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Tinto Maps #30 - 20th of December 2024 - South America

Hello and welcome to one Friday of map-loving! Today is special, as our 30th Tinto Maps, devoted to South America, is the last regular one. This implies that it won’t be the last, though - we plan to have two Tinto Maps Extra on December 27th and January 3rd, and then we will continue with the Tinto Maps Feedback posts as we progress with the map review.

But don’t worry, as on the first post-Christmas Friday, January 10th, I will start a new series, Tinto Flavor, in which we will show the content that we have been working on for Project Caesar. And I promise you, it’s a ton of content, so you will have to play the game in due time to discover it all…

Before we continue, one note: as we're covering a lot of lands today, don't be shy and ask for more detailed maps of the type you want wherever you want them, and I'll try to provide in the replies. And now, let’s start with the South American maps:

Countries
Countries1.png

Countries2.png

Countries3.png

Most of the countries that can be considered being at a State-wise level in 1337 are mostly concentrated in what is today Perú. We have famous ones, as the Chimu or Chincha, and you may also see a tiny country, Qusqu, which would later become the Inca Empire, the long-term goal while playing in the region.

Dynasties
Dynasties1.png

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SoPs
Sops1.png

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There are SoPs spread out all across the continent, making for a really interesting mix in the Peruvian area (again). We're already thinking about how to better visualize the coexistence of these two types of countries in the political layer, but it's going to take us some more time to get there.

Locations
Locations1.png

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One note: I'll talk a bit more in-depth about the design of the Brazilian locations if you scroll down, in the Terrain section.

Provinces
Provinces1.png

Provinces2.png

Provinces3.png


Areas
Areas1.png

Areas2.png


Terrain
Climate.png

Topography.png

Vegetation.png

There are huge geographical variations in South America, being one of the most diverse continents. One of the things I wanted to discuss is that we've tried to portray the Mata Atlântica, the original forest cover that was present in Brazil before the Portuguese colonized it, and a different type of land exploitation started. In this regard, we've been reading the feedback of the Brazilian community, and I want to say that our intention here is to portray the most realistic situation for 1337. That said, we've already internally discussed that we may reduce its scope, so it doesn't look so extreme, but we'd like to hear your opinions about it. And here you have one of the images that we used as a reference for it, so you get a good grasp of our intention:
Mata Atlantica.png

Development
Development.png


Natural Harbors
Harbors1.png

Harbors2.png


Culture
Cultures1.png

Cultures2.png

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Cultures4.png

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The jewel of the crown in this region. We've tried to portray the Pre-Columbian cultural diversity of these lands as accurately as possible, and, well, here you have the results.

Languages
Languages1.png

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Languages3.png

And the languages that group these cultures.

Religions
Religions1.png

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Religions3.png

We've tried to do our best to group the cultural religions of South America into different groups, based on common believes, gods, rituals, etc. Let us know what do you think of them. Oh, also, the Inti religion has its own differentiate mechanics, which we'll explain in the future!

Raw Goods
Raw Materials1.png

Raw Materials2.png

Raw Materials3.png

Raw Materials4.png

Lots of different natural resources in South America. You may note that some are more common compared to other regions (such as Medicaments). We've also been tweaking the color of different resources, with the help of your feedback!

Markets
Markets.png

The green market is centered around Teyuna, and the red one is Chinchay.

Population
Some issues with the map of the region this week (sadly), so let's discuss the numbers. The total in the continent is 10.22M, divided this way:
  • 1.66M in Colombia
  • 1.2M in Brazil
  • 5.07M in Andes
  • 877K in Chaco
  • 1.4M in La Plata
And that's all for today! We hope that you enjoyed the Tinto Maps series! We've definitely done, and it's also greatly helping us to make Project Caesar a much better game, with your help and feedback. Cheers!
 
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Well, I'm back to continue with my proposals, and as I said on the previous post, this time is from the Biobio river to the south.

As for the Butalmapu, I think it's alright, as it depicts the historical alliances that existed over there.

To the south of there, I have my criticisms:
  1. As of right now, Willimapu is just 6 locations for an area around 74000km2 (for reference, the Netherlands is around 41000 km2).
  2. Another point, that I've seen other people talk about too, is the Chubut area, which shouldn't go into the locations on the Pacific.
  3. And finally, I'd like to point out the Aonikenk, Karukinka and Yaghan Provinces, which wouldn't allow to (kind of) depict the current limits between Chile and Argentina down there.
So, to solve those points I propose:

For the Pikunwillimapu + Caurakawin locations:

image4.png


I divided it into 15 locations + a new wasteland (hills), which might look weird being on the coast, but it's quite visible from space:
1737296806410.png

Because of these many locations, it might be better to divide it up into two new Areas:
  • Locations in Pikunwillimapu -> Calle Calle/Valdivia Area
    • Mariquina
    • Ainil (or Valdivia)
    • Trumao
    • Panguipulli
    • Futrono
    • Ranco
  • Locations in Caurakawin -> Reloncaví Area
    • Osorno
    • Purranque
    • Quelenhue (I made that name up, based on Frutillar but in mapudungun, for "place/land of strawberries")
    • Carelmapu
    • Puyehue
    • Llanquihue
    • Calbuco (which could turn into Puerto Montt)
    • Hornopirén (or Piren as you have it currently)
    • Cochamó (or Reloncaví, a new location, as there is a land conection over there, which would make Puel Co not touch the pacific)
1737297444318.png

All there three Areas, Butalmapu, Valdivia/Calle Calle, and Reloncaví would make up a new Area. I don't really have a name for it, as there's not one that fits perfectly, so it could be something like Willi Ngulumapu (as Willimapu by itself is just from Valdivia to the south, without the Butalmapu).

Some comments about this proposal:
  • Culture should be, Mapuche in Butalmapu, and Williche in Valdivia and Reloncaví areas. It doesn't make sense to have, from north to south) Mapuche then Williche then Mapuche again.
  • Natural harbors in at least Valdivia and Calbuco/Puerto Montt. And maybe consider one, but min level, for Trumao, as it used to have a waterway which used to give Osorno access to the sea by boat.


Another thing I'd like to point out now that we're talking about these lands, is the SoPs and Countries present in Chile.
Based on what I've read on other Tinto Maps, it doesn't make sense that only the Mapuche in Butalmapu are present are SoPs, because all of the pikunche/mapuche/huilliche lands were pretty much similar in their political structure, being more of less family clans. So for this, I'd make all of the Ngulumapu "populated", with Pikunche, Mapuche and Huilliche SoP. For some flavour, it could be that the locations pop up as countries if there's a settled neighbour, specially with the Pikunches in the Quillota/Aconcagua/Mapocho locations with the arrival of the Inka, as they recieved a lot of inka/diaguita influence in terms of economic, infrastructure and political development, even being able to fight the Inka back and even resist the Spanish for some time (not for as long as the mapuche though).

As for the nothern lands, the Diaguita (Pazioca), Licanantay and Aimara peoples should be settled countries, as they did have the political development, having chiefs and infrastructure and all that.


Now back to the geographic proposals.
South of there, I propose a new Chiloé Area:

image5.png


This new Area would be made up by 4 provinces, Chiloé, Paine, Kawesqar (or Eastern Tierra del Fuego) and Yaghan (or Southern Tierra del Fuego).
Here I would pay attención to Kawesqar and Yaghan, to re-arrange the limits of locations, to give a somewhat better depiction of how the borders between Chile and Argentina look like.
Culture wise, I would rename the Guaiteca culture to Chono.


That's all for now, thank you for your time!
 
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Well, I'm back to continue with my proposals, and as I said on the previous post, this time is from the Biobio river to the south.

As for the Butalmapu, I think it's alright, as it depicts the historical alliances that existed over there.

To the south of there, I have my criticisms:
  1. As of right now, Willimapu is just 6 locations for an area around 74000km2 (for reference, the Netherlands is around 41000 km2).
  2. Another point, that I've seen other people talk about too, is the Chubut area, which shouldn't go into the locations on the Pacific.
  3. And finally, I'd like to point out the Aonikenk, Karukinka and Yaghan Provinces, which wouldn't allow to (kind of) depict the current limits between Chile and Argentina down there.
So, to solve those points I propose:

For the Pikunwillimapu + Caurakawin locations:

View attachment 1245028

I divided it into 15 locations + a new wasteland (hills), which might look weird being on the coast, but it's quite visible from space:
View attachment 1245030

Because of these many locations, it might be better to divide it up into two new Areas:
  • Locations in Pikunwillimapu -> Calle Calle/Valdivia Area
    • Mariquina
    • Ainil (or Valdivia)
    • Trumao
    • Panguipulli
    • Futrono
    • Ranco
  • Locations in Caurakawin -> Reloncaví Area
    • Osorno
    • Purranque
    • Quelenhue (I made that name up, based on Frutillar but in mapudungun, for "place/land of strawberries")
    • Carelmapu
    • Puyehue
    • Llanquihue
    • Calbuco (which could turn into Puerto Montt)
    • Hornopirén (or Piren as you have it currently)
    • Cochamó (or Reloncaví, a new location, as there is a land conection over there, which would make Puel Co not touch the pacific)
View attachment 1245033

All there three Areas, Butalmapu, Valdivia/Calle Calle, and Reloncaví would make up a new Area. I don't really have a name for it, as there's not one that fits perfectly, so it could be something like Willi Ngulumapu (as Willimapu by itself is just from Valdivia to the south, without the Butalmapu).

Some comments about this proposal:
  • Culture should be, Mapuche in Butalmapu, and Williche in Valdivia and Reloncaví areas. It doesn't make sense to have, from north to south) Mapuche then Williche then Mapuche again.
  • Natural harbors in at least Valdivia and Calbuco/Puerto Montt. And maybe consider one, but min level, for Trumao, as it used to have a waterway which used to give Osorno access to the sea by boat.


Another thing I'd like to point out now that we're talking about these lands, is the SoPs and Countries present in Chile.
Based on what I've read on other Tinto Maps, it doesn't make sense that only the Mapuche in Butalmapu are present are SoPs, because all of the pikunche/mapuche/huilliche lands were pretty much similar in their political structure, being more of less family clans. So for this, I'd make all of the Ngulumapu "populated", with Pikunche, Mapuche and Huilliche SoP. For some flavour, it could be that the locations pop up as countries if there's a settled neighbour, specially with the Pikunches in the Quillota/Aconcagua/Mapocho locations with the arrival of the Inka, as they recieved a lot of inka/diaguita influence in terms of economic, infrastructure and political development, even being able to fight the Inka back and even resist the Spanish for some time (not for as long as the mapuche though).

As for the nothern lands, the Diaguita (Pazioca), Licanantay and Aimara peoples should be settled countries, as they did have the political development, having chiefs and infrastructure and all that.


Now back to the geographic proposals.
South of there, I propose a new Chiloé Area:

View attachment 1245034

This new Area would be made up by 4 provinces, Chiloé, Paine, Kawesqar (or Eastern Tierra del Fuego) and Yaghan (or Southern Tierra del Fuego).
Here I would pay attención to Kawesqar and Yaghan, to re-arrange the limits of locations, to give a somewhat better depiction of how the borders between Chile and Argentina look like.
Culture wise, I would rename the Guaiteca culture to Chono.


That's all for now, thank you for your time!
I just hope that the location you added has the name of the indigenous people, not the colonizers. I don't want to see a huge San Salvador or any other San xxx when I expand the Inca Empire to the south.
 
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I just hope that the location you added has the name of the indigenous people, not the colonizers. I don't want to see a huge San Salvador or any other San xxx when I expand the Inca Empire to the south.
Indeed! In all my proposals I used the native names, and put the Spanish proposal/equivalent next to it, like in Mapocho (Santiago) ^^
The only ones I couldn't do that are Cobija, as I couldn't find the origin of the name, and Mejillones, as it just... appeared lol an aproximation would be Mussels (Mejillones in english) but in a native language. Another possibility is Angamos (geografical feature) or Itata-Gualaguala (nature preserve nearby), but again, no idea where those names come from :(
 
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Indeed! In all my proposals I used the native names, and put the Spanish proposal/equivalent next to it, like in Mapocho (Santiago) ^^
The only ones I couldn't do that are Cobija, as I couldn't find the origin of the name, and Mejillones, as it just... appeared lol an aproximation would be Mussels (Mejillones in english) but in a native language. Another possibility is Angamos (geografical feature) or Itata-Gualaguala (nature preserve nearby), but again, no idea where those names come from :(
Thank you very much for your work!!!
 
I am copying, as much as possible, names in Tupi (the most relevant native language in Brazilian toponyms) based on my map, already postes here on the forum.

