21 countries
Map of Latin America in 1500
LearnNo rush: we show you each piece and you go over what you miss.Learn capitalsEach capital in its place, five at a time.CountriesWe give you the name: tap it on the map!CapitalsWe give you the capital: tap its country!QuizArea, population, capitals and borders of the time: 4 options and one shot!
Latin America in 1500, before the Europeans
Latin America around 1500: Columbus had reached the Caribbean only in 1492, and the continent was still governed by its own peoples, from vast empires of millions of people to small chiefdoms and nomadic bands.
- The Aztec Triple Alliance, with Tenochtitlan, dominated central Mexico; Tlaxcala and the Tarascan State of Michoacán were never conquered by it.
- Tawantinsuyu, the Inca Empire, ran along the Andes from southern Colombia to central Chile, with Cusco as its capital, and was at its largest just before the Spanish arrived.
- The Maya of Yucatán and Guatemala lived in city-states and kingdoms, no longer in the great cities of the classic age, and the Taíno chiefdoms of the Caribbean were the first to meet the Europeans.
- Where there was no state (the Amazon, the Chaco, the Pampas, Patagonia) the map shows peoples, marked “no capital”: their lands had no borders drawn as lines, so the outlines are only a rough guide and the population figures are estimates the quiz uses only to compare.
How it is made: the coasts are today's, and the borders follow today's divisions where they match those of the time and, where they do not, lines drawn by hand, good to about 10 km. Shapes: Natural Earth (public domain). Compare with today's Central & South America →
Facts: the map of Latin America in 1500
- On the map
- 21 countries · 1 is so small it shows as a dot (complete level)
- Largest country
- Amazonian peoples (≈ 5,400,000 km²)
- Smallest country
- Tlaxcala (confederation) (≈ 4,000 km²)
- Most populous country
- Tawantinsuyu (Inca Empire) (≈ 10,000,000 people)
- Least populous country
- Peoples of Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego (≈ 100,000 people)
- Northernmost capital
- No capital (Peoples of northern Mexico (Chichimeca and others))
- Southernmost capital
- No capital (Peoples of Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego)
- Most neighbours
- Amazonian peoples and Aztec Triple Alliance: 6
- No land border with another country on the map
- Taíno chiefdoms
Fun facts: Map of Latin America in 1500
- Tenochtitlan had perhaps 200,000 people around 1500, one of the biggest cities in the world.
- The Inca had no writing or wheeled carts: they kept accounts with knotted cords, the quipu.
- Cusco, the Inca capital, lies about 3,400 metres above sea level.
- Columbus landed in 1492 on a Bahamian island inhabited by Taíno people, the Lucayans.
- The legend of El Dorado came from the Muisca of Colombia and a gold ceremony on Lake Guatavita.
Test yourself
Which was the largest country of Latin America in 1500?
Amazonian peoples.
Which was the most populous country of Latin America in 1500?
Tawantinsuyu (Inca Empire).
Which was the smallest country of Latin America in 1500?
Tlaxcala (confederation).
Which was the least populous country of Latin America in 1500?
Peoples of Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego.
Learn the countries of Latin America in 1500 → Geography fun facts →
More maps
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The countries on the map of Latin America in 1500, and what they are today
Today's countries that cover a good part of its land, largest share first.
Show the table (21)
| Country | Capital | Today part of |
|---|---|---|
| Amazonian peoples | No capital | Brazil, Bolivia, Peru, Colombia, Ecuador |
| Aztec Triple Alliance | Tenochtitlan | Mexico |
| Carib and Arawak peoples (Orinoco and the Guianas) | No capital | Venezuela, Colombia, Guyana, Suriname, France, Trinidad and Tobago |
| Chibchan chiefdoms of the Isthmus | No capital | Panama, Costa Rica |
| Chiefdoms of Central America (Pipil, Lenca, Nicarao) | No capital | Nicaragua, Honduras, El Salvador |
| Chiefdoms of northern Colombia (Tairona, Zenú, Quimbaya) | No capital | Colombia |
| Gê (Tapuia) peoples of the Brazilian interior | No capital | Brazil |
| Guaraní peoples | No capital | Paraguay, Brazil, Argentina |
| K'iche' and Kaqchikel kingdoms | Q'umarkaj (Utatlán) | Guatemala, Mexico |
| Mapuche and Picunche | No capital | Chile, Argentina |
| Maya city-states of Yucatán | Maní | Mexico, Belize |
| Mixtec and Zapotec kingdoms | Zaachila | Mexico |
| Muisca Confederation | Bacatá (Bogotá) | Colombia |
| Peoples of northern Mexico (Chichimeca and others) | No capital | Mexico |
| Peoples of Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego | No capital | Argentina, Chile |
| Peoples of the Chaco and the Pampas (Guaycuru, Querandí, Charrúa) | No capital | Argentina, Uruguay |
| Taíno chiefdoms | No capital | Dominican Republic, Haiti, Jamaica |
| Tarascan State (Purépecha) | Tzintzuntzan | Mexico |
| Tawantinsuyu (Inca Empire) | Cusco | Peru, Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Ecuador, Colombia |
| Tlaxcala (confederation) | Tlaxcala | Mexico |
| Tupi-Guarani peoples of the coast | No capital | Brazil |