View source for Pampas

{{Short description|South American lowlands}}
{{Redirect|Pampa|other uses|Pampa (disambiguation)|and|Pampas (disambiguation)}}
{{More citations needed|date=December 2006}}
{{Infobox settlement
| name                    = Pampas Plain
| native_name             = 
| native_name_lang        = <!-- ISO 639-2 code e.g. "fr" for French. If more than one, use {{lang}} instead -->
| settlement_type         = [[Plain]]
| image_skyline           = SerraGeralI.jpg
| image_alt               = 
| image_caption           = Landscape in the Pampas at eye level in Brazil
| image_flag              = 
| flag_alt                = 
| image_seal              = 
| seal_alt                = 
| image_shield            = 
| shield_alt              = 
| nickname                = 
| motto                   = 
| image_map               = Map_for_the_Pampas_region.svg
| map_alt                 = 
| map_caption             = Approximate location and borders of the Pampas encompassing the southeastern area of South America bordering the Atlantic Ocean 
| pushpin_map             = 
| pushpin_label_position  = 
| pushpin_map_alt         = 
| pushpin_map_caption     = 
| coordinates             = {{Coord|35|S|62|W|type:landmark_dim:1000000|display=inline,title}}
| coordinates_footnotes   = 
| coordinates_region      = 
| subdivision_type        = Countries
| subdivision_name        = {{Flag|Argentina}}<br />{{Flag|Brazil}}<br />{{Flag|Uruguay}}
| subdivision_type1       = [[Provinces of Argentina]]
| subdivision_name1       = *[[Buenos Aires Province|Buenos Aires]]
*[[Santa Fe Province|Santa Fe]]
*[[Córdoba Province (Argentina)|Córdoba]]
*[[Entre Ríos Province|Entre Ríos]] 
*[[La Pampa Province|La Pampa]]
| subdivision_type2       =  [[Federative units of Brazil|States of Brazil]]
| subdivision_name2       = *[[Rio Grande do Sul]]
| subdivision_type3       = 
| subdivision_name3       = 
<!-- ALL fields with measurements have automatic unit conversion -->
<!-- for references: use <ref> tags -->
| area_footnotes          = 
| area_urban_footnotes    = <!-- <ref> </ref> -->
| area_rural_footnotes    = <!-- <ref> </ref> -->
| area_metro_footnotes    = <!-- <ref> </ref> -->
| area_magnitude          = <!-- <ref> </ref> -->
| area_note               = 
| area_water_percent      = 
| area_rank               = 
| area_blank1_title       = 
| area_blank2_title       = 
<!-- square kilometers -->
| area_total_km2          = 1,200,000
| area_land_km2           = 
| area_water_km2          = 
| area_urban_km2          = 
| area_rural_km2          = 
| area_metro_km2          = 
| area_blank1_km2         = 
| area_blank2_km2         = 
<!-- hectares -->
| area_total_ha           = 
| area_land_ha            = 
| area_water_ha           = 
| area_urban_ha           = 
| area_rural_ha           = 
| area_metro_ha           = 
| area_blank1_ha          = 
| area_blank2_ha          = 
| length_km               = 
| width_km                = 
| dimensions_footnotes    = 
| elevation_footnotes     = 
| elevation_m             = 160
| population_footnotes    = 
| population_total        = 44,399,835
| population_as_of        = 
| population_density_km2  = auto
| population_demonym      = 
| population_note         = 
| timezone1               = 
| utc_offset1             = 
| timezone1_DST           = 
| utc_offset1_DST         = 
| website                 = <!-- {{URL|example.com}} -->
| footnotes               = 
}}