The quote is not update here, and I've made updates to the lists, please go to the original postes to avoid mistakes (which I did, but I'm correcting it (mainly because the map wasn't ready when TM was released))

São Paulo:
Well, let's look the locations names. This table will be updated.

1-SÃO PAULO

Name Nowdays (PT)Old Full Name (PT)Other Old Name (PT)Tupi Name
(Em PT)
Tupi Name ObservationOther Observation
São PauloSão Paulo dos Campos de Piratiinga-Pirá-tininga--
Mogi das CruzesSantana de Mogi das Cruzes-Mboîa--
Santo Amaro--Yaribá-tybaMeans the river were is the location.Today a neigborhood.
Santa Isabel--Aru-îáMeans other city in the same location.-
São Roque--Karumbé'yMeans the river were is the location.-
AtibaiaSão João Batista de Atibaia-Ty-baiaMost likely conjecture.-
Bragança PaulistaConceição do Jaguari-Îaguara'y-Paulista was add to differentiate from the location of the same name in Pará.
Santana de Parnaíba--Pan-n-eeí-boAccording to the city hall website. I was unable to confirm the etymology.-
JacareíNossa Senhora da Conceição da Paraíba-Îakare'y--
TaubatéSão Francisco das Chagas de Taubaté-Taba-ybatéName of ancient village-
PindamonhangabaNossa Senhora do Bonsucesso de Pindamonhangaba-Pindá-monhang-aba--
LorenaNossa Senhora da Piedade-Guâ-upa-caréName of the lagoon there, by which the natives identified it.

In Puri (other native language): Ipacaré
-
CunhaNossa Senhora da Coneição de Cunha-IndaîáMeans the mountain near city.-
ParaibunaSanto Antônio de Paraibuna-Pará-y-b'una--
São Sebastião--Mboîa-su-kangaMeans the river wew is the city.-
São Vicente--Gu-ai-ógOne of the possible spellings. It refers to the island of São Vicente, named as such by the natives.-
ItanhaémNossa Senhora da Conceição de Itanhaém-Itá-nhe'eng--
CananéiaSão João Batista de Cananéia-Mara-tayamaFirst name registered for the location. Supposedly, it references a native leader.-
EldoradoNossa Senhora da Guia de XiriricaXiriricaXiri'rika-It was known as Xiririca until its name was changed to Eldorado, in reference to the legend, ignore the modern name.
SorocabaNossa Senhora da Ponte de Sorocaba-Sorok-aba--
Capão BonitoNossa Senhora da Conceição do ParanapanemaCapão Bonito do ParanapanemaParaná-panema--
ApiaíSanto Antônio das Minas de Apiaí-Apya'y--
ItapevaItapeva da FaxinaFaxinaItá-peba--
ItapetiningaNossa Senhora dos Prazeres de Itapetininga-Itá-peba-tiningaThere is no exact consensus on this.-
Itaporanga
(Rio Verde at map)
São João Bastita do Rio VerdeItaporangaItá-porang-a--
Botucatu--Ybytyra-katu--
São Pedro do TurvoSão Pedro de Campos Novos do Turvo----
Lençois Paulista--Ubá-tetamaThis name was given later, for a limited period of time.Paulista was add to differentiate from the location of the same name in Bahia.
BauruEspírito Santo da Fortaleza-Mbai-yurúI was unable to confirm the etymology.-
AraraquaraSão Bento de Araraquara-Arara-kûara--
Tanabi--Tanambi--

Rio de Janeiro e Espírito Santo:
RIO DE JANEIRO

Name NowdaysOld NameOther Old NameTupi NameTupi Name noteOther note
ParatyNossa Senhora dos Remédios de Paratiy-Parati'y--
ItagauíSão Francisco Xavier de Itaguaí-Itá-kûa'y--
Rio de JaneiroSão Sebastião do Rio de Janeiro-Gwa-nã-ba'raOne of possible name's interpretation to Guanabara the bay that was called in portuguese "Rio de Janeiro"-
Belford RoxoSanto Antônio de JacutingaIpueras'Y-puér-aIt's named 'Y-ûasu at the map, that is the neigborhood city names (Nova Iguaçú) but I've find a name to the proper location.-
Magé--Magêpe-mirímThis name was give by portugueses and don't mean a geographic fact, but "little chief". By corruption of the word becames Magé.-
BaependiSanta Maria de Baependi-Mba'epina'yOne of possible etimologies.-
ItajubáBoa Vista de Itajubá-ItagybáI can't confirm etimology-
Camanducaia--Komandá-kaî-a--
Pouso AlegreBom Jesus de Matozinhos do Mandu-Mandi-yu--
JacuíSão Carlos do Jacuí-Îaku'y--
MuriaéSão Paulo do Muriaé-Meruim-huIt's a Puri (also caled Coroado) word. One of possible etimology. Not Tupi.Note: Puri place names are very rare.
BonfimBonfim do Paraopeba-Pará-popeba--
ItapecericaSão Bento do Tamanduá-Itá-pewá-siríka--
PiumhiNossa Senhora do Livramento do Piui-Piawa'yPiuí like to be a corruption of Piauí, following historical maps.-

ESPÍRITO SANTO

Name NowdaysOld NameOther Old NameTupi NameTupi name noteOther note
GuarapiriSanta Maria de GuaraparimAldeia dos ÍndiosGuará-parim--
Afonso CláudioSão Sebastião do (Alto) Guandu-NandúIt is most likely that the name Guandu (in the case of Espírito Santo) comes from the rhea bird, nandú in Tupi.-
Conceição da BarraBarra de São MateusBarra do CricaréKiri-kerêI can't confirm the name.-
ManhuaçuSão Lourenço do Manhuaçu-Aman'y-ûasu--
CaratingaSão João do Caratinga-Aka'ratin'ga--
Itanhomi--Itá-nhomima--
Itaobim--Itá-oby--
Itabira
(Wrongly called Itatira at map)
Itabira de Mato Dentro-Itá-byra--
PitanguiVila Nova do Infante das Minas de Pitangui-Pitanga'y--
Ipatinga--Upaba-tingauncertain toponym in fact-
MatipóSão João do Matipó-Abati-poóThe truth is that we have lost the etymology of the name. The official and traditional version says that it would mean powdered corn (Match-poo), which makes no sense grammatically or historically. Corn in Tupi corresponds to Abati, which phonetically could easily be corrupted as "mati", however, "pó" means hand or vine which would not make sense, however "poó" in Tupi corresponds to a verb that indicates harvest. This way we can construct, without damaging tradition or etymology, the possible original word without damaging grammar.-
MutumSão Manuel de Mutum-Mî'tũMeans a bird.-
PirangaGuarapiranga-Gûará-pirang-aThe original native name was the most long one.-
CaetéVila Nova da Rainha-Ka'a-eté--

Porto Seguro:
PORTO SEGURO

Name TodayOld nameAnother old nameTupi nameNote on the name TupiAnother note
AraçuaíPebble-Araso'iá'y--
Jequitinhonha--Îekeí'ty-nhonga-aOral tradition says that the toponym refers to the baskets used for fishing, however I have not found any etymology. Using a Tupi-Portuguese dictionary I reconstructed several configurations of which this was the most satisfactory, meaning "river where (fishing) baskets are placed"-
Itaobim--Ita-bye--
BocaiúvaJequitai-Mokaîe'yba--
Jaíba--Ya'yba--
Guaiacuí--Gûaîaku'y--
Itarantim--Itá-ran-tĩAgain, I found no sources. The reconstruction is "a stone that looks like a beak". You can find some sources say it means crown stone or three-pointed stone, but neither makes sense etymologically.-
Brasília de MinasSantana de Contendas-Ubá'y-This location is caled Utuí at the map. It's wrong, the name at the map should be Ubaí, witch one is the Tupi name. The Portuguese colonial name should be. Contendas.

Ancient Tupi was spoken without major dialectal variations on the Amazon River in southern Brazil (which can be deduced from the fact that in the first years of colonization two Tupi grammars were developed, in Pará and São Paulo, without contact between each other and have great similarities). The first priests and traders learned ancient Tupi to relate to the natives, maintaining the original structure of the language. Over the years, the settlers who arrived did the same, but without maintaining the rigor of the original language, changing the meaning of some words, removing a large part of the nasalization and reducing the number of vowels, this resulted in two "general" languages: of the south and the north. Finally, the Tupi was suppressed by the Marquis of Pombal, as part of the centralization of the kingdom, in such a way that much knowledge about it was lost. During the years of romanticism, Tupi was resumed, however, at that time, the difference between ancient Tupi, the general languages, current Tupi (spoken by remaining groups of natives) and Guarani was unknown. The study of ancient documents written by the first and "lost" priests allowed the study of these differences and the understanding of the evolution of the language, leading to the first works of etymological study, which led to the naming of new cities with Tupi terms.

The distinction between Old Tupi terms used by natives before colonization (such as Piratininga) and those given during colonization are lost in a gradient (and by the corruption of the original names), until some differences become clear (such as in Paraná instead of Paranã). In the times of romanticism, we began to observe some correct terms (as if they were native, which are better than using a Portuguese term, in relation to MT) and some incorrect terms (perhaps because there was little knowledge, which became a matter of ( try) to correct or not). Most of the etymologies I used are from Eduardo Navarro, in his book "Dicionário de Tupi antigo" where he states that whenever possible he used old documents to confirm the etymology and when he couldn't, he guessed what he considered most likely (in this case, I seek check the history of the municipality, confirming or not the possibility of the name, which led to not using some of its terms as in Piumhi). Other smaller cases bring the etymology of Teodoro Sampaio, through "Tupi na geografia nacional" which also has flaws. Whenever possible I update the etymology, as I discover a new factor in my research. *When I finish this list I will be fluent in old Tupi (hue hue).
 
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I think that's a bit late to comment on this, but I only read this now
As many other people commented here, this wastelands in south and southeastern Brazil needs to go, sure it was a dense rainforest, but it was relatively well inhabited by natives and it's a extremely fertile soil that we call as "Terra roxa" (It's called this way because the Italian immigrants called it as "Terra Rossa" and it's similar to the Portuguese name for purple "Roxa")
The wastelands in Minas gerais are located exactly where the largest gold and gems deposits were located in the real life, this region was the richest and most populated area of Brazil during the late 17th, 18th centuries and for at least half of the19th when it was surpassed by São Paulo during the coffee cycle, also It is known as an important cultural center known for it's barroque art and architecture and even it was the birthplace of an Brazilian national identity and independence movement with figures like Joaquim José da Silva Xavier.

São Paulo for instance was very poor during early and mid colonial times relying mostly on the capture of natives to be selled as slaves to the northeast plantations and to gold and gems mines in Minas Gerais however it was a region with a lot of settlements founded by the bandeirantes expeciallly alongside riverbanks.

Now just a fun fact, this regions in southeast and south Brazil weren't extensevely settled because Brazil had an export oriented economy, exporting sugar, cotton and gold so it was more cost efficient to only develop the coast and as Portugal had a very small population compared to other colonial powers it only had resources to settle the coastline, so it was more of a human resources + economic efficient thing rather than difficulty to settle Mata Atlantica.
And finishing I have 3 questions.
Do you plan allowing slaves to work in mines too? . For example in Brazil during the mining cycle it's exactly when Brazil had it's largest influx of slaves, exactly to work in the mines.
How will European cultures such as Portuguese, Spanish, English, etc... Turn into proper new world cultures like Mexican, Yankee, Brazilian, Platinean etc?

Will there be any form of an organical racial/culture mixing to represent pops like the mestizos in Spanish America and pardos in Brazil?

Sorry for the long comment and congratulations for your work in the game, I am already super hyped.
 

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The Tshon language and the Kenos religion are Patagonian, the Kenos religion is from the Selknam and Kenos was a Selknam God, I think the main one, the Tshon language is the main language of the Patagonian peoples, from that language come its Tehuelche variants, etc.

In the image that I put where the Charrua and Mapuche peoples appear, in what is today the Province of Buenos Aires you can put "Pampas peoples" that were DIFFERENT from the Mapuches that later invaded the eastern part of Patagonia and the entire Pampas region.
 
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I think the map should need changes:
Remove most wastelands in Aysén region. You have the Carretera Austral which can be treated as a highway for explorers.
Lots of locations should change: Vuriloche can be divided in San Carlos de Bariloche, Nahuel Huapi, Blest, Correntoso, Traful and Pilcaniyeu, plus most wastelands west of Nahuel Huapi Lake should be removed.
Add more places like Buenos Aires, Valdés, Puerto Madryn, Comodoro Rivadavia, Ushuaia, etc.
 
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Perhaps a Viru location could be added between Chao and Chan Chan? It was an Inca huamani and a Spanish poblacion.

I'd recommend taking the -s and -z off of locations like Yamaparaez, Zenues, Calvas, Ayahuacas etc. As it's a Spanish language suffix.

