August 2010 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120306172727/http://www.irtces.org/pdf-hekou/075.pdf |archive-date= 6 March 2012 |url-status= dead }}</ref> It forms part of the border between Argentina and Uruguay. The name Río de la Plata is also used to refer to the populations along the estuary, especially the main port cities of Buenos Aires and Montevideo, where Rioplatense Spanish is spoken and tango culture developed. The coasts of the river are the most densely populated areas of Uruguay and Argentina,<ref name=britannica/> and 2.5 million people yearly travel across the River Plate.<ref name=ln>{{cite web |title=Innovación que marca el rumbo: Buquebus presenta el ferry 100% eléctrico más grande del planeta |url=https://www.lanacion.com.ar/lifestyle/innovacion-que-marca-el-rumbo-buquebus-presenta-el-ferry-100-electrico-mas-grande-del-planeta-nid19112025/ |publisher=La Nación |language=es |date=19 November 2025}}</ref>
==Name== The name ''Río de la Plata'' ("River of Silver") was adopted because of a myth that the region around the river basin contained vast amounts of silver. This is also why the country is named ''Argentina'' (meaning loosely "silvery land").
The English name ''River Plate'' was adopted using the archaic term ''plate'', meaning "silver".
==Geography== thumb | right | Map with tributaries of Río de la Plata The Río de la Plata begins at the confluence of the Uruguay and Paraná rivers at Punta Gorda and flows eastward into the South Atlantic Ocean. No clear physical boundary marks the river's eastern end; the International Hydrographic Organization defines the eastern boundary of the Río de la Plata as "a line joining Punta del Este, Uruguay and Cabo San Antonio, Argentina".<ref name=iho>{{cite web|url=https://iho.int/uploads/user/pubs/standards/s-23/S-23_Ed3_1953_EN.pdf|title=Limits of Oceans and Seas, 3rd edition|year=1953|publisher=International Hydrographic Organization|access-date=28 December 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111008191433/http://www.iho-ohi.net/iho_pubs/standard/S-23/S23_1953.pdf|archive-date=8 October 2011}}</ref>
Though it is generally spoken of as a river, the Río de la Plata is considered by some geographers to be a large bay or marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean.<ref name=britannica/><ref name=fossati/> For those who regard it as a river, it is the widest in the world, with a maximum width of about {{convert|220|km|mi}} and a total surface area of about {{convert|35000|km2|sqmi}}.<ref name=britannica/>
===Islands and shoals=== The upper river contains several islands, including Oyarvide Island and the Solís Islands in Argentine waters and Juncal Island, Islote el Matón, Martín García Island and Timoteo Domínguez Island in Uruguayan waters. Because of deposition of sediments from the heavy stream load carried down from the river's tributaries, the islands in the Río de la Plata generally grow over time.
A submerged shoal, the Barra del Indio, divides the Río de la Plata into an inner freshwater riverine portion and an outer brackish estuarine portion.<ref name=seeliger>{{cite book |last1= Seeliger |first1= Ulrich |last2= Kjerfve |first2= Björn |title= Coastal Marine Ecosystems of Latin America |year= 2001 |publisher= Springer |isbn= 978-3-540-67228-9 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=drF30PA45o8C&pg=PA185 |pages= 185–204 |access-date= 2016-02-23 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20170323210421/https://books.google.com/books?id=drF30PA45o8C&pg=PA185 |archive-date= 2017-03-23 |url-status= live }}</ref> The shoal is located approximately between Montevideo and Punta Piedras (the northwest end of Samborombón Bay). The inner fluvial zone is about {{convert|180|km|mi}} long and up to {{convert|80|km|mi}} wide, with a depth which varies from about {{convert|1|to|5|m|ft}}; the depth of the outer estuary zone increases from {{convert|5|to|25|m|ft}}.<ref name=seeliger/> The river's discharge is strong enough to prevent saltwater from penetrating to the inner portion.<ref name=ices>{{cite journal |last1= Cabreira |first1= A.G. |last2= Madirolas |first2= A. |last3= Alvarez Colombo |first3= G. |last4= Acha |first4= E.M. |last5= Mianzan |first5= H.W. |year= 2006 |title= Acoustic study of the Río de la Plata estuarine front |journal= ICES Journal of Marine Science |volume= 63 |issue= 9 |pages= 1718–1725 |issn= 1095-9289 |doi= 10.1016/j.icesjms.2006.04.026 |doi-access= free }}</ref>
==Hydrology== The Río de la Plata behaves as an estuary in which freshwater and seawater mix. The freshwater comes principally from the Paraná River (one of the world's longest rivers and La Plata's main tributary) as well as from the Uruguay River and other smaller streams. Currents in the Río de la Plata are dominated by tides reaching to its sources and beyond, into the Uruguay and Paraná rivers.<ref name=fossati/> Both rivers are tidally influenced for about {{convert|190|km|mi}}.<ref name=britannica/> The tidal ranges in the Río de la Plata are small, but its great width allows for a tidal prism important enough to dominate the flow regime despite the huge discharge received from the tributary rivers.