The '''Pampas''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|p|æ|m|p|ə|z}}; from [[Quechuan languages|Quechua]] {{lang|qu|pampa}} 'plain'), also known as the '''Pampas Plain''', are fertile [[South America]]n low [[grassland]]s that cover more than {{Convert|1,200,000|km2|sqmi|abbr=}} and include the [[Argentina|Argentine]] [[Provinces of Argentina|provinces]] of [[Buenos Aires Province|Buenos Aires]], [[La Pampa Province|La Pampa]], [[Santa Fe Province, Argentina|Santa Fe]], [[Entre Ríos Province, Argentina|Entre Ríos]], and [[Córdoba Province, Argentina|Córdoba]]; all of [[Uruguay]]; and [[Brazil]]'s southernmost [[Federative units of Brazil|state]], [[Rio Grande do Sul]]. The vast plains are a [[natural region]], interrupted only by the low Ventana and Tandil hills, near [[Bahía Blanca]] and [[Tandil]] (Argentina), with a height of {{convert|1300|m|ft|0|abbr=on}} and {{convert|500|m|ft|0|abbr=on}}, respectively. This ecoregion has been changed by humans, especially since the release of animals like cattle, pigs, and especially sheep onto these plains.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Van Ausdal |first=Shawn |last2=Wilcox |first2=Robert W. |date=2013 |title=Hoofprints: Ranching and Landscape Transformation |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/26241137 |journal=RCC Perspectives |issue=7 |pages=73–80 |issn=2190-5088}}</ref>

The climate is temperate, with [[precipitation (meteorology)|precipitation]] of {{convert|600|to|1200|mm|in|1|abbr=on}} that is more or less evenly distributed throughout the year, making the soils appropriate for [[agriculture]]. The area is also one of the distinct physiography provinces of the larger [[Paraná River|Paraná]]–[[Paraguay River|Paraguay]] plain division.

It is considered that the limit of the Pampas plain is to the north with the [[Atlantic Forest]] and the [[Gran Chaco|Great Chaco Plain]], to the west with the [[Sierras Pampeanas|Pampas Mountains]] and the [[Cuyo (Argentina)|Cuyo Region]], and to the south with [[Patagonia]].

==Topography==
[[Image:Estação_Ecológica_do_Taim.jpg|thumb|220px|left|[[Taim Ecological Station]], in the southernmost of [[Rio Grande do Sul]] (near the [[Atlantic Ocean]]), Brazil, is an example of flat topography with wetlands.]]

This region has generally low elevations, whose highest levels generally do not exceed {{convert|600|m|ft}} in altitude. The coastal areas and most of the Buenos Aires Province are predominantly plain (with some [[wetland]]s) and the interior areas (mainly in the southern part of the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul and Uruguay) have low ranges of hills (like [[Serras de Sudeste]] in Brazil and [[Cuchilla Grande]] in Uruguay). Low hills covered by grasslands are called ''coxilhas'' ({{IPA|pt|koˈʃiʎɐs}}) in Portuguese and ''cuchillas'' ({{IPA|es|kuˈtʃiʝas}}) in Spanish, and it is the most typical landscape of the countryside areas in the northern parts of the Pampas. The highest elevations of the Pampas region are found in the [[Sierra de la Ventana (mountains)|Sierra de la Ventana mountains]], in the southern part of Buenos Aires Province, with {{convert|1,239|m|ft}} at the summit of [[Cerro Tres Picos]].

[[File:Casa_y_montaña.jpg|thumb|250px|The [[Sierra de la Ventana (mountains)|Ventana mountains]] ranges are the most important system in the Pampas Plain.]]