The location of Sana should have a ñ or at least become Sanya. Though wikipedia says the Mochica name is Çañap.

I definitely hope to see a lot of Spanish dynamic location names in South America, at least the major regional capitals.

I think you should consider opening up the modern Peruvian Loreto region, then the Gobernacion de Maynas. It wasn't very important/relevant, but there were missions set up there, some of which were destroyed by natives. Here are some 18th-century settlements:
maynas.png
 
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Llanos Feedback

Another feedback from me, this time focusing on the Llanos region. I used several sources, including a transcription from “Cualidades y riquezas del Nuevo Reino de Granada”, a manuscript written by the priest Basilio Vicente de Oviedo circa 1760, and John Pinkerton’s map from 1811. It’s less accurate than the Codazzi one, but this one is from the EU period and Pinkerton used a lot of old sources when he made it, so it reflects better the colonial times.

I’m including a relief map too so my reasoning when deciding the borders is clearer:

llanos_satelite.jpg

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  1. Macaguane: I kept the “Guadual” location mostly the same but changed the name. Macaguane was one of the names used for the Hitnü people that inhabit this location that during the 18th century was the site of the Jesuit mission of “San Francisco Javier de Macaguane”. The culture of this location and Tame should be changed from Jirajara to “Hitnü”. Its borders are the Arauca and the Ele rivers.
  2. Arauca: No changes at all.
  3. Tame: Another location that doesn’t change much. The flat area between the Ele and Casanare rivers.
  4. Tamara: This location contains a portion of the Llanero foothills, a unique region currently underrepresented in the game. Támara is the most important settlement in this location, but the La Salina municipality is its most noteworthy feature because it contains a mountain pass to access the Tundama location (that decreased in importance because of its ruggedness but was used frequently during the early colonial period) and salt mines. The culture of this location should be U’wa. The borders of this location are the valley of the Cravo Norte river to the north and the Pauto river to the south.
  5. Chire: Santa Rosa de Chire was one of the five cities in the Llanos mentioned by Oviedo (the other four are Santiago de la Atalaya, San Juan de Pore, San Martin del Puerto [I suppose it’s the Guayupes location] and San Juan de los Llanos [Papamane, I guess]). It’s bordered by the Casanare and Ariporo rivers.
  6. Pore: San Juan de Pore was a relatively large and wealthy city, and for a long time the most important in the region. It’s bordered by the Ariporo and Pauto Rivers.
  7. Guanapalo [San Regis]: The western part of the Chire and Pore locations. Its indigenous name comes from the Guanapalo river, close to the mouth of the Pauto river. Its Spanish comes from the Jesuit mission of San Francisco Regis located along this river. Its borders are the Guanapalo, Casanare and Meta rivers.
These seven locations form a province. Its name could be Pore.
  1. Cuisana [Labranzagrande]: Another foothill location with a mountain pass, this time connecting with the Suamox location. One of the most frequent routes to get to the Llanos. I named it after the Cuisiana river. It includes most of mountains between the Upia river around Sabanalarga and the Pauto river, except for the hills were Nunchía is located. This location was mainly agricultural, so its RGO can be maize or fruits.
  2. Nunchía [San José de Cravo]: Nunchía is an old settlement, but it didn’t become relevant enough to be mentioned until the late 18th century. In this zone several settlements were founded but they were often ephemeral due to the harshness of the land. San José de Cravo appears in the Pinkerton map but according to Oviedo it didn’t exist anymore by that time. Cravo and Tocaría are other possible names for this location. Its borders are the Pauto and Cravo rivers.
  3. Yopo [Santiago de la Atalaya]: I kept the Yopo name for this location because it sounds nice. Santiago de la Atalaya for a long time was the capital of the province and the most important city due to its closeness to the Labranzagrande pass and the presence of large Jesuit haciendas. It doesn’t exist anymore because it was moved several times and changed names because the original location had endemic diseases, seasonal fires and an oppressive weather due to the lack of wind. It’s bordered by the Cravo and Cusiana rivers.
  4. Tauramena: I kept the name but reduced its size. Its borders now are the Cusiana and Upia rivers, and somewhere along the Bujumena creek.
  5. Upia [Candelaria de Medina]: I extended this location to the north alongside the Upia river, to include the current San Luis the Gaceno municipality, but I also reduced it to the northwest so the entirety of the Guavio province is part of the Guatavita (Chocontá) location. I suppose this location is supposed to represent the town of Medina, because it was the only relevant one during the period, but since the name Medina might be used elsewhere, Candelaria de Medina, the name of the parish, can be used instead. Unlike the other locations that are all flatlands or mountains, this one can have the Hills location type.
  6. Casimena: The western part of the Tauramena and Yopo locations, bordered by the Meta river. Named after the Casimena river, this was one of the sites of the Jesuit mission of San Luis Gonzaga.
  7. Surimena [San Miguel de Macuco]: The western part of the Nunchía location. Named after the Surimena river, this location was the site of the Jesuit Mission of San Miguel de Macuco that was named often and appears in the Pinkerton map.
These seven locations form the province of Cusiana, but the name can be something else. I considered the name Achaguas because it was used in EU4, but there’s a municipality with that name in the Apure State of Venezuela.

Additionally, since Orocué is actually located in the Surimena location, I changed the name of the current Orocué location to Arimena, after the Arimena creek and the San Miguel de Arimena settlement, that seems to have been a small port at least during the Independence War.

With these changes the provinces in my proposed Casanari area would be:

  • Atanari (lacking a better name). The locations in this province are Guajobos (I propose Carichana, after the name of the mouth of the Meta river according to Humbolt and Pinkerton, and the Jesuit mission of Santa Teresa de Carichana that was located close to it), Atanari, Maracoa, Cumaribo, Arimena and Jiramena (originally Metica, I think I previously proposed the name Guayuriba, but this one is consistent with the surrounding locations and was used occasionally until the late 19th century).
  • Guayupe: Humadea (I believe Apiay is a better name for it), Guayupe, Papamane, Ariari and Guaviare.
  • Cusiana
  • Pore
The locations of Caguan, Chaira, Andaki, Mocoa and Sibundoy (originally Inga) would be their own location as part of the Bacatá area. I previously proposed Caquetá as the name but Caguan, Mocoa, Andaki or Ayrico (a name sometimes used in old maps for the jungle) work too.


Guatavita:

This is a more detailed map of my proposal for the Upia location, my proposed location to the east of Chunsa (I originally suggested the name Garagoa, but now I believe Sumindoco, after the chieftain of the village where the Somondoco emerald mines were located, is a better name) and a new proposal for the current Chocontá location.

guatavita_choconta.jpg


In a similar line to my previous suggestion of renaming the Bosa location to Chía, I consider that Guatavita is more deserving of a location than Chocontá, since Guatavita was the second Zybyn most important in the Zipazgo, it’s where the sacred lake of Guatavita that probably inspired the El Dorado myth is located and the Chocontá chieftain was under Guatavita. However, since Chocontá was a large town thaat remained relevant during the period of the game, perhaps a new location for it could be added. My proposed location is a little small, but would be roughly the same size as Funza so it should be fine.

The Chocontá location would contain all of the current Almeidas province of the Cundinamarca department, while Guatavita would contain all of the El Guavio province plus the Tocancipá and Gachancipá municipalities. I also added the Guatanfur Páramo as a wasteland between these locations. Guatavita should have the Mountain terrain type due to the geography of the Guavio region, its RGO can be a metal or mineral. Chocontá should have the Plateau terrain type and its RGO can be Potaoes, Legumes, Clay or Stone.
 
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Venezuelan Andes Feedback:

This is a dynamic zone with its own culture within Venezuela, and the current arrangement of the locations doesn't do it justice at all. I focused on portraying its mountainous character by modifying some borders and adding mountain passes, while making as little changes as possible. I followed modern borders in some parts, but mostly I followed the borders of the 1840 maps by Agustin Codazzi.

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* Atole: The current name of this location isn't appropriate because Jáuregui is a Basque surname. However, finding a good name was hard because this is a location with a low population density and most of the settlements there are quite recent, but it's too large compared with its surroundings to just get rid of it. I picked Atole because according to a few sources (Diccionario Geografico-Historico de las Indias Occidentales, written by Antonio de Alcedo in 1786, and John Pinkerton's map of South America from 1818), it was the name of the marshes and lakes in the mouth of the Catatumbo River. Tarra (after the Tarra River) or Tibú (after the Tibú river, since the city is a recent one) could work too. Its borders are the Catatumbo river until the mouth of the Zulia, the Zulia River until Puerto Santander, then it should follow roughly the current Colombia - Venezuela border until the mouth of the Tibú river, from there on it could follow the edge of the Mountains of Perijá. This location should be a wetland.

* Zulia: I picked this name instead of Yukpa because it refers to a specific zone, and several towns in this location have added Zulia to their name, the most important one during the game's period being San Carlos de Zulia, but since it's a late foundation, I didn't use it for its Spanish name.

* Mocotí [Bailadores]: A considerably old city, founded in 1601 and a strategic point in the middle of the pass that runs through the Andes. Mocotíes is the name of the valley where it's located. I included the plains to its north because the location was too small, following the border of the Tachira State to the north and the Chama River to the east. It's surrounded by step mountains, so I kept the wasteland south of it. I also added some of the mountains north to it as a wasteland.

* Humogria [La Grita]: La Grita was one of the most important cities in this zone. I included the Queniquea Valley in this location and the cities north of Lobatera, including San Juan de Colón and La Fría, but I kept San Antonio and Urreña as part of San Cristobal. I added the mountains east of San Cristobal as a wasteland. According to tradition Humogria was the name of the indigenous people of this location.

* Cania [San Cristobal de Táchira]: Not many changes, except it’s a little slimmer than the original. Since I renamed the location that previously was Tachira, this can be called Tachira instead since it’s more recognizable than Cania. I also modified the borders of Cúcuta compared to my previous feedback to prevent direct access from Cania to Chinácota.

* Uribante [Pregonero]: Basically the same as the original Tachira location, except it’s not as isolated as before and the portions that are part of the current Merida State now belong to the Chama location. I also changed the southern border to only include the mountainous parts. Uribante is the river that runs through this location, unlike Tachira.

* Aricagua: The only changes are the name, and the fact that now it’s directly connected to Chama. I consider Aricagua to be a better name than Tapo since it’s the name of an actual settlement that has been around since the 16th century. When I drew the borders, I made it smaller by mistake, but it should be the same.

* Chama [Santiago de Mérida]: I limited this location to the mountainous areas, reduced the parts of the wasteland that are inhabited valleys to add them to this location, and included a part of the original Tachira location.

* Arapuey [San Antonio de Gibraltar]: I moved its southern border a little to the north so its northern border should move a little to the north. According to the map of Codazzi, the northern border of the Gibraltar Canton was the Misoa river around the current towns of Timoteo and Pueblo Nuevo. Gibraltar doesn’t exist anymore, but it was an important port that continued appearing in maps until the turn of the 20th century (e.g. the map of the United States of Venezuela made by Joseph Forest in 1890).

* Timotes: A small but relevant location since it’s the crossroad between Trujillo, Merida and Barinas. Timotes was founded in the early 17th century so it’s considerably old. This location also contains Mucuchíes, Pueblo Llano and Tuñame. Mucuchíes was more relevant and was the capital of the Muchuchíes Canton during the Gran Colombia era, so it could be an alternative name for this location.

* Boconó: The western part of the Trujillo location, a separate valley that you must cross to get to Guanare. Even though it’s an old settlement, mentions of it are sporadic. However, it was relevant enough to be its own canton.

With these changes my proposed provinces in northwest Venezuela would be:

  • Maracaibo (I consider that more familiar names are preferable for provinces and areas):
    • Marukaaya
    • Perija
    • Atole
    • Zulia
    • Arapuey
    • Cabimas
  • Coro (The name Paraguaná was used almost exclusively for the peninsula while Coro was often used for the whole province):
    • Paraguaná
    • Coro
    • Tucanca
    • Capatarida
    • Cariagua (I propose San Luis de Cariagua as a new location between Coro and Carora, to the south of the Sierras de San Luis hills)
  • Timotes:
    • Timotes
    • Chama
    • Humogria
    • Aricagua
    • Mocotí
    • Uribante
    • Cania (or Táchira)
  • Barquisimeto:
    • Barquisimeto
    • Carora
    • Mukas
    • Boconó
    • Gayon
    • Yaracuy
  • Barinas:
    • Barinas
    • Guanare
    • Guaritico
    • Acarigua
    • Tampacal
  • Apure:
    • Apure
    • Arechuna
    • Sarare
    • Suripa
    • Caparo (Caparo and Suripa probably should exchange places)
Additionally, I consider that the Guamontey province should be renamed to Guarico, Kuru Pana should be renamed to Cumana, and Orinucu to Orinoco.