The river is a salt wedge estuary in which saltwater, being denser than freshwater, penetrates into the estuary in a layer below the freshwater, which floats on the surface. Salinity fronts, or haloclines, form at the bottom and on the surface, where fresh and brackish waters meet. The salinity fronts are also pycnoclines due to the water density discontinuities. They play an important role in the reproductive processes of fish species.<ref name=seeliger/>
===Drainage basin=== {{Main article|Río de la Plata Basin}}
right|thumb|Satellite image of the Paraná and Uruguay rivers emptying into the Río de la Plata. Due to the relatively calm surface of the estuary and the angle of the Sun relative to the satellite, the current of the river flowing out into the Atlantic is visible. The Río de la Plata's drainage basin (sometimes called the Platine basin or Platine region)<ref>Whigham, Thomas. 2002. ''The Paraguayan War: Causes and Early Conduct'', v. 1. Lincoln, Nebraska: University of Nebraska Press, p. 5. {{ISBN|978-0-8032-4786-4}}</ref><ref>e.g., Scheina, Robert L. 2003. ''Latin America's Wars: The Age of the Caudillo, 1791–1899'', v. 1. Dulles, Virginia: Brassey's, Inc., p. 313. {{ISBN|978-1-5748-8450-0}}</ref> is the {{convert|3,170,000|km2|mi2|abbr=on}}<ref name=britannica>{{cite encyclopedia |title= Río de la Plata |encyclopedia= Encyclopædia Britannica |url= http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/463804/Rio-de-la-Plata |access-date= 11 August 2010 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20150509112732/http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/463804/Rio-de-la-Plata |archive-date= 9 May 2015 |url-status= live }}</ref>-{{convert|3,182,064|km2|mi2|abbr=on}} hydrographical area that drains to the Río de la Plata. It includes areas of southeastern Bolivia, southern and central Brazil, the entire country of Paraguay, most of Uruguay, and northern Argentina. Making up about one fourth of the continent's surface, it is the second largest drainage basin in South America (after the Amazon basin) and one of the largest in the world.<ref name=Guerrero97/>
===Tributaries=== {{Further information|List of tributaries of the Río de la Plata}} The main rivers of the La Plata basin are the Paraná River, the Paraguay River (the Paraná's main tributary), and the Uruguay River.<ref name="seeliger"/>
The Paraná River's main tributaries include the Paranaíba River, Grande River, Tietê River, Paranapanema River, Iguazu River, Paraguay River, and the Salado River, after which it ends in the large Paraná Delta. The Paraguay River flows through the Pantanal wetland, after which its main tributaries include the Pilcomayo River and the Bermejo River, before it ends in the Paraná. The Uruguay's main tributaries include the Pelotas River, Canoas River, Ibicuí River, and the Río Negro. Another significant tributary to the Río de la Plata is the Salado del Sur River.
==History== [[File:Descubrimiento del Río de la Plata.jpg|thumb|Discovery of the Río de la Plata by Juan Díaz de Solís. He would be attacked and killed by Charrúas later.]]