==Climates==
{{See also|Climate of Argentina|Climatic regions of Argentina|Climate of Uruguay|Climate of Brazil}}
The climate of the Pampas is generally temperate, gradually giving way to a more [[humid subtropical climate]] in the north (''Cfa'', according to the [[Köppen climate classification]], with a ''Cwa'' tendency (drier winters) in the northwestern edge); a cold [[semi-arid climate]] (''BSk'') on the southern and western fringes (like [[San Luis Province]], western La Pampa Province and southern Buenos Aires Province); and an [[oceanic climate]] (''Cfb'') in the southeastern part (in the localities of [[Mar del Plata]], [[Necochea]], Tandil and the Sierra de la Ventana mountains, Argentina). Summer temperatures are more uniform than winter temperatures, generally ranging from {{convert|28|to|33|C|F}} during the day. However, most cities in the Pampas occasionally have high temperatures that push {{convert|38|C|F}}, as occurs when warm, dry, northerly winds blow from southern Brazil, northern Argentina or [[Paraguay]]. Autumn arrives gradually in March and peaks in April and May. In April, highs range from {{convert|20|to|25|C|F}} and lows from {{convert|9|to|13|C|F}}. The first frosts arrive in mid-April in the south and late May or early June in the north.

[[Image:Coxilhas.jpg|thumb|250px|right|''Coxilhas'' (low hills covered by grasslands) in [[Morro Redondo]], Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil]]

Winters are generally mild, but cold waves often occur. Typical temperatures range from {{convert|12|to|19|C|F}} during the day, and from {{convert|1|to|6|C}} at night. With strong northerly winds, days of over {{convert|25|C}} can be recorded almost everywhere, and during cold waves, high temperatures can be only {{convert|6|C}}. Frost occurs everywhere in the Pampas, but it is much more frequent in the southwest than around the Parana and Uruguay Rivers. Temperatures under {{convert|&minus;5|C}} can occur everywhere, but values of  {{convert|&minus;10|C}} or lower are confined to the south and west. Snow almost never falls in the northernmost third and is rare and light elsewhere, except for exceptional events in which depths have reached {{convert|30|cm|abbr=on}}. Springs are very variable; it is warmer than fall in most areas (especially in the west) but significantly colder along the Atlantic. Violent storms are more common as well as wide temperature variations: days of {{convert|35|C}} can give way to nights of under {{convert|5|C|F}} or even frost, all within only a few days.

Precipitation ranges from {{convert|1400|mm}} in the northeast to about {{convert|400|mm}} or less in the southern and western edges. It is highly seasonal in the West, with some places recording averages of {{convert|120|mm|in}} monthly in the summer, and only {{convert|20|mm|in}} monthly in the winter. The eastern areas have small peaks in the fall and the spring, with relatively rainy summers and winters that are only slightly drier. However, where summer rain falls as short, heavy storms, winter rain falls mostly as cold drizzle, and so the amount of rainy days is fairly constant. Very intense [[thunderstorm]]s are common in the spring and summer, and it has among the most frequent lightning and highest [[Atmospheric convection|convective]] cloud tops in the world.<ref>{{cite journal |last = Zipser |first = E. J. |author2=C. Liu |author3=D. J. Cecil |author4=S. W. Nesbitt |author5=D. P. Yorty |title = Where are the Most Intense Thunderstorms on Earth? |journal = Bull. Am. Meteorol. Soc. |volume = 87 |issue = 8 |pages = 1057–1071 |date = 2006 |doi = 10.1175/BAMS-87-8-1057 |bibcode = 2006BAMS...87.1057Z |s2cid = 51044775 |url = http://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/25be/36d3baa2ce69e696c6826524124590209031.pdf |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200806042511/http://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/25be/36d3baa2ce69e696c6826524124590209031.pdf |archive-date = 2020-08-06 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last = Virts |first = Katrina S. |author2=J. M. Wallace |author3=M. L. Hutchins |author4=R. H. Holzworth |title = Highlights of a New Ground-Based, Hourly Global Lightning Climatology |journal = Bull. Am. Meteorol. Soc. |volume = 94 |issue = 9 |pages = 1381–91 |date = 2013 |doi = 10.1175/BAMS-D-12-00082.1 |bibcode = 2013BAMS...94.1381V |s2cid = 73647974 |doi-access = free }}</ref> The severe thunderstorms produce intense [[hail]]storms, both [[flood]]s and [[flash flood]]s, and the most consistently active [[tornado]] region outside the central and southeastern US.<ref>{{cite journal |last = Rasmussen |first = Kristen L. |author2=M. D. Zuluaga |author3=R. A. Houze Jr. |title = Severe convection and lightning in subtropical South America |journal = Geophys. Res. Lett. |volume = 41 |issue = 20 |pages = 7359–66 |date = 2014 |doi = 10.1002/2014GL061767 |bibcode = 2014GeoRL..41.7359R |doi-access = free }}</ref>