As an unrelated note. After reading some documents from the early colonial time (including the Spanish translation of Viaggio e relazione delle Indie (1539-1553), written by the florentine traveler Galeotto Cei), I realized that Malambo, a tiny indigenous site that didn't have more than a few huts back then, was an important resting place when navigating the Magdalena river before going to Santa Marta or Cartagena. It's also present in the map "Divisiones coloniales de Tierra Firme, 1538" made by Manuel María Paz in 1890. So the name of the "Kamash" location should be changed to Malambo, and its culture should be changed to Mokaná.
 
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I don't think the so-called "life zones" are a good base for areas in Peru. They're way too wide and leave a weird disrepancy in size between some. For example: Chala, Puna, Altiplano are quite large compared to Suni + the Cusco one I can't quite make out. I would instead suggest viceroyal intendencias/gobernaciones/capitanias generales:

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intendancies.png

rio de la plata.png

audiencia de charcas.png

Huancavelica and Huamanga can be combined, being relatively small. A few proposals for pre-columbian names:

Arequipa = Chiribaya or Kunti
Trujillo = Chimu
Lima = Chincha or perhaps Pacha Kamaq/Ichma
Puno/La Paz = Colla
Chiquitos = Monkóx (the autonym of the Chiquitanos)
 
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1738885734541.png


Considering the granularity of the Quechua-speaking cultures, I think it would be a good idea to break down the Aimara culture into its subcomponents. This would be more in line with how ethnicity was seen in the area in pre-Columbian time. You already have many of them (Chuwi, Charka, Yampara, Chicha, Killaka, Kallawaya), so you just to finish the job by splitting off Canchi, Cana, Colla, Lupaca, Pacaje, Caranga, Sora, and Cara-Cara. And theoretically skipping a couple would not be a huge deal, as long as you have the major ones like Colla, Lupaca and Pacaje and don't leave a rump Aimara culture.
 
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So, I finished my big study and preposition of the region of today Rio Grande do Sul, the southernmost state of Brasil. I share here my findings and opinions in the following chapters, each in a single post. I'll be posting some specific critics about Braziler's and FleetingRain's maps in theirs respective threads.

1)History and context of the region up to 1800.
1.1 Notes about Names
1.2 Brief history
1.3 Briefier history of Rio Grande do Sul
1.4 On Natives

2)General considerations for the game
2.1 On the Mata Altântica vegetation
2.2 On local RGO

3)My vague map proposal
3.1 Guidelines for deciding the locations
3.2 My map
3.3 Location list and details

My Bibliography:
[1] KÜHN, Fábio.Breve História do Rio Grande do Sul. 4 ed. Porto Alegre: Leitura XXI, 2011.

[2] FLORES, Moacyr.História do Rio Grande do Sul. 9 ed.

Climate Rio Grande do Sul:
[3] Buriol GA, Estefanel V, Chagas ÁC de, Kuinchtner A. Relação da vegetação natural do Estado do Rio Grande do Sul com as disponibilidades climáticas. Ciênc Florest [Internet]. 2019Jan;29(1):233–42. Available from: https://doi.org/10.5902/1980509812382

Vegetation in Santa Catarina and ilustration of the mata atlântica vegetation:
[4] Mata Atlântica catarinense
A. R. Salerno, J.J.V. Müller. Agropecuária Catarinense, v.24, n.2, jul. 2011. page 34. Download: https://publicacoes.epagri.sc.gov.br/rac/issue/view/76

General Vegetation:
Mapa Série Brasil - Vegetação - 1:5.000.000 - 2004. 2004. IBGE. Available from: https://www.ibge.gov.br/geociencias/informacoes-ambientais/vegetacao/10872-vegetacao.html

Description of the above mentioned map:
[6] Manual técnico da vegetação brasileira : sistema fitogeográfico : inventário das formações florestais e campestres : técnicas e manejo de coleções botânicas : procedimentos para mapeamentos. 2012. IBGE. Available from: https://biblioteca.ibge.gov.br/index.php/biblioteca-catalogo?view=detalhes\&id=263011

Vegetation and Topography of this region:
Relatório Final do Inventário Florestal Contínuo do Rio Grande do Sul. http://coralx.ufsm.br/ifcrs/frame.htm

Map of the 1750s:
[7] Amérique méridionale : publiée sous les auspices de Monseigneur le duc d'Orléans / par le S[ieu]r d'Anville avec privilège. Anville, Jean-Baptiste d'. 1748. GE C 11339. Available from: https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b55000235x?rk=42918;4

Map of the 1750s used in the Madri treaty discussion and demarcation (see the red ligne). Not as precise as the above mentioned map, but that was a political decision of Portugal (although historians have determined that d'Anville's map was used as a partial source for this one despite the Portuguese crown explicit interdiction)
[8] MAPA dos confins do Brazil com as terras da Coroa da Espanha na America Meridional... 1749. 1 mapa ms, col, 60 x 54cm. em f. 70 x 64. Disponível em: http://objdigital.bn.br/objdigital2/acervo_digital/div_cartografia/cart1004807/cart1004807.pdf. Acesso em: 15 Jan. 2025. Disponível em: http://objdigital.bn.br/objdigital2/acervo_digital/div_cartografia/cart1004807/cart1004807.html. Acesso em: 15 Jan. 2025.

Macro and Micro regions and municipality borders:
 
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1)History and context of the region up to 1800.
1.1 Notes about Names

The naming is very complicated for this region because the natives did not keep written forms and the europeans had slow and confusing colonization. As a good example, the name of the original reductions from the 1620s/1630s are all but alien to anyone not in with a history degree. They don't mean anything to people today nor to the original natives. They were names given at some point and lost not long after. Other naming just was absolutely vague cause was given by Europeans that did not lived here and came by periodically. Some notes that I think are important:
  1. Patos: The lagoa dos Patos(Patos lake) was originally the lagoon the today Laguna, Santa Catarina. In the XVI and XVII centuries the southern coast of today Santa Catarina was the Patos region. Today this region has no relation to this name and the huge lagoon in Rio Grande do Sul is called Lagoa dos Patos. You could name the area or region os Santa Catarina's coast as Patos, but not a location please, it is VERY weird. It was called like this only when it wasn't colonized.
  2. Tape, Tapé, Tapes: Originated from the guarani word Chapê, it meant the river valleys of today Rio Grande do Sul, from Uruguay river to Caí river, but it's a vague definition and one that moved through history. This gave name to a part of the Escudo Rio Grandense (hilly formation in the center-south of Rio Grande do Sul), gave name to the natives and gave name to a city(Tapes) and, apparently was shifted to the name Patos, giving the Patos lagoon this name. As you can see, this basically gave name to lots of stuff that are not exactly close to one another. It could definitely be a name in game, but more as a region or province, not a location.
  3. Banda Oriental: Region east of the Uruguay river. Today Rio Grande do Sul and Uruguay.
  4. Rio Grande: means big river. Someone thought that the Patos Lagoon was a river (and it's very big) so gave it this name. Later the name was given to the city founded there and was associated with a Saint, Rio Grande de São Pedro. Finally, the name was used for the capitania(big regional administrative region) and ended being the name of the modern state.
  5. Pampas: grassland formation the starts in middle-south of Rio Grande do Sul and extends south to the middle of Argentina. Mostly flat or slightly hilly.
  6. River names are very good. They normally come from natives, so were likely used in 1300s. Main rivers also appear in 1750's maps, so even their old orthography can be obtained in [7] and [8].
1.2 Brief history
My basic source was "Breve História do Rio Grande do Sul" (Brief history of Rio Grande do Sul) by Fábio Kühn, 4th edition. I later found "História do Rio Grande do Sul" by Moacyr Flores, 9th edition and it served as a secondary source with more details. This text was basically a summary of the early half of those books. I also checked some things in other random sources, from wikipédia to Historia da Companhia de Jesus no Brasil, by Serefim Leite.

There was no big change population or political from the XIV to XVI century. In the XVI century, neither the Portuguese nor the Spanish established settlements in this region. This area was in the Spanish side of the Treaty of Tordesilhas and the Portuguese had no economical motive to advance at this point. They're most southern settlements were in São Vicente's capitania (basically today São Paulo state). The Spanish had conquered the Incas by the mid/end of the XVI century and founded Potosi by 1545. This served a good incentive to find a route from the Plata basin to Peru. This effort led the foundation of Buenos Aires in 1536 (and again in 1580), Assunção in 1537, Tucuman in 1565, Salta in 1582 and Ciudad Real del Guahyrá in 1556 (not an extensive list). So this colonization effort ignored the Banda Oriental, the region east of the Uruguay river.

By the end of the XVI century, this region started integrating in the Portuguese colonial economy by the export of captured natives. It is the start of the famous expeditions from mostly São Vicente's capitania with the intend to trade and capture natives for slave work (although slavery was illegal, they used some loopholes to "administrate" the native work(aka slavery)). Similar to the well known dynamic in Africa, the locals had an important part in capturing and selling the other natives, at least in the early period. An estimation of 70 to 80 thousand natives left the nowadays Santa Catarina's coast from 1627 to 1637, although most did not arrive alive in Portuguese capitanias. With time, this expeditions kept advancing south and west as the native population of the coast dwindled.

An note: Normally this expeditions are called Bandeiras, but the actual Bandeiras were literally private capital companies formed by the São Paulo governement around late 1620s to capture natives from the Guayrá and destroy the reductions there. This earlier expeditions were way less organized, but had a very similar purpose, capture natives and sell them in São Paulo to the portuguese colonies. Fábio Kühn doesn't even distinguishes them and Moacyr Flores name the early expeditions as "pombeiros". I don't know what term is more correct, so I kept the "bandeirantes" cause I have already written.

By 1580, Portugal fell under a Personal Union with Spain. The treaty of Tordesilhas frontier became less important, as both sides were under the same monarch. An economic integration of the Spanish and Portuguese colonial lands started. This was further developed by the downfall of the Potosi mining in early XVII century. This integration meant that the Banda oriental started serving as a way-point between São Vicente and other Portuguese colonies and Buenos Aires and the inner Spanish colonies. In the 1600s there were Portuguese and Spanish Jesuits attempts to colonize a big region of the Uruguay basin. The Portuguese sent expeditions to today Santa Catarina and the spanish had a major plan of colonizing east from Assunção. They eventually crossed the Uruguay river and founded numerous reductions in today Rio Grande do Sul. See wikipedia "Jesuit missions among the Guaraní" for an idea of the scale in the Gauyra region. In the south there were also other reductions. The vast majority of the missions failed partially or totally due to the bandeiras incursions that kept growing hungry for native slaves, that were, at this time, already becoming more hard to find. A very notable effect of this colonization failure was the abandon of large herds of cattle that found an appropriate climate and vegetation in the southern parts of Banda oriental (nowadays Uruguay). This became the Vacaria del Mar, an big natural herd of animals very sought after that shaped this regions economy(note: the origin of Vacaria do Mar is still questioned, but it was around this period). In 1641, the Jesuits finally had a decisive victory against the bandeirantes in the battle of M'Bororé. This marked the decline of the bandeiras expeditions and coincidentally the start of more ample colonization of the Banda Oriental.

Portugal regained independence from Spain in 1640, but amidst of conflicts in Europe, they did not manage to invest in the region. Later, the Spanish Jesuits made a second and more lasting attempt in colonizing the east side of the Uruguay river. They founded the Sete Povos das Missões (Seven People/Villages of the Reductions) between 1682 and 1706. At the middle to end of the century, the Campos de Viamão (Viamão fields) started to develop slowly. This region, that was already lacking natives due to the bandeiras, was occupied by large farms and pastures, with very low density of people and little official representation and organization.

By late XVII century, Portugal was finally able to turn they're attention to the local traders, that wanted to continue to profit from trade with Buenos Aires. This led to the foundation of Colônia do Sacramento in 1680. This Portuguese port profited greatly over the years from illegal trade with Buenos Aires and the Plata basin. It was largely inside the Spanish side of the Tordesilhas Treaty. Some years prior, in 1676, the Portuguese founded Laguna in the extreme end of the Tordesilhas treaty line. It served as an early starting point for the colonization of the region.