===Indigenous people=== Nomadic aboriginal people inhabited the Río de la Plata region for thousands of years before European settlers arrived, and their descendants continue to live in the region to this day.<ref>{{cite web |title=Conquest and Colonization of the Río de la Plata • SurdelSurAR |url=https://surdelsur.com/en/conquest-colonization-rio-de-la-plata/ |website=surdelsur.com |publisher=El Sur del Sur: Argentina, the country, its culture and its people |access-date=30 March 2023 |language=en-us |date=1 July 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=The First Settlers in Argentina- El Sur del Sur |url=https://surdelsur.com/en/first-settlers/ |website=surdelsur.com |publisher=El Sur del Sur: Argentina, the country, its culture and its people |access-date=30 March 2023 |language=en-us |date=28 June 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Argentina |url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/argentina/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230317233903/https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/argentina/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=March 17, 2023 |website=The World Factbook |publisher=Central Intelligence Agency |access-date=30 March 2023 |language=en |date=22 March 2023}}</ref>
===European exploration=== The Río de la Plata was first explored by the Portuguese in 1512–13.{{sfn|Viana|1994|p=254}}{{sfn|Bethell|1987|p=64}} The Spanish first explored it in 1516, when the navigator Juan Díaz de Solís traversed it during his search for a passage between the Atlantic and the Pacific Oceans, calling it the Mar Dulce, or "freshwater sea".<ref name=britannica/> The Portuguese navigator Ferdinand Magellan briefly explored the estuary in 1520 before his expedition continued its circumnavigation,<ref name=britannica/> and in 1521, Cristóvão Jacques also explored the Plate River estuary and ascended the Parana River for the first time, entering it for about {{convert|23|league}} to near the present city of Rosario.<ref name="Johson/Silva">{{cite book| last = John/Silva| first = Harold/Maria Beatriz Nizza da| title = Nova História da Expansão Portuguesa (direcção de Joel Serrão e A. H. de Oliveira Marques)- O Império Luso-brasileiro (1500-1620), vol. VI| publisher = Editorial Presença| year = 1992| location = Lisboa| pages = 114–170}}</ref>
Explorer Sebastian Cabot made a detailed study of the river and its tributaries and gave it its modern name. He explored the Paraná and Uruguay rivers between 1526 and 1529, ascending the Paraná as far as the present-day city of Asunción, and also explored up the Paraguay River. Cabot acquired silver trinkets trading with the Guaraní near today's Asunción, and these objects (together with legends of a "Sierra de la Plata" in the South American interior brought back by earlier explorers) inspired him to rename the river "Río de la Plata" ("River of Silver").<ref name=britannica/>
The first European colony was the city of Buenos Aires, founded by Pedro de Mendoza on 2 February 1536. This settlement, however, was quickly abandoned; the failure to establish a settlement on the estuary led to explorations upriver and the founding of Asunción in 1537. The area was visited by Francis Drake's fleet in early 1578, in the early stages of his circumnavigation.<ref>{{cite book |last= Kelsey |first= Harry |title= Sir Francis Drake: The Queen's Pirate |year=2000 |publisher= Yale University Press |isbn= 978-0-300-08463-4 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=svtPzefAv-MC&pg=PA100 |pages= 100–102}}</ref> Buenos Aires was re-founded by Juan de Garay on 11 June 1580.<ref name=britannica/>
===Colonial period=== [[File:Buenos Aires y Río de La Plata desde el aire.jpg|thumb|300px|The Buenos Aires Metropolitan Area runs along the southern coast of the Río de la Plata.]] During the colonial era, the Río de la Plata was made the center of the Governorate of the Río de la Plata. The Río de la Plata region, particularly Buenos Aires, was a significant site of trade throughout the 17th century. The Crown initially intended Buenos Aires to be a military establishment for the protection of the Potosí mines, but it soon became evident that a settlement large enough to provide military defense would attract trade. The primary export was silver from the mines of Potosí, and imports generally included European luxury goods, slaves, and sugar. This trade occurred outside of the fleet system authorized by the Spanish Crown, and therefore was generally considered "illicit". However, under the monarchy of the Spanish Habsburgs, the line between licit and illicit trade was quite blurry. Crown officials and military outposts in Buenos Aires often relied upon profits from illicit trade to support their administrative structures.