===Climate charts===
Climate charts for different locations of the Pampas:

{{climate chart|[[Bagé]], Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil (1981-2010)
|18.1|29.7|125.0
|17.9|28.6|130.7
|16.9|27.5|102.6
|13.9|23.9|161.3
|10.9|20.0|150.8
|8.6|17.4|131.7
|7.9|17.0|132.3
|9.1|19.3|106.3
|10.1|20.2|111.1
|12.7|23.3|129.7
|14.6|26.1|118.9
|16.7|28.7|113.2
|float=left
|clear=none
|source=[http://www.inmet.gov.br/portal/index.php?r=clima/normaisclimatologicas INMET]
}}

{{climate chart|[[Santa Vitória do Palmar]], Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil (1981-2010)
|18.2|27.7|83.2
|18.1|27.1|153.6
|17.0|26.3|121.1
|13.8|23.2|120.9
|10.6|19.4|124.8
|8.1|16.4|114.6
|7.4|15.6|114.7
|8.1|17.2|103.4
|9.5|18.3|88.5
|12|21.4|78.7
|14|23.8|79.2
|16.2|26.2|85.2
|float=left
|clear=none
|source=[https://portal.inmet.gov.br/normais Instituto Nacional de Meteorologia]
}}

{{climate chart|[[Buenos Aires]], Argentina (1981-2010)
|20.1|30.1|138.8
|19.2|28.7|127.1
|17.7|26.8|140.1
|13.8|22.9|119.0
|10.7|19.3|92.3
|8.1|16.0|58.8
|7.4|15.3|60.6
|8.8|17.7|64.2
|10.3|19.3|72.0
|13.3|22.7|127.2
|15.9|25.6|117.3
|18.4|28.5|118.9
|float=left
|clear=none
|source=[https://ssl.smn.gob.ar/dpd/observaciones/estadisticas.txt Servicio Meteorológico Nacional (Argentina)]
}}

{{climate chart|[[Punta del Este]], Uruguay (1961-1990)
|18.1|25.2|75.4
|18.4|25.1|84.8
|17.6|24.0|79.3
|14.9|21.2|84.0
|12.1|18.2|91.4
|9.5|14.8|80.3
|8.7|14.4|90.3
|8.8|14.7|93.9
|9.9|16.0|93.1
|11.4|18.4|85.0
|14.1|21.0|86.8
|16.4|23.8|66.6
|float=left
|clear=none
|source=[http://worldweather.wmo.int/094/c00326.htm WMO]
}}
{{clear}}

{{climate chart|[[Viedma]], Argentina (1981-2010)
|14.7|29.4|31.4
|14.1|28.3|43.0
|12.0|25.3|54.1
|7.8|20.9|41.8
|4.7|16.3|28.8
|2.4|13.1|25.6
|1.5|12.8|26.0
|2.3|15.1|22.3
|4.0|17.5|25.2
|7.1|21.4|30.3
|10.1|25.0|23.6
|12.9|27.9|21.3
|float=left
|clear=none
|source=[https://inta.gob.ar/sites/default/files/datos_climaticos_valle_inferior_periodo_1965_2017_1.pdf Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria]
}}