Generally, the first half of the XVIII century was a growth period for the region. The population in the Seven Reductions exploded to almost 40.000 by 1732, just to be reduced by half by a smallpox epidemic in the next decade. In 1727, the general-capitain of São Paulo ordered a road to be constructed connecting Viamão to Curitiba and Sorocaba for the transport of cattle. Colonia de Sacramento was captured in 1704/1705, but portugal regained it in the treaty of Utrecht and it was re-founded in 1715. It went trough a growth period mainly by the traffic and privateering. The Spanish tried to increase control by founding Montevideo in 1726, but failed to stop the illicit activities. Between 1735 and 1737, Colonia was surrounded by the Spanish and many of its inhabitants ran away to the regions of Viamão and to the newly founded village and Rio Grande de São Pedro. This colony was the first official Portuguese attempt to colonize in the region of today Rio Grande do Sul, contrary to the private unorganized colonization of Viamão, and it was motivated by the need to support Colonia that was under siege. It later became the first capital when the region became a capitania. The Freguesia de Viamão (Viamão Parish) was created in 1747 and became starting point of many smaller colonies in the region, such as Triunfo and Rio Pardo.

All this development was halted by many conflicts in the second half of the century. Such was the annoyance of Colônia to the Spanish, that they traded it for the hole region of today Rio Grande do Sul in the treaty of Madrid in 1750. It was the first treaty after the old Tordesilhas and it defined the general lines of today Brasil's borders. According to this treaty, the Seven Reductions, east of Uruguay river, were to be emptied and the land transferred to Portugal that would resettled it. The Jesuits and natives refused to leave and it lead to an open conflict with the Iberian Crowns, called the Guerra Guaranítica. It was one of the very few times in South American history(if not the only time) that Portugal and Spain fought on the same side. It ended with European victory in a massacre in the battle of Caiboaté in February, 1756 (around 20 Europeans and 1000 natives dead). Funny enough, some years later, in the treaty of El Pardo in 1761, the Iberians nullified the Madrid Treaty. The transfer of the Jesuits was an annoyance and Portugal didn't wanted to give Colônia up. Many couples of azoreans were brought by Portugal to Rio Grande de São Pedro with the objective of colonizing the Reductions. However, with the nullification of the treaty, the were left literally abandoned. They ended colonizing and creating many villages, such as Porto dos Casais (soon renamed to Porto Alegre), Taquari, Conceição do Arroio (today Osório) and Mostardas. In some regions there were already small colonies from Laguna from the 1740s and 1750s, but the azoreans greatly increased the numbers. Rio Grande and Viamão also received many couples. It was the first major immigration wave of the region(here, "major" is to be takes in context of XVIII century. It is estimated that around 2200 azoreans came by 1752).

In 1762, Spain sided with France in the Seven Years' War and started the Spanish–Portuguese War (Fantastic War (lovely name)). They occupied Colônia (again) and invaded Rio Grande in 1763. As consequence, the capital of the capitania was hastily moved to Viamão and a lot of people fled Rio Grande de São Pedro to Viamão and other small settlements. The Paris treaty in the same year ended the war and Colonia was returned to the Portuguese, but the Spanish refused to leave Rio Grande and kept the occupation of large parts of the region. They even built a Rammed earth fort, the Santa Tecla Fort, near today Bagé. In 1776, the Portuguese recaptured the Rio Grande and the Spanish retaliated by retaking Colonia(as always) and even invading the Santa Catarina Island(today Florianópolis). A new treaty was signed in 1777, the treaty of San Ildefonso. It established a neutral region, Colonia was definitively given to the Spanish and the Seven Reductions' region was kept in Spanish territory, although in clear decline and were annexed by Portugal by 1801.

By the end of XVIII century, there were 3 cities in the region: Porto Alegre, Rio Grande and Rio Pardo. There were also the following frequesias (parishes) : Viamão, Aldeia dos Anjos (today Gravatai, little north of Viamão), Santo Antônio da Patrulha, Conceição do Arroio (today Osório), Vacaria, Mostardas, Conceição do Estreito (???), Triúnfo, Santo Amaro(in today General Câmara) and Taquari. So, mostly in the Jacuí river basin or near the coast. Some frequesias were subdivided in chapels.

Note: Here, I simplified all names. They all have a "Santo"(saint) or "Nossa Senhora"(Our Lady) before the name. Other than in the case of Rio Grande de São Pedro, I don't think anyone care about the full name as they are largely forgotten and way too big.

A side step to the economy(aka cattle) of the region:
In the end of the XVIII century, the region started to connect economically with the Portuguese colonies (although one could argue that the natives extraction in mid-XVI to mid XVII centuries were already an economical integration with São Vicente). In the beginning(and, in parts, up to this date) the economy was focused in animal husbandry, mainly for the leather in the beginning, then for the meat. From 1690s to 1730s, the main activity was the capture of free wild cattle from the wild herds, exemplified in the Vacaria del Mar (mostly today Uruguay, but in the limits with Rio Grande do Sul). By the 1730, those herds were extincted so the locals started ranching. The development of the meat and leader industry was boasted by the demand from the mining regions of Minas Gerais, the economical center of the colony at this time. By the 1790s, the production of salted and dried meat(Charque) took off, mainly because of the big increase in population in Brasil and the decrease of cattle production in the Northeast due to droughts. Other point: the "roads" built in the XVIII century to connect to São Paulo were literally to take full herds. Like thousands of animals. As an exemple, one Tropa (troop, name to the cattle expeditions) in 1777 from Rio Pardo had more than 4000 animals.

It is important to notice also the wheat production in the XVIII century until the beginning of the XIX century. The peak of production was between 1787 and 1813. In early XIX an estimate of more than 12 tons of wheat were produced yearly.

1.3 Briefier history of Rio Grande do Sul
XVI century: nothing
Early XVII century: portuguese expeditions from São Paulo to capture natives. Portuguese and Spanish attempts to created Jesuit reductions, but failed due to the slave expeditions from São Paulo.
Late XVII century: Spanish Jesuit reductions(Sete povos das missões). Portuguese founding of Colônia and Laguna.
Early XVIII century: Slow private colonization of Campos de Viamão. Founding of Rio Grande. Some conflict between Spain and Portugal, with multiple exchanges of Colônia. Development of the Jesuits reductions.
Midle XVIII century: Treaties of Madrid and San Idelfonso. Definition of the borders. The natives in the reductions refused the treaty and were massacred. Wave of azorians, originally to settle the reductions but ended funding cities in near the coast and river valleys.
End of XVIII century: Further portuguese colonisation efforts and integration with colonial Brasil's market. Current borders were finally defined in 1801.

1.4 On natives
I must inform that before my research I was, as any good brasilian, complete oblivious to the native situation. I knew that they existed and that's basically all. Native situation and history before and during colonization is scarce in some regions of Brasil, it's a field that started really developing in the last century and is still mostly confined to history researchers. Therefore, for this section, I strictly took information from historians text and avoided any other source. Wikipedia actually brings more natives groups, but I am not able to judge and filter the information.

The source [2], by Moacyr Flores brings a very good amount of useful information in just over 10 pages, I recommend reading if you want more details. I can also send you photos of those pages. This was my main source for this chapter and it is in line with the information given by Fábio Kühn in [1].

There were three cultural groups of natives in this region, the Jê to the north, the Garani mostly in the Tape region and the Pampianos to the south in the Pampas. Each group was not homogeneous, the Guarani being apparently the most homogeneous as I haven't found information about different tribes in this region.

Common to all: Lived in small villages, with some degree of migrations. No group had large scale agriculture or state-like organization, so no settle countries.

natives.jpg

Jê: [2] name the following groups: Guaianás(Guaianãs in [1]), coroados, pináres, ibijaras, caáguas(caaguás in [1]), gualachos, botocudos, and xocléns. [1] say the groups all had similar customs. Had only communal land and a very strict hunting grounds. They aggressively attacked anyone armed inside their grounds without warning. For this reason, the colonizers considered them aggressive natives. They used the Pine nuts from these region's tree, Araucária, and made flour from it. Each village had its own pine grounds and, as expected, war could break out if one entered the pine grounds of another village. They also collected honey. Had some rudimentary agriculture, producing maize, cassava(Manioc(I call it Aipim!)), pumpkin/squash and sweet potato. Were (and still are) notable in crafts with fibers, most commonly in baskets. Had some a simple power structure, with a main chief that had various subordinated villages. Survived up to the XIX century, but were exterminated by disease and Europeans hunters. [1] affirms they migrated to the region around the II century BC. They did not spoke Guarani. [1] also explain they're aggressiveness towards colonizers farms because the colonies destroyed the natural habitat they needed to survive. As mainly hunter-gatherers, they required large hunting grounds.

Pampianos: [2] name the following groups: Charruas, Minuanos, Yarós, Guenoas and Chanás. [1] indicates that they are the least numerous natives and mentions that the most well known groups are the Charruas and Minuanos. They were hunter-gatherer, with no form of agriculture. They lived in simple tents and were nomads with little possessions. They imported erva mate from the guaranis. They had no leader in peace times, only electing leaders during war. The fact that they didn't liked to live settled, that they had little social organization and had little affinity with the catholic religion meant that the few reductions attempts with them failed, as they did not adapt to the European lifestyle. Although not an integral part of it, they had a role in the peripheries of the colonization. They had the costume of giving refuge to smugglers, fugitives and others, being the origin of the gaucho myth that defined the culture of a vast region. They were also extremely affected by the Columbian exchange as they easily adopted the horse. They became eximious horsemen and were employed by Europeans as workers in the pastures or in the "cattle expeditions". They became more aggressive as the pastures reduced they're hunting space(which also forced the different tribes to unite) and were eventually exterminated by the Uruguayan government in the early XIX century, see the massacre of Salsipuedes.

Guarani: [2] mentions only the group Mbyás and explain history of the name Tapes: given to them by the Europeans, it was originally from the word Chapê, meaning road/way in guarani, it was then associated with the region between the Jaguarí, Ibicuí and Uruguai rivers and finally it became associated with the natives and was changed to Tapes. Funny enough, as said before, the region named Tapes also expended to most of the river valleys of the region. [1] does not mention Mbyás, but say that they are also called Tapes, Arachanes or Carijós. [1] also mention that the carijós lived in the coast of today Santa Catarina. They were the most numerous and, as in most of Basil, the "invaders". They migrated to the region from Paraguay after the establishments of the other natives, but my sources diverge on the timing. [1] cite two probable waves, in around the year 100 and in the VIII and IX century. [2] cite that it was more than 2000 year prior to the European arrival. They had agriculture and cultivated maize, cassava(Manioc(I call it Aipim!)), beans, pumpkin/squash, sweet potato, peanut, tobacco and cotton. They also hunted and collected erva mate. They were VERY religious and ritualistic with every aspect of life. They had some social organization: the village council decided on migration, war and hunting. The Pagé was sort of the religious leader, in charge of pass on the rituals. The Morubixaba kept the order in the village and served as mean of conciliation. The Taxauá was a temporary chief of hunting or battle. They were the natives that had most contact with the Europeans, as they spoke the guarani language and were more receptive to the Jesuits. Note that they did not easily abandoned all they're customs(to the frustration of the Jesuits) but rather they absorbed what they considered useful, such as writing, and ignored what they considered useless, such as clothes. They were also the ones chased and slaved by the bandeirantes.
 
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2)General considerations for the game
2.1 On the Mata Altântica vegetation

Your wasteland depiction is not as absurd as I thought, but still wrong.
As a brasilian native from the south, I was literally shocked by the fact that you compared Mata Atlântica to the Amazon. My first opinion is closely related to Bob Blackskin:
I'm brazilian, the Mata Atlântica being a wasteland makes absolute no sense for me, it was full of indigenous life, and when the portuguese came it was even more! the bandeirantes expeditionaries openend their way there in search of gold, slaves and suitable places to settle, both portuguese and natives cut the hell out of those trees making the way it is today, many important cities were founded in the area of the wasteland in the 17th,18th centuries because of the brazilian gold rush, and other mining and farming settlements (wich i assume the game will portrait too), but the wasteland you guys made cover almost of all the Minas Gerais and São Paulo states where those cities are, two states extremely important the the colony economy (all the way to the empire period, to this very day). The Mata Atlântica is a completly different of the amazon, it's waaay much more suitable for human settlements and less hasher, and making it a complete uncolonizable, impassible area on the map does not represent reality.
As most Brasil (in economic terms) was in the Mata Atlântica since the early colonization and most of the Amazonian forest was untouched by Europeans (with the rare colonized areas being the rivers). So we have a vastly different vision of Mata Atlântica and the Floresta Amazônica. For me, Mata Atlântica is just a forest, is simply home's vegetation, while Floresta Amazônica is unknown, little-explored and uncolonized jungle wasteland.

However, according to actual geographers, they are not that different. IBGE classifies both as the same vegetation, Floresta Ombrófila Densa, and ordinary internet research will show you little difference in vegetation as the main differentiating factors are climate and topography. I was rather shocked to realize that your argument of "Amazônia is wastland therefore Mata Atlântica should also be" does not seem so absurd specially in terms of vegetation. I'm still not sure that I accept that Mata Atlântica is a jungle, cause "jungle" gives such an "unexplored far away land" vibes, but if geographers say so, ok.