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Moutoukias|first=Zacarias|date=1988|title=Power, Corruption, and Commerce: The Making of the Local Administrative Structure in Seventeenth-Century Buenos Aires|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/2515681|journal=The Hispanic American Historical Review|volume=68|issue=4|pages=771–801|doi=10.2307/2515681|jstor=2515681|issn=0018-2168|url-access=subscription}}</ref>
Under the Bourbon monarchy, the governorate was elevated to the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata in 1776. This occurred as a result of the Bourbon Reforms, which attempted to restore the decaying wealth of the Spanish Crown. The reforms elevated the status of trade along the Río de la Plata and expanded what constituted "legal" trade so that the Crown could tax trade which had previously been "contraband". However, the plan did not go as intended. Although trade along the Río de la Plata flourished, very little silver was actually remitted to the Crown. Then, Spanish war with Britain and the simultaneous eruption of revolts in the mining regions of Peru led to a shortage of silver, putting strain on the merchant class of Buenos Aires. This caused a schism between merchants who wanted to try to continue reviving the Spanish Empire through silver trade and those who wanted to move on from silver and prioritize agricultural exports, ultimately tearing at the fabric of the Río de la Plata region's relationship with the Spanish Empire.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Adelman|first=Jeremy|url=https://www.fulcrum.org/concern/monographs/00000002j|title=Republic of capital: Buenos Aires and the legal transformation of the Atlantic world|date=2 July 2002|publisher=Stanford University Press|isbn=978-0-8047-6414-8}}</ref>
In 1806 and 1807 the river was the scene of an important British invasion that aimed to occupy the area and was defeated by the local garrison and population.
===Revolutionary period=== Conflict in the region intensified after the independence of the former Spanish and Portuguese colonies in the first quarter of the 19th century. Interests in the territories and the navigation rights over the Platine region played a major role in many armed conflicts throughout the century, including the Argentine civil wars, the Cisplatine and Platine wars, and the Paraguayan War.<ref name=britannica/> The river was blockaded by Brazil from 1826 to 1828, by the French from 1838 to 1840 and by an Anglo-French alliance from 1845 to 1850.
===Cisplatine War=== {{Main article|Cisplatine War}} [[File:PuntaColares MuratureJose 1865.png|thumb|The battle of Punta Colares, by José Murature.]] During the Cisplatine War, the Río de la Plata was blockaded by the Imperial Brazilian Navy, aiming to cripple Argentine finances and resupply their positions in Colonia del Sacramento and Montevideo. Squadrons of the newly independent United Provinces of the River Plate, led by the Irish-Argentine admiral William Brown attempted to break the blockade despite numerical inferiority.<ref name=bento>{{Cite book|last=Bento |first=Cláudio Moreira |title=2002: 175 Anos da batalha do Passo do Rosário |location=Porto Alegre |publisher=Genesis |year=2003 |isbn=85-87578-07-3 |url= http://www.ahimtb.org.br/Batalha%20Passo%20do%20Ros%C3%A1rio.pdf |language=pt}}</ref>
====Battle of Punta Colares (1826)==== {{Main article|Battle of Punta Colares}} In the first major naval engagement of the war, an Argentine squadron left port in the early hours of February 9 to challenge the blockade. The battle was inconclusive, with the Argentine fleet breaking contact and the Brazilian admiral failing to give chase.<ref name=carneiro>{{Cite book|last=Carneiro |first=David |title=História da Guerra Cisplatina |location=São Paulo |publisher=Companhia Editora Nacional |year=1946 |url= https://bdor.sibi.ufrj.br/bitstream/doc/332/1/246%20PDF%20-%20OCR%20-%20RED.pdf |language=pt}}</ref>