{{climate chart|[[Coronel Suárez]], Buenos Aires, Argentina (1981-2010)
|13.8|28.7|112.3
|12.7|27.4|80.4
|11.1|24.8.0|95.9
|7.0|20.4|70.9
|3.8|16.1|47.4
|1.3|12.7|22.1
|0.4|12.3|28.5
|1.4|14.9|32.4
|3.4|17.1|58.1
|6.6|20.3|99.7
|9.3|23.9|74.3
|12.0|27.4|84.1
|float=left
|clear=none
|source=[https://ssl.smn.gob.ar/dpd/observaciones/estadisticas.txt Servicio Meteorológico Nacional]
}}

{{climate chart|[[Laboulaye, Argentina|Laboulaye]], Córdoba, Argentina (1991-2020)
|16.9|30.4|130
|15.9|29.1|108.4
|14.2|27.3|128.6
|10.8|23.4|88.7
|7.6|19.4|39.0
|4|16.3|13.2
|2.8|15.7|13.5
|3.9|18.7|17.5
|6.6|21.3|48.4
|10.5|23.8|102.3
|13.5|27.3|106.0
|15.8|29.9|137.4
|float=left
|clear=none
|source=[https://repositorio.smn.gob.ar/handle/20.500.12160/2506 Servicio Meteorológico Nacional]
}}
{{clear}}

== Wildlife ==
Human activity has caused major changes to the wildlife of the Pampas. Most big or medium-sized species such as [[Puma (genus)|puma]], [[Rhea (bird)|rhea]], [[Capybara]], [[plains viscacha]], [[maned wolf]],<ref>{{cite iucn |author=Paula, R.C. |author2=DeMatteo, K. |year=2015 |errata=2016 |title=''Chrysocyon brachyurus'' |volume=2015 |article-number=e.T4819A88135664 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2015-4.RLTS.T4819A82316878.en |access-date=27 March 2024}}</ref> [[marsh deer]] and [[Pampas deer]] have [[Habitat destruction|lost their habitats]] especially due to the spread of agriculture and [[ranch]]ing, and are only present in very few relicts of the pampas.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.worldwildlife.org/ecoregions/nt0806|title=Southern South America: Southeastern Argentina {{!}} Ecoregions {{!}} WWF|website=World Wildlife Fund|language=en|access-date=2020-02-20}}</ref> Other species, such as the [[Jaguar]] and the [[Guanaco]] have been extirpated completely from this habitat.