After all this vegetation talk, it is still absurd to consider Mata Atlântica generally a wasteland. It should be a wasteland ONLY in harder terrain, such as the Serras. Otherwise, to be quite frankly, why do you have a jungle terrain if you consider a normal subtropical jungle as wasteland? This opens a nice can of worms in that if Mata Atlântica should not be wasteland (and it shouldn't) why the Floresta Amazônica should?. The main answer is different climate(it is tropical) and historical(almost no colonization) differences, but I am not competent to say how much of the amazon should be wasteland.


2.2 On local RGO
My wildest guesses here. I don't think all of them should be present, I'm just listing the things that were mentioned in my sources and which item should portrait them.
Food related stuff that was produced:
- The Araucaria nuts are very hard to classify. Maybe fruit or Sturdy Grains...
- Soybeans to represent beans and peanut.
- Legumes to represent pumpkin/squash.
- Maize.
- Potato to represent Cassava/Manioc/Aipim/any other name and sweet potato.
- Wild Game to represent the native hunt.
- Wheat was very present in the XVIII century.
- Livestock after the Columbian exchange. Large parts of the region were used for cattle ranching beginning around the late XVII. It is historically and economically very important.

Non food:
- Tobacco
- Cotton
- Tea or Medicaments to represent erva mate. The natives drank it and chewed it. I prefer as a tea to include nowadays use.
- Clay could vaguely also be present as the natives had some pottery(as everyone basically).
- Fiber crops could vaguely also be present as the natives, specially the Jê group, crafted things with fibers.

Ahistorical possibilities:
- Gems: The region is the biggest amethyst extractor in the world nowadays.
- Coal: Almost 90% of coal reserves in Brasil are in the region (center east. A little west of the Patos Lagoon)
 
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3)My vague map proposal
3.1 Guidelines for deciding the locations

I made an idea of locations division, but it is VERY vague. More important than the details of the drawing is the guiding lines which, IMHO, I believe you should follow. In order of most important to least important:

- Major geographical divisions: namely the serras("mountainous" formation), the Patos Lagoon and the Uruguai, Jacuí, Pelotas, Taquari/Antas rivers. These rivers are very large and sometimes have deep valleys.

- Historical national borders: As this region was fully in the Spanish side of the Tordesilhas treaty, there weren't any borders up to the 1750s. Then we have the treaty of Madrid, the treaty of San Ildefonso and the modern borders. It's not a lot, so I believe they all can be taken into account. Note that the treaty of Madrid and the treaty of San Ildefonso were not really effectively established, but given that there were no other borders in the period, I believe that you should take them into consideration. An unestablished idea of the period seems better than established borders of the modern days.

- Climate and vegetation division: Important for a good representation of the dynamics. One important point is the frontier between the pampas (grasslands) and the forests. Another point is the frontier of the highlands and the valleys, that should, wherever possible, be separated by a hilly location, as both the valleys and the highlands are mostly flat but between them there is a notable region that is very hilly.

Finally, it is adequate to follow today's municipalities when they are in line with those guiding lines.

I am fully against of only following the municipalities borders because they do not take the XVIII century treaties into account. To name some situations: The municipalities of Bagé, São Gabriel, Cacequi, Dom Pedrido, Tupanciretã, Cruz Alta (and more) are all cut by one or both of the XVIII century treaties.

3.2 Map
I'm not posting climate because it's manly correct. Not posting SOP because I think there is quite a discussion to be made in this subject still. Not posting Harbor or RGO because I'm not sure of them.

I again note that this is a vague idea. The most important, in my opinion is the guiding principles cited above.
Sorry for the horrible paint-like drawing.
divisão.png

vegetation.png

topography.png

3.1 Location list and details
- e2: [Porto dos Patos, Laguna dos Patos, Patos, Laguna, Tubarão, Tuba-nharô]: this general region was called Porto dos Patos in the XVII century. The early name of the lagoon is Laguna dos Patos. This naming is, however, VERY confusing, as today the huge lagoon in Rio Grande do Sul (to the south) is called Lagoa(or Laguna) dos Patos. I would recommend the name Laguna. In this region in the early XVII century, the jesuits mentioned a native ruler called Tubarão that raided, enslaved and sold other natives. This name continues today to the river that divides it with e1 location, so this name is also appropriate.It is unclear to me if the river is named after the ruler, but it seems the opposite. Apparently, this name in Tupi-Guarani is something like "Tuba-nharô". Could have a connection to the west, as it was the (first) new path made by Cristovão Pereira de Abreu around 1730.

Harbor: Good harbor due to being a lagoon entrance
RGO: ???
Climate: Subtropical (Cfa)
Vegetation: Forest (Mata atlântica)
Topograhy: Flatland
Frontier:
south: the Tubarão river
east: coast
west: the highlands
north: not sure

- e1: [Ararangua, Campinas do Sul]:
Nothing to say.

Harbor: Not notable. Some harbor in the Ararangua river.
RGO: maybe Coal (not historically accurate, but geologically correct)
Climate: Subtropical (Cfa)
Vegetation: Forest (Mata atlântica)
Topograhy: Flatland
Frontier:
south: the Mampituba river
east: coast
west: the highlands
north: the Tubarão river

- 1: [Santo Antônio da Patrulha, Conceição do Arroio]:
In 1737 a garrison was created in the location of today Santo Antônio da Patrulha, at the time part of Viamão. I served as a toll in the recently opened road to São Paulo. Conceição do Arroio is the original name of today Osório.

Harbor: Not notable. Some harbor in the Tramandaí river.
RGO: ???
Climate: Subtropical (Cfa)
Vegetation: Quite varied, near the shore is more grasslands but it changes to Forest (Mata atlântica) far from the coast, with a transition with small sized trees and bushes. I would propose Forest for this location because it contains large parts far form the coast.
Topograhy: Flatland, but an argument can be made to marsh, as it has large marshy areas near the coast and between the numerous lakes.
Frontier:
south: division between Mostardas and Palmares do Sul
east: coast
west: extension of the mountain range line, basically the division between the micro-regions of Osório and Porto Alegre.
north: the Mampituba river

- 2: [Mustardas, Mostardas]:
Populated around 1770s by azoreans couples. Could be separated in two as in the preposition of POD012
Well, I could not keep myself from doing this, alas...

My last feedback post covered a lot of things, but it didn't really touch on locations too deeply. I have felt compelled to do so. As a preamble, I'd like to think of my suggestions here as regional and ancillary - Braziler and FleetingRain both are far more thorough in their offered maps, and I do quite like them. The impetus for this proposal was - chiefly - overeagerness, but also the intent to offer some dynamic location names and my own take on the southern states.

These maps are freehanded and quite messy, which is why I do not suggest relying on them aesthetically or for strict borders too much. Consider them semi-vibes-based maps.


LOCATIONS:
View attachment 1234897

Locations presented in Portuguese or Spanish - Some do have proposals for native names, even if only by taking the name of a nearby river.

The main considerations for locations were:
1. Did it exist as a settlement pre-1836? Bonus points if as a vila or seat of a município; (I did cheat a bit here with some of them)
2. Failing that, is it a river or other geographical descriptor that works?
I also wanted to work on the wastelands a bit. The Serra do Mar could not be ignored as the most obvious physical barrier from the coast. The Serra da Esperança (near Guarapuava) and the Serra do Espigão (in Santa Catarina) are far more fanciful and probably don't warrant being wastelands, though this depends on the approach taken for the rest of the country.
The province proposals are loose, as well, and here's a map with their names:
View attachment 1234899

No proposals for areas, really.

Which conveniently lets me lead into discussing my choices on a per-province basis!

N.B.: For the native name suggestions, multiple spellings may be offered. Your standards for tupi and guarani are unclear in the current map, so go for what you end up going for.


1. Rio Grande:
Roughly based on the original municipality of Rio Grande, and also somewhat resembling the littoral hyrdrographic region of the state. Easily hispanicised as Río Grande, but harder to pin down a native name for. The Cabaquã - or Icabaquã - river might work, though the spelling may have to be adequated, and the location also named after that river isn't part of this province in this proposal.
For the Locations:

  • Rio Grande - The first capital of the captaincy/province, if one feels like being long it could be called "Rio Grande de São Pedro". Was a major colonial port, and should be quite a decent harbour as it sits at the estuary of the Lagoa dos Patos, though the sandy, wetland terrain detracts some points, I think.
  • São José do Norte - A town at the end of the big, long, sandy peninsula of the Lagoa dos Patos. Despite a theoretically advantageous position, it was outcompeted by it's neighbour due to being at the end of a sandy, floody peninsula. Averages out to meh, in my opinion, but it might just be a bad harbour.
  • Pelotas - Despite it's name, not next to the Pelotas river. Includes the river and location of the town of Piratini, which is at least a native-originated name - Piratinin, I should note, is an antiquated spelling. Piratiní, in castillian, if you'd like to take that. I think it should be a wetland, if only due to personal experience. Unremarkable coastline, so unremarkable harbour.
  • Jaguarão - Named more for the river rather than the town. Yaguarón in castillian. A literal translation for a tupian name might be Jaguaraçu/Îagûarassu, though guarani would be more like Jaguara-guaçú - literally "big jaguar" in all cases. Might warrant being a wetland, too.
  • Bagé - Technically officially mispelled. Name generally held to come from Ybajé, though this is dubious, and it may come from the charruan word baag, instead.
  • Canguçu - A river and a town, which is to be the theme, really. Caaguaçu in guarani, give or take the spelling - I'm not sure what the standard would be. Meh port.

2. Campanha:
Started based on the original municipality of Rio Pardo, though it had half of that territory chopped off for two other provinces, more or less. Here, it takes up most of the brazilian pampa, and is consequently quite a good place for livestock - though it probably shouldn't have any at game start - and I'd also argue for at least having one horse-producing potential location, if that's in the cards. Coincides most with the Ibicuí's basin, for possible non-portuguese names - though maybe as Ybyku'y. In that vein, the castillian could be Ibicuy, though Campaña would be the translation of the portuguese name.
  • Sant'Ana do Livramento - officially spelled like that. Border town right next to uruguayan Rivera.
  • Rio Pardo - One of the first four municipalities of the province of Rio Grande de São Pedro. Includes site of the San Joaquín reduction, which might serve as a name in castillian.
  • São Gabriel - I'd go for the Vacacaí river for a native name, as you already have.
  • Santa Maria - No notes.
  • Alegrete - Take the river Ibirapuitã for tupi-guarani - Y'mbîra'pîtã (?).
  • Uruguaiana - Another border town - Uruguayana in castillian, and the river Quaraí offers a possible native name - Quarahy/Kûara'y (?).
  • Itaqui - Or Itaquí in castillian. This one can also be Ibicuí/Ibicuhy/Ybyku'y (?), like the province.

3. Missiones Orientales:
The land of the reductions - the seven famous ones, at least. Unsurprisingly, that means the portuguese would be Sete Povos das Missões, whilst the Ijuí/Ijuhy river offers a convenient option for a native name. Only four of the seven made my cut.
  • San Borje - Or São Borja, in portuguese.
  • San Nicolás - Or São Nicolau, in portuguese. Perhaps Ijuí/Ijuhy, for a native name.
  • San Miguel - the one with the cool ruins. São Miguel, in Portuguese.
  • San Ángel - Santo Ângelo.

4. Porto dos Casais:
Based off of the two 1809 municipalities of Porto Alegre and Santo Antônio da Patrulha. Also half-lines up with the Guaíba's basin.
  • Porto dos Casais - Right, this is Porto Alegre, but it was known by this name during most of the colonial period. Unsurprisingly, the river/lake/lagoon/water thing Guaíba's estuary is a damn good place for a port. Although it requires significant work for modern day ships to keep transiting into the lagoon, this was less of a concern back then. It's suboptimal position for a commercial port in an underpopulated region that traded it's goods primarily overland to the rest of the colony limited it's growth a fair bit, but it should still be a pretty damn good natural harbour.
  • Viamão - A neighbouring town to Porto Alegre. It was the transitionary capital between Rio Grande and Porto dos Casais and is also older than PA, which is why it's even here. Definitely livestock, when that comes in. Allegedly, the name comes from "ibiamon", though there's controversy. A better native name may thus be simply taking lake Capivari's for it. Although the Lagoa dos Casados may at first glance look like a decent harbour, it's far sandier, shallower, and siltier than it's immediately neighbouring Guaíba, so it's never been really used for that. I'd argue it doesn't really make for much of a natural harbour, consequently, though a bit is fine.
  • Guaíba - Both a (far later) town, and the body of water. It's side wasn't historically used much for port things, but I don't see why it couldn't still be a decent natural harbour. The coastal stretch from the river Jacuí - about the northern edge of this location - down to around Pelotas saw much cattle ranching and little else throughout the game's period. The name should actually fit for portuguese, castillian, and guarani, though one might still go for a spelling like Guahyba for guarani, or something.
  • Camaquã - Another town named after a river. Meh harbour. Might go by the name of the Icabaquã river for guarani.
  • Caí - Named after the river. A later period might make this Caxias do Sul or something else, but for this I think it fits. Even if you'd rather take a settlement's name for it in portuguese or castillian, Ka'y should remain an adequate pick for guarani at least.
  • Mostardas - Possibly named after mustard, yeah. Existed as a military outpost, at least. Awful harbour, as it's utterly unprotected and very sandy either side of the peninsula. Might have potential for rice.
  • Conceição do Arroio - Modern Osório. Might fit as Santo Antônio da Patrulha, if you stretch it a bit west and want all four original municipalities of the state named on the map. Regardless, might be named after the Tramandaí/Tramandahy river in guarani, and it does include the small estuary of that river, for what it's worth as a harbour.