====Battle of Quilmes (1826)==== {{Main article|Battle of Quilmes}} In July 29, a Brazilian fleet led by the English admiral James Norton engaged Brown's fleet near Ensenada. Norton split his force, catching the Argentine line between two fires and causing significant casualties. William Brown's flagship, the frigate ''25 de Mayo'', sank after the battle as a result of the damage received.<ref name=scheina>{{cite book |last=Scheina |first=Robert L |date=2003 |title=Latin America's Wars: The Age of the Caudillo, 1791–1899 |location=Dulles |publisher=Potomac Books Inc. |isbn=978-1-57488-450-0}}</ref>
====Battle of Juncal (1827)==== {{Main article|Battle of Juncal}} In 8–9 February, an Argentine fleet led by Brown engaged the Third Division of the Imperial Navy on the Uruguay River, inflicting heavy casualties against a disorganized Brazilian squadron. The Argentines routed the Third Division, capturing or destroying fifteen Brazilian vessels whilst losing none and frustrating the Brazilian attempt to control the Uruguay river.<ref>A War Betwixt Englishmen: Brazil Against Argentina on the River Plate 1825-1830, Brian Vale, I. B. Tauris, page 137, chapter 14</ref>
====Battle of Monte Santiago (1827)==== {{Main article|Battle of Monte Santiago}} Near the coast of Ensenada in April 7, four Argentine vessels led by Brown slipped out of port in an unsuccessful attempt to surprise a large Brazilian fleet under the command of Norton. Two brigs were sunk, and a schooner was heavily damaged, resulting in a decisive Brazilian victory that ensured the Imperial blockade of the Río de la Plata until the Preliminary Peace Convention of 1828.<ref name=histarmar>{{cite web|url=http://www.histarmar.com.ar/InfHistorica/Berisso/MonteSantiago.htm|title=LA BATALLA DE MONTE SANTIAGO|language=es|publisher= Historia y Arqueologia Marítima|access-date=7 November 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170724022957/http://www.histarmar.com.ar/InfHistorica/Berisso/MonteSantiago.htm|archive-date=24 July 2017}}</ref>
The blockade caused serious problems to the export-oriented economy of Buenos Aires but indirectly contributed to rural provinces such as Córdoba, allowing producers to sell native products to Buenos Aires at an increased price.<ref name=rree>{{cite web|url=http://www.argentina-rree.com/3/3-029.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080212044436/http://www.argentina-rree.com/3/3-029.htm |language=es|title=Los efectos de la guerra en la economía de las Provincias Unidas |publisher=Argentina-rree.com |date= |accessdate=2015-05-30 |archive-date=12 February 2008}}</ref>
===World War II=== {{Main article|Battle of the Atlantic}} ====Battle of the River Plate (1939)==== {{Main article|Battle of the River Plate}} In the first naval battle of the Second World War the German pocket battleship ''Admiral Graf Spee'' was engaged by the Royal Navy (RN) cruisers {{HMS|Exeter|68|6}} and {{HMS|Ajax|22|2}}, and the Royal New Zealand Navy cruiser {{Ship|HMNZS|Achilles|70|2}},<ref>(The Achilles was part of the New Zealand Division)</ref> off the estuary of the River Plate in December 1939. The German ship retired up the estuary with a crippled fuel system and put into port at Montevideo. A few days later, rather than fight when believing himself outgunned, her captain scuttled her in the estuary. This engagement was part of the early Battle of the Atlantic.
==English names== The historical English name "River Plate" uses an old sense of the word "plate", which was used extensively as a term for "silver" or "gold" from the 12th century onwards, especially in Early Modern English.<ref>Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd edition, online version.</ref> The estuary has been known as the ''River Plate'' or ''Plate River'' in English since at least the time of Francis Drake.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.bartleby.com/33/41.html |title=''Sir Francis Drake's Famous Voyage Round the World''; A Narrative by Francis Pretty, one of Drake's Gentlemen at Arms |access-date=2007-01-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070204020907/http://bartleby.com/33/41.html |archive-date=2007-02-04 |url-status=live }}</ref> This English version of the name served as an inspiration for one of Argentina's most important football clubs, Club Atlético River Plate.
A more literal translation of the name is "Silver River", though this is virtually never used in practice.
==Fauna== The Río de la Plata is a habitat for the loggerhead sea turtle, green sea turtle, leatherback sea turtle, the rare La Plata dolphin, and many species of fish.