Mammals that are still fairly present include [[Brazilian guinea pig]], [[southern mountain cavy]], [[coypu]], [[Pampas fox]], [[Geoffroy's cat]], [[lesser grison]], [[white-eared opossum]], [[Molina's hog-nosed skunk]], [[big lutrine opossum]], [[big hairy armadillo]] and [[southern long-nosed armadillo]]. Bird species of the pampas are [[ruddy-headed goose]], [[pampas meadowlark]], [[hudsonian godwit]], [[maguari stork]], [[white-faced ibis]], [[white-winged coot]], [[southern screamer]], [[dot-winged crake]], [[curve-billed reedhaunter]], [[burrowing owl]]<ref>{{cite iucn |author=BirdLife International. |year=2016 |title=''Athene cunicularia'' |volume=2016 |article-number=e.T22689353A93227732 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22689353A93227732.en |access-date=27 March 2024}}</ref> and the rhea.<ref>{{cite web | title=Southern South America: Eastern Argentina | website=World Wildlife Fund | url=https://www.worldwildlife.org/ecoregions/nt0803 }}</ref><ref>{{cite iucn |author=Bernal, N. |year=2016 |title=''Dolichotis salinicola'' |volume=2016 |article-number=e.T6786A22190451 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-2.RLTS.T6786A22190451.en |access-date=27 March 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite iucn |author=Black-Decima, P.A. |author2=Vogliotti, A. |year=2016 |title=''Mazama gouazoubira'' |volume=2016 |article-number=e.T29620A22154584 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-2.RLTS.T29620A22154584.en |access-date=27 March 2024}}</ref> Invasive species include the [[European hare]], [[wild boar]] and [[house sparrow]].<gallery widths="175" heights="175">
File:Venado-Campo-UY-Ozotoceros bezoarticus.jpg|[[Pampas deer]]
File:Lobo_Guará_andando.jpg|[[Maned wolf]]
File:Greater rhea (Rhea americana).JPG|[[Greater rhea]]
File:Southern screamer (Chauna torquata).JPG|[[Southern screamer]]
File:Hylocharis chrysura (Taim Ecological Station, RS, Brazil).jpg|[[Gilded sapphire|Gilded hummingbird]]
File:Crouching Puma (13728011803).jpg|[[Cougar]]
File:Lycalopex gymnocercus.jpg|[[Pampas fox]]
File:Capivara(Hydrochoerus_hydrochaeris).jpg|[[Capybara]]
</gallery>
Most of the large mammals native to the Pampas became extinct as part of the [[Late Pleistocene extinctions|end-Pleistocene extinction event]] of most large mammals across the Americas around 12,000 years ago. Notable former inhabitants of the Pampas include the giant elephant-sized [[ground sloth]] ''[[Megatherium americanum]]'', alongside the smaller (though still large) ground sloths ''[[Mylodon]]'', ''[[Glossotherium]]'', ''[[Lestodon]]'' and ''[[Catonyx]]'', the rhinoceros like ungulate ''[[Toxodon]]'', the camel-like ''[[Macrauchenia]]'', the [[gomphothere]] (elephant-relative) ''[[Notiomastodon]],'' the equines ''[[Equus neogeus]]'' and ''[[Hippidion]]'', and the [[glyptodonts]] (car-sized relatives of armadillos) ''[[Glyptodon]]'' and ''[[Doedicurus]],'' the bear ''[[Arctotherium]]'' and the sabertooth cat ''[[Smilodon populator]],'' the apex predator of the ecosystem and one of the largest cats ever, larger than any living big cat.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Lopes |first1=Renato Pereira |last2=Pereira |first2=Jamil Corrêa |last3=Kerber |first3=Leonardo |last4=Dillenburg |first4=Sérgio Rebello |date=August 2020 |title=The extinction of the Pleistocene megafauna in the Pampa of southern Brazil |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0277379120303905 |journal=Quaternary Science Reviews |language=en |volume=242 |article-number=106428 |doi=10.1016/j.quascirev.2020.106428|bibcode=2020QSRv..24206428L |url-access=subscription }}</ref><gallery widths="175" heights="175">
File:Megatherium_size_comparison.png|Life restoration of the giant ground sloth ''[[Megatherium americanum]]'', a former denizen of the Pampas
File:Toxodon skeleton in BA.JPG|Skeleton of ''[[Toxodon]]''
File:Doedicurus.png|Skeleton of ''[[Doedicurus]]''
File:Stegomastodon CCB.JPG|Skeleton of ''[[Notiomastodon]]''
File:South_American_Pleistocene_equids.jpg|Life restoration of the equine ''[[Hippidion]]''
File:Macrauchenia_patachonica_Life_Reconstruction.png|Life restoration of ''[[Macrauchenia]]'', a camel-sized ungulate
File:Smilodon pop2 15.jpg|Life restoration of ''[[Smilodon populator]]''
</gallery>

== Vegetation ==
{{Regions of Argentina}}
The dominant [[vegetation]] types are grassy [[prairie]] and grass [[steppe]], in which numerous species of the grass genus ''[[Stipa]]'' are particularly conspicuous. "Pampas grass" (''[[Cortaderia selloana]]'') is an iconic species of the Pampas. Vegetation typically includes perennial [[grasses]] and [[herb]]s. Different strata of grasses occur because of gradients of water availability.