5. Planalto Gaúcho:
Composed of the southern reaches of the brazilian highlands - though, really, it shares the riograndense part of it with the Missiones Orientales. More livestock, probably. It's remarkable how much cow and sheep people felt like having on this land - mind, the sheep more for the meat than the wool, though some RGOs of wool might not be amiss still. Awkward to pick alternative names for, unfortunately.
  • Passo Fundo - Remember how I said a cheated a little with some of these? Passo fundo definitely existed as a link on the south-to-north trading of cattle, though it really wouldn't come into it's own until the mid-1800s. Unfortunately, there just isn't much else to go off of in that corner of the state in the period, and Passo Fundo is recognisable. For a native kaingang name, at least, one could be cheeky and use Erechim - as Rêsĩ - for it. The town certainly wasn't originally native or anything, but the direct translation as "small field" doesn't strike me as out of place.
  • Jacuí - As usual, the river rather than the town named after it. Yacuí in castillian. Jacuhy/Îaku'y in tupi.
  • Taquari - Another river. Ta'kwar'y (?) in tupi.
  • Campos de Vacaria - Not Vacaria itself - which would've existed as a little settlement - but the fields around it. Very much cattle-rearing places. Campos de Cima da Serra might be more fitting, but is longer. Known to the spanish as Vaquería de los Pinares.
  • Apuaê (misspelled as "Apunhaê" on the map, my bad) - Yet another river. Also known as the Ligeiro river.

View attachment 1235428
The four original municipalities of RS defined in 1809.
View attachment 1235728
Rivers and basins of RS.
View attachment 1235733
1751 map with settlements, chapels, forts and native groups.

I'd offer a map of indigenous peoples, but you seem to have your sources very straight there and there really don't seem to be any particularly useful or detailed ones, either


6. Planalto Catarinense:
The highlands of Santa Catarina, now. This is really a state that sees next to no inland settlement in the period, so several rivers were appealed to. Here we run into Jê peoples more, and figuring out names became trickier - the tupi-guarani toponyms are generally better preserved and easier to find. As a show of hands, I've relied on a 1938 work on Kaingang toponyms and have attempted to adapt their spelling with an ortography guide or two. I'll readily admit this is rather slap-dash and that I can't claim they are fully reliable or properly spelled, but I didn't want to have nothing to propose. For the Xokleng, I'm afraid I just truly don't have anything. Again, my linguistic chops are not great, and I'd urge a search for better sources.
  • Lages - An important inland city and, like many others, founded due to the tropeiros. The Serra do Mar is called Krinjijimbé in Kaingang, which might serve as an option of last resort for a dynamic name here or for other locations that include it. That spelling is almost certainly portuguesified, however. As as stretch, Urubysy - from, well, Urubici - might work for tupi, though it's a separate town. Edit: It may make sense to have a corridor between Araranguá and Lages.
  • Curitibanos - You'll never guess where the guy who named this city came from.
  • Canoas - The river, to be clear. Speaking of rivers, the Uruguay river starts roughly in this location, so it could use the Kaingang name for that river - Ngoi-ên.
  • Rio do Peixe - Another river, though fully presented as such so people don't giggle at the proud location of "Fish" as much. The Kaingang name is known for this one - Ngoi-kupri.

7. Santa Catarina:
Nothing much fancy to note on this one.
  • Desterro - The cool, old name of Florianópolis. Also stands in for the non-island settlements that eventually were absorbed into Greater Floripa. The island of Santa Catarina - where the city started - was apparently called Meiembipe by the local Carijós. The island offers a bay, justifying a decent natural harbour score, I'd say. Oh, and island - it's quite close to the shore and has been bridged to thoroughly, but it'd be nice for the island to not be connected to the continent on the map.
  • Laguna - One of the oldest settlements in southern Brazil, and by far the most important city with the most significant reduction in importance in this proposal. From it, settlers and explorers would found many other settlements, - especially in Rio Grande do Sul - but it's mostly just a quaint, small historical coastal city these days, even if it's a really nice place to live in. It sits by a small lagoon, surrounded by hills - a geographical condition which justifies a good harbour score, in my opinion. The river Tubarão flows into the lagoon and was named Tubá-nharô by the local guarani, which could serve as a name for the location. The actual city of Tubarão, though extant as a settlement during the period, wouldn't be of much note at all 'til after the game ends.
  • Araranguá - River and settlement, once more. Meh harbour. The settlement itself was called Campinas do Sul during the period. For a native dynamic name, it might be spelled as A'rarãguá, and probably a half dozen other ways.

8. Vale do Itajaí:
The valley for the river Itajaí, it represents a relatively accesible range of the Serra do Mar, though it only really saw inland settling in the 1800s. Just Itajaí/Itajahy/Itaîa'y, or maybe Tajahy/Taîa'y might work for a native name. The etymology of the name is not entirely clear.
  • Itajaí - The settlement, this time. Similar deal to the province in regards to naming - I recommend being consistent with it, regardless of ortographic standard choice. The city is (originally) on the southern bank of the Itajaí-Açu's mouth. That should justify some harbour score, at least.
  • São Francisco - Another old coastal city. It sits on the northern bit of the homonymous barely-island, facing the Babitonga Bay, the largest navigable bay of the state. That both should give it some Good Harbour Points™, and offers a possible native name, give or take the spelling as usual. A later period game might just call this location Joinville instead, for the curious.
  • Itajaí-Açú - The river. Depending on how you'd rather translate Itajaí it may come out as Itajaí-Açú/Taîa'y'assu/Itaîa'ygûasu, though that wouldn't really fit the Xokleng or Kaingang. Blumenau is probably the most notable city that'd emerge in this location later.
  • Canoinhas - The little Canoas river. For a Kaingang name at least, one might take the Iguaçú river, as the location is largely in it's drainage basin, as the base. That'd turn out as Ngoi-kovó, probably. Many other locations throughout the course of the river could justifiably take that name, however.

View attachment 1235920
1872 municipality map of SC. They're coloured by what municipality they were dismembered from/were originally part of, to be clear. I believe Joinville is about the only settlement here that wouldn't already exist by 1837.

View attachment 1235919
Rivers and basins of SC.
9. Paranaguá:
Representing the littoral of Paraná . The bay and city's name comes from Paranãguá/Paranãkûá - "Sea Cove". An important locus of settlement in southern Brazil.
  • Paranaguá - The city itself, as well as the fellow coastal town of Antonina, also on the cove. The naming is covered, and I hope the harbour suitability is obvious enough - it's a large bay, surrounded by hills and site of one of the largest ports in the country these days. The port would see some growth as a center for processing and shipping off gold during the time that was big around Curitiba, and would later grow with the state as the obvious exit point for products.
  • Guaratuba - Another early coastal settlement. Though known mostly for the beaches these days, it does have a port and was settled on a small bay, for what that's worth. Guarátyba in guarani, I think.
  • Morretes - Squeezed in there, but it's the main town on the historical route to Curitiba, which I found noteworthy enough to include it. A single-location passage between the coast and Curitiba through the Serra must be preserved regardless of it's inclusion, in my opinion. Early littoral gold mining could be represented here, though it'd be fair enough to just have the one location in Curitiba for gold if you believe it'd be too much.

10. Curitiba:
Roughly equivalent to the first plateau of Paraná in extension, this is was the main inland region of the state to see settlement in the period, primarily due to gold mining. Curitiba's name is probably from the guarani Kuri'ytyba.
  • Curitiba - The city of pines itself. This was easily the most bemusing of the wastelanded locations in the south, given it's importance. As I've already noted, I believe it should be a gold-producing location. The native name is already covered.
  • Arraial Queimado - Early name of the settlement that'd give rise to Bocaiúva do Sul. Something of a people-sparse corner of the state even today. Though definitely a stretch, Bocaiúva comes from the tupi mokaie'yba, and is also the name of a palm.
  • Castro - Another tropeiro town. The region of the city is said to have been inhabited by guarapiaba tupis, so there's something of a possible name there.
  • Vila Nova do Príncipe (somehow misspelled as "Vale Novo" do Príncipe on the map, dear lord) - This is the modern city of Lapa, though it wouldn't get that name during the game's period. A notable center of mate harvesting during the period, and yet another tropeiro pitstop.

11. Ponta Grossa:
Congruent with the second plateau, and an area of sparser interest during the period. Still, there are some settlements around, though this really is about as far as it got before the 1800s. It also covers the paranaense Campos Gerais, if naming the province after a city bothers you.
  • Ponta Grossa - The Princess of the Fields and a city with a real funny name to people not from it. Like most inland cities in the region, I'm sure you can guess who's to blame for it starting - tropeiros.
  • Tibagi - Another river-settlement name situation, Tibagi is interesting due to diamond mining - so, I'd argue for gems as the goods here. Tibajy/Tybaî'y in tupi-guarani, I think. The river by this name is known as Venh Róg to the Kaingang. The river's banks were also the site of a massacre (PT).
  • Jaguariaíva - Again, the river and the town. Jaguaryahiba/Îagûar'yaíba in tupi.
  • Palmeira - Capão da Palmeira, after the tropeiro cow-stop, may be more appropriate, given the town hardly saw itself reach the rank of vila 'til 1870.
  • Villa Rica del Espíritu Santo - here named after the incipient spanish settlement. Just Vila Rica may work for portuguese, though the actual municipality that now sits over it's ruins is, fittingly enough, Fênix.

12. Paranapanema:
Named after the river between São Paulo and Paraná, this one was a pain to find things for, so I appealed to jesuit reductions. I cannot stress how little people cared about this bit of country until the coffee boom. The "Great, Useless/Unlucky River" truly is a fitting name, given how troubling it was to find locations for it.
  • San José - Jesuit reduction. Maybe just call it Paranapanema if not in the hands of the perfidious spaniards? :p
  • Nuestra Señora de Loreto - This one's name is quite fun, at least. Closest to Londrina, for modern cities.
  • Jesus Maria - Another one. Closest to Maringá, I believe.

13. Guayrá:
Named after the spanish colonial territory, it contains the western edge of the state, closely tied to the Paraná river itself. In portuguese, it'd be Guaíra, and the spelling of Guahyrá might serve for a native term depending on the standard you use. Otherwise, Paranã - the possible original term for the river in guarani - may well work. Much of this side of the state would've seen plenty of mate harvesting, *wink, wink, nudge, nudge*.
  • Guayrá - Which is to say, the Ciudad Real del Guayrá, - what a name! - the capital settlement of the governorate. Like most of the things in the territory, it was somewhat destroyed by bandeirantes during the Iberian Union, and it's exact location is unclear. As presented, it overlaps with modern Guaíra and, although that city is not named after this city, they share a spelling and that works as a period name for a location otherwise not really touched by the portuguese or brazilians with constructive intent at that time.
  • Ivaí - This time especially not the town, - it'd be way over next to Guarapuava! - but rather the river that enters the big Paraná at that location. The modern city of Umuarama is in there, too, though just the river name works. You've got your pick of castillianifications, - Ibahy/Ybahy/Huybay - with the spelling of Yva'y probably fitting for guarani.
  • Ontiveros - Another spanish settlement of unclear position, but it could've been there and is a name to give to a place. For portuguese, just Iguaçu would work, though Foz do Iguaçu, whilst also a later settlement from an imperial military colony, is also a delightfully descriptive term for what that river does at that place. This, of any Brazilian location, feels the most deserving for getting named after that river. Ngoi-kovó in Kaingang again, and Ygûasu in tupi-guarani.
  • Santa Maria - another jesuit reduction. Bit of a space-filler, I'll admit - the most notable modern feature of that location is the Iguaçu national park.