==See also== *Rioplatense Spanish *Argentina–Uruguay relations *1973 Boundary Treaty between Uruguay and Argentina *The Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi, in Rome's Piazza Navona, contains a figure representing the River Plate. *1888 Río de la Plata earthquake
==References== {{Reflist|colwidth=22em}}
==Bibliography== {{refbegin}} * {{cite web|last1=Mulhall|first1=Michael George, and |first2=Edward T.|last2=Mulhall|title=Handbook of the River Plate: Comprising Buenos Ayres, the Upper Provinces, Banda Oriental, Paraguay|volume=2|date=1869|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wOCEAAAAIAAJ}} * {{cite book | last1 = Bethell | first1 = Leslie | author-link1 = Leslie Bethell | year = 1987 | title = Colonial Brazil | publisher = Cambridge University Press | location = Cambridge | isbn = 0-521-34127-2 }} * {{cite book | last = Viana | first = Hélio | title = História do Brasil: período colonial, monarquia e república | year = 1994 | edition = 15 | publisher = Melhoramentos | location = São Paulo | isbn =978-85-06-01999-3 |language=pt }} * {{cite journal | last1 = Piola | first1 = A. R. | last2 = Matano | first2 = R. P. | last3 = Palma | first3 = E. D. | last4 = Campos | first4 = E. D. | year = 2005 | title = The influence of the Plata River discharge on the western South Atlantic shelf | url = http://ir.library.oregonstate.edu/xmlui/bitstream/1957/15658/1/Piola%20et%20al%20GRL%202005.pdf| journal = Geophysical Research Letters | volume = 32 | issue = 1 | page = L01603 | doi = 10.1029/2004GL021638 | bibcode=2005GeoRL..32.1603P| doi-access = free }} *Real, Walter. ''España en el Río de la Plata: Descubrimiento y Poblamientos (1516–1588)''. Montevideo: Club Español. 2001. {{ISBN|9974-39-317-5}}. * {{cite journal | last1 = Simionato | first1 = Claudia G. | last2 = Vera | first2 = Carolina S. | last3 = Siegismund | first3 = Frank | year = 2005 | title = Surface Wind Variability on Seasonal and Interannual Scales Over Río de la Plata Area | url = http://www.bioone.org/bioone/?request=get-document&issn=1551-5036&volume=021&issue=04&page=0770 | journal = Journal of Coastal Research | volume = 21 | issue = 4| pages = 770–78| doi = 10.2112/008-NIS.1 | s2cid = 131049528 | hdl = 11336/194156 | hdl-access = free | url-access = subscription }} {{refend}}
==External links== {{Commons category|Río de la Plata}} {{EB1911 Poster|Plata, Rio de la|Río de la Plata}} *[https://www.un.org/Depts/los/LEGISLATIONANDTREATIES/PDFFILES/TREATIES/URY-ARG1973MB.PDF Treaty between Uruguay and Argentina concerning the Rio de la Plata and the Corresponding Maritime Boundary (19 November 1973)] *[http://www.wdl.org/en/item/1101 Paraguay, or the Province of the Rio de la Plata, with the Adjacent Regions Tucamen and Santa Cruz de la Sierra] is a map from 1616 depicting the area *[http://www.wdl.org/en/item/235 "An Account of a Voyage up the River de la Plata, and Thence over Land to Peru: With Observations on the Inhabitants, as Well as Indians and Spaniards, the Cities, Commerce, Fertility, and Riches of That Part of America"] from 1698 *{{Cite NIE|wstitle=Plata, Rio de la|short=x}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Plata, Rio De La}} Category:Río de la Plata Category:Rivers of Argentina Category:Rivers of Uruguay Category:Argentina–Uruguay border Category:International rivers of South America Category:La Plata basin Category:Border rivers Category:Estuaries of South America Category:Rivers of Buenos Aires Province Category:Rivers of Canelones Department Category:Rivers of Colonia Department Category:Rivers of Maldonado Department Category:Rivers of Montevideo Department Category:Rivers of San José Department Category:Temperate South America