Why the pristine pampas were treeless regions has been much debated. Perhaps the most commonly cited explanation is seasonal drought.  A related hypothesis is that grass roots compete for water and exclude tree seedlings.  The effect might be increased by heavy, clayed soils which limit tap root penetration. Other causes that have been proposed are fires set by indigenous peoples for land clearance; the existence of heavy-bodied herbivores; and that the pampas are relicts of drier past climates.  These explanations have been criticised as mono-causal.  "Overall, we expect that low propagule pressure, abiotic stresses, biotic resistance, and a paucity of specific symbionts might have exerted a synergistic influence in slowing tree invasion rates ".<ref>{{cite book|last1=Chaneton|last2=Mazía|last3=Batista|last4=Rolhauser|last5=Ghersa|first1=Enrique J.|first2=Noemí|first3=William B.|first4=Andrés G.|first5=Claudio M.|year=2012|chapter=Woody Plant Invasions in Pampa Grasslands: A Biogeographical and Community Assembly Perspective|title=Ecotones Between Forest and Grassland|editor-last=Myster|editor-first=Randall W.|publisher=Springer|isbn=978-1-4614-3797-0|doi=10.1007/978-1-4614-3797-0_5|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/236019573|access-date=7 May 2024}}, pp. 122-7.</ref>

The [[World Wildlife Fund]] divides the Pampas into three distinct [[terrestrial ecoregion|ecoregions]]. The [[Uruguayan Savanna]] lies east of the [[Paraná River]], and includes all of Uruguay, most of Entre Ríos and [[Corrientes Province|Corrientes]] provinces in Argentina, and the southern portion of Brazil's state of Rio Grande do Sul. The [[Humid Pampas]] include eastern Buenos Aires Province, and southern Entre Ríos Province. The [[Semi-arid Pampas|Semiarid Pampas]] includes western Buenos Aires Province and adjacent portions of Santa Fe, Córdoba, and La Pampa provinces. The Pampas are bounded by the drier [[Argentine Espinal]] grasslands, which form a semicircle around the north, west, and south of the Humid Pampas.

Winters are cold to mild, and summers are hot and humid. Rainfall is fairly uniform throughout the year but is a little heavier during the summer. Annual rainfall is heaviest near the coast and decreases gradually further inland. Rain during the late spring and summer usually arrives in the form of brief heavy showers and thunderstorms. More general rainfall occurs the remainder of the year as [[cold front]]s and storm systems move through. Although cold spells during the winter often send nighttime temperatures below freezing, [[snow]] is quite rare. In most winters, a few light snowfalls occur over inland areas.

Central Argentina boasts a successful agricultural business, with crops grown on the Pampas south and west of [[Buenos Aires]]. Much of the area is also used for [[cattle]], and more recently, to cultivate vineyards in the [[Buenos Aires wines|Buenos Aires wine region]]. The area is also used for farming honey using European [[Honey bee|honeybees]]. These farming regions are particularly susceptible to [[flooding]] during thunderstorms. The weather averages out to be {{convert|60|°F|°C|order=flip}} year-round in the Pampas.

[[File:Pampas BsAsProv.png|780x369px|thumb|center|Pampas Plain in Buenos Aires province, Argentina]]

==History==
[[File:Calfulcurá.jpg|thumb|Mapuche war party led by [[Calfucurá]]]]
[[File:Otto E. F. Grashof - Parada en el campo.png|thumb|[[Gaucho]]s were nomadic horsemen on the grasslands of Argentina and Uruguay]]
The arrival of the [[Spanish colonization of the Americas|Spanish colonists]] on the shores of the [[Río de la Plata]] and the foundation of the city of [[Buenos Aires]] during the 16th century resulted in the first confrontations between the Spanish and the local Indian tribes, mainly the [[Querandí]]. At the end of the 18th century, the [[Salado River (Buenos Aires)|Salado River]] was the boundary between the civilizations.

As European settlers established frontier settlements, the [[Mapuche]] raided them for cattle or looted their produce. They drove off the cattle stolen in the incursions (''[[Malón|malones]]'') and took them to Chile through the mountain passes. The main trail for this trade was called [[Camino de los chilenos]]. In the 1870s, to counter the cattle raids (and the native peoples on horseback), Argentina constructed a deep trench, called [[Zanja de Alsina]], to prevent cattle from being driven west and establish a boundary to the raiding tribes in the pampas. 

The ''[[lonco]]'' [[Calfucurá]] crossed the [[Andes]] from Chile to the Pampas around 1830. In 1859, Calfucurá attacked [[Bahía Blanca]] in Argentina with 3,000 warriors. In 1872, Calfucurá and his 6,000 warriors went across the Pampas to attack the cities of [[General Alvear, Mendoza|General Alvear]], [[Veinticinco de Mayo, Buenos Aires|Veinticinco de Mayo]] and [[Nueve de Julio, Buenos Aires Province|Nueve de Julio]]. After this, Argentina organized its forces to launch what it called the [[Conquest of the Desert]].

===Immigration===
{{Seealso|Great European immigration wave to Argentina}}
Starting in the 1840s but intensifying after the 1880s, European immigrants began to migrate to the Pampas, first as part of government-sponsored colonization schemes to settle the land and later as tenant farmers "working as either a sharecropper or as paid laborers for absentee landowners"<ref>{{cite book | last=Meade | first=Teresa A. | author-link=Teresa Meade | title=History of Modern Latin America: 1800 to the Present | publisher=Wiley | series=Wiley Blackwell Concise History of the Modern World | year=2016 | isbn=978-1-118-77248-5}}</ref> in an attempt to make a living for themselves.

However, many immigrants eventually moved to more permanent employment in cities as industrialization picked up after the 1930s. As a result, Argentina's immigration history in Buenos Aires Province is typically associated with cities and urban life, unlike in Entre Ríos Province and Santa Fe Province, where European immigration took on a more rural profile.

==See also==
{{Portal|South America}}
* [[Semi-arid Pampas|Dry Pampa]]
* [[Humid Pampas]]
* [[Estancia]]
* [[Universidade Federal do Pampa|Federal University of Pampa]]
* [[Gaucho]]
* [[José Froilán González]] – the "Pampas Bull"
* [[Luis Ángel Firpo]] – the "Wild Bull of Las Pampas"
* [[Médanos (geology)|Médanos (dunes)]]
* [[Buenos Aires wines|Médanos wines]]
* [[Riograndense Republic]]
* [[Southern Cone]]
* [[South American jaguar]]

==References==
{{Reflist|colwidth=30em}}

==External links==
{{NSRW Poster|Pampas}}
* [https://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9058184/the-Pampas "The Pampas"] in the ''[[Encyclopædia Britannica]]''

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Pampas| ]]
[[Category:Agriculture in Argentina]]
[[Category:Climate of Argentina]]
[[Category:Ecoregions of Argentina]]
[[Category:Ecoregions of Brazil]]
[[Category:Ecoregions of South America]]
[[Category:Environment of Rio Grande do Sul]]
[[Category:Grasslands of Argentina]]
[[Category:Grasslands of Brazil]]
[[Category:Grasslands of South America]]
[[Category:Grasslands of Uruguay]]
[[Category:Landforms of Buenos Aires Province]]
[[Category:Landforms of Córdoba Province, Argentina]]
[[Category:Landforms of Entre Ríos Province]]
[[Category:Landforms of La Pampa Province]]
[[Category:Landforms of Rio Grande do Sul]]
[[Category:Landforms of Santa Fe Province]]
[[Category:Landforms of Uruguay]]
[[Category:Natural history of Uruguay]]
[[Category:Natural regions of South America]]
[[Category:Neotropical ecoregions]]
[[Category:Physiographic provinces]]
[[Category:Plains of Argentina]]
[[Category:Plains of Brazil]]
[[Category:Plains of South America]]
[[Category:Quechua words and phrases]]
[[Category:Regions of Argentina]]
[[Category:Temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands]]