14. Campos de Guarapuava:
We're getting to the end. The most notable settlement here is the one that lends it's name to the province, though it barely existed in the time frame. At the start of the 1800s a whole campaign was launched to pacify the region, and it became a receptacle for degredados in a bid to quickly colonise and get a hold of the place. Predominantly inhabited by the Kaingang. Those people, incidentally, called these lands Koranmbângrê, while the Língua Geral Agûarápuaba could also serve for tupi and guarani.
  • Guarapuava - The only real settlement here. Similar names from the province as a whole may be used.
  • Piquiri - A river, once more. Pikyr'y, in tupi. The Kaingang territories west of Guarapuava were called Nerinhé - almost certainly portuguesified, again - which may work as a dynamic name here with some work.
  • Campos do Mourão - Not Campo Mourão the city, though the name there is very much related. Term used for the region before it was really settled.

15. Campos de Palmas:
In a very similar spirit to the previous province, this is an undersettled inland territory during the period, this time south of the Iguaçu. Takes territory that was once contested between the modern states of Santa Catarina and Paraná. The Kaingang called these fields Kreiembângrê.
  • Palmas - Another late settlement, but the name fit well enough. Like the province, Kreiembângrê should work.
  • Chopim - As in the river. The name may have come from the Kaingang Sopĩ.
  • Chapecó - Again, the river, although the city would be in the location there too. The name of the river is known to be from Kaingang, though I could annoyingly not locate a proper spelling of it - it might be Esapekó, or something like it, but I'm not sure. The settlement itself, though anachronistic, started from the military colony of Xanxerê, which is also from Kaingang - as Sãsãrê - and may be an alternative.
  • Peperi-Guaçu - A river in western Santa Catarina, known in castillian as Peperí Guazú. Includes what would be the city of Campo Erê, a field the Kaingang called Kempe-rê.

View attachment 1236027
The three plateaus, Serra do Mar, and coastal plains of Paraná.
View attachment 1236034
1876 map of the province. Yeah, it's a little wonky.

View attachment 1236036
Rivers and basins of PR.


That's all.

I hope it helps!

.

Harbor: Not notable.
RGO: ???
Climate: Subtropical (Cfa)
Vegetation: Same situation as Location 1. For this location I propose grasslands because it is much nearer the coast.
Topograhy: Flatland. Similar to 1.
Frontier:
south: Channel to the Patos Lagoon
east: coast
west: Patos Lagoon
north: division between Mostardas and Palmares do Sul

- 3: [Rio Grande de São Pedro, Rio Grande]:
The fort was founded in 1737.

Harbor: Rather good. The biggest harbor and shipyard in today Rio Grande do Sul. It is the mouth to the Patos Lagoon (the name Rio Grande (big river) is from mistaking the lagoon for a river).
RGO: Maybe sea-related?
Climate: Subtropical (Cfa)
Vegetation: Same situation as Location 1 and 2. For this location I propose grasslands because it is much nearer the coast.
Topograhy: Flatland. Similar to 1 and 2.
Frontier:
south: Channel to the Patos Lagoon
east: coast
west: Lake Mirim and São Gonçalo Chanel
north: Channel to the Patos Lagoon

- 4: [Bom Jesus, Santa Vitória]:
Late colonization, but a toll called Santa Vitória was established here in 1770 in the major cattle road that passed through.

RGO: ???
Climate: Oceanic (Cfb)
Vegetation: Grassland or even Sparse. However, as noted in [3], the temperature and precipitation should allow forests. In [6] it is mentioned that this vegetation is affected by human practices, manly cleansing with fire.
Topography: Plateau or flatland. Height ranges from 900m to 1200m (I eyeballed from a map) and is very flat. I ended up deciding that it this is not high enough to be a plateau.
Frontier:
south: Antas river(further down named Taquari river)
east: canyons/mountain range
west: division between Bom Jesus and Vacaria
north: Pelotas river

- 5: [São Francisco de Paula]:
Late colonization. Nothing to note other than the major cattle road that passed through. Virtually is equal to the municipality of São Francico de Paula

RGO: ???
Climate: Oceanic (Cfb)
Vegetation: Grassland. Similar to location 4.
Topography: Plateau or flatland. Similar to location 4, but has more oscillations in the south and west. An argument weak can be made to hills. I ended up deciding that it this is not high enough to be a plateau.
Frontier:
south: Southern end of São Francisco de Paula municipality
east: "mountain" range
west: division between São Francisco de Paula and Caxias do Sul
north: Antas river(further down named Taquari river)

- 6: [Porto dos Casais, Viamão, Porto do Dorneles, Porto D’Ornelas, Porto Alegre]:
Main region of the Campos de Viamão. Seat of power since 1763. Porto dos Casais is today Porto Alegre. The names Porto do Dorneles and Porto D’Ornelas are from the name of Jerônimo de Ornelas, an early colonizer around 1730s/40s, but was changed to Porto dos Casais around late 1750s with the arival of azoreans couples. The city of today Porto Alegre was officially created from Viamão in 1772 as São Francisco do Porto dos Casais(or São Francisco dos Casais), and a year later was renamed to Nossa Senhora Madre de Deus de Porto Alegre. Both Viamão and Porto dos Casais are important names in history, it would be nice to have both. I propose to call the location "Porto dos casais" as it was the name associated to the later proper city and "Campos de Viamão" the name of the Province, as it was a vague name of the region. Funny enougth, the name "Porto dos casais" was, apparently, official only for a year and existed unofficially only for two decades, but is very known as the old name of the city.

RGO: ???
Climate: Subtropical (Cfa)
Vegetation: Forest or Grasslands
Topography: Flatland or even Marsh. Very flat and has floodplains in the western half(Porto dos Casais and other cities along the rivers). Even has quite a few rice fields nowaday. (well, based on last year flood, it is definitely marsh). The eastern part (Viamão proper and other cities) is not very marshy. In an ideal world, Viamão would be a flatland location in the east and porto dos casais a marsh in the west.
Frontier:
south: Patos Lagoon
east: extension of the mountain range line, basically the division between the micro-regions of Osório and Porto Alegre.
west: Caí River
north: Southern end of São Francisco de Paula, Três Coroas, Gramado and Nova Petropolis municipalities (vaguely)

- 7: [Triúnfo]:
Early village around 1750s.

RGO: ???
Climate: Subtropical (Cfa)
Vegetation: Forest or Grassland. IBGE shows a transition between Forest(north of location) and Steppe(south and west of location). As the center of the location, and main historical point of colonization is around the Jacuí river, in the forest, I would classify as forest.
Topography: Flatland. Some marshes, but mostly not.
Frontier:
south: Around the southern end of the municipalities of Barra do Ribeiro and Sertão Santana. Very vague
east: Caí river
west: basically, the division between macroregions "Metropolitana de Porto Alegre" and "Centro Oriental Rio-Grandense", west frontier of the current Triunfo municipality. I also kept the line through the Jacuí river. Similar to the old division of the municipalities of Porto Alegre and Rio Pardo back in 1809.
north: division between macroregions "Metropolitana de Porto Alegre" and "Nordeste Rio-Grandense"
north: to the northeast, the southern end of municipality of Carlos Barbosa. To the northwest, the Jacuí river.

- 8: [São João Batista de Camaquã, Camaquã]:
Early village around 1760s.

RGO: ???
Climate: Subtropical (Cfa)
Vegetation: Grassland. Mostly steppe, but has a line of forest cutting through the middle.
Topography: hills or flatland. The east is flat near the lagoon, but the middle and west is part of the formation called Escudo Rio Grandense (Rio Grande's shield). It is a slightly hilly formation that rises to 450/500 meters. Seems weird to call it flat, but it is definitely no more than hills.
Frontier:
south: Camaquã river
east: Lagoon
west: around the municipality of Encruzilhada do Sul
north: south end of location 7, vaguely around the southern end of the municipalities of Barra do Ribeiro and Sertão Santana. north of municipality of Encruzilhada do Sul

- 9: [Pelotas]:
Early village around 1750s/1760s.

RGO: Later (around 1790 to 1830) would become a very rich and symbolic production center of Charque (salted and dried meat)
Climate: Subtropical (Cfa)
Vegetation: grassland. Has a notable region of forest in the center, but it's mainly grassland.
Topography: flatland or hill. Similar to location 8, is largely inside the Escudo Rio Grandense.
Frontier:
south: Paratini river
east: lagoon, Lake Mirim and São Gonçalo Chanel
west: west frontier of the municipality of Piratini
north: Camaquã river

- 10: [Espírito Santo do Cerrito de Jaguarão, Jaguarão, Guarda da Lagoa e do Cerrito]:
Spanish side of treaty of San Ildefonso. City developed around a Spanish military post in the end of XVIII century.

RGO: All of the Pampa could have cattle after the Columbian exchange.
Climate: Subtropical (Cfa)
Vegetation: grasslands. It is the beginning of the Pampa
Topography: Flatland or hills, again. Flatland near the lake, hills more to the northwest, as it is par of the Escudo Rio Grandense.
Frontier:
south: Jaguarão/Yaguarón river (current frontier of Brasil and Uruguay)
east: Lake Mirim and São Gonçalo Chanel
west: The idea is the line of the Madrid treaty, that is defined as the watershed between the rivers that go to the Mirirm/Patos lagoon and that go to the Black and Uruguay river. I took the line of the jaguarão river, that turns north in the direction of Bagé.
north: The idea is the line of the San Ildefonso treaty. Following the Paratini river and than goes to Bagé.

- 11: [Vacaria]:
Late colonization. Named after the Spanish expression "vaquería de los pinares". This was the name given by the jesuits to this highland region and the cattle herd they left/created there. They basically left a lot of cattle on their own far away from the cities and came to take some of it from time to time. Something like a huge open pasture.

RGO: named after a cattle herd of the early 1700s, so should definitely be able to have cattle.
Climate: Oceanic (Cfb)
Vegetation: Grassland. Similar to location 4.
Topography: Plateau or flatland. It is flat and around 1000 meters. I ended up deciding that it this is not high enough to be a plateau.
Frontier:
south: Antas river(further down named Taquari river)
east: division between Bom Jesus and Vacaria
west: west frontier of the municipalities of Pinhal da Serra, Muitos Capões and Ipê. Designed to follow the changes in climate and vegetation.
north: Pelotas river

- 12: [Caxias do Sul]:
Late colonization by Italians in late XIX century. I divided in it's own location due to the topography being a transition from the highlands to the river valleys. Lots of small river valleys and ripples in the terrain.

RGO: Some sort of food to represent the the pines from the Araucaria Forest. It was consumed by natives.
Climate: Oceanic (Cfb)
Vegetation: Forest. The highland's steppes gives place to the Araucaria Forest (a forest named after a notorious pine. Schematic figure in [4])
Topography: hills or even mountains. The highlands here are fragmented with numerous river valleys that are rather deep. From wikipédia about only the Caxias do Sul municipality : "The city's main riverbeds are the Maestra Stream (north-northeast direction), the Biondo Stream (northeast), the Caravaggio Stream (southwest) and the Pinhal Stream (south). This network of valleys has extensive intervals that vary from 50 to 60 km in width. To the south, however, there are small and relatively branched valleys, with reduced intervals that vary from 4 to 5 km in width. The interfluvial spaces of these southern valleys are generally located approximately at the same height as the Caxias plateau, varying between 670 and 790 m in height, while the bottom of the gorges, where red sandstones outcrop, is generally less than 200 m in altitude."
Frontier:
south: with location 6, southern end of São Francisco de Paula, Três Coroas, Gramado and Nova Petropolis municipalities (vaguely). with location 7, southern end of municipality of Carlos Barbosa
east: division between São Francisco de Paula and Caxias do Sul
west: the division between the macroregions of Nordeste Rio-Grandense and Centro Oriental Rio-Grandense. West frontier of Boa Vista do Sul and Coronel Pilar.
north: Antas river(further down named Taquari river)

- 13: [Taquari]:
Yey, my home region. Late colonization. Taquari itself is from azorian colonization around 1750s, but most of the region was colonized by germans in the late XIX century. Apparently a wooden fort was build somewhere next to the river in this region in 1768.

RGO: Some kind of farming is adequate. The region is mainly river valleys that are very fertile. Also, the hymn of Lajeado mentions the extraction of amethyst, although it seems more of a late XIV century thing.
Climate: Subtropical (Cfa)
Vegetation: Forest. Different kind of forest form location 12, but it is forest.
Topography: flatland or maybe hills. The rivers valleys are flat, but in the northern part they are carved from higher formations, creating very inclined topography.
Frontier:
south: Jacuí river
east: with location 12, West frontier of Boa Vista do Sul and Coronel Pilar. with location 7, west frontier of the current Triunfo municipality.
west: vaguely in the west frontier of the municipality of Venâncio Aires. Similar to the west border of the district of Taquari in the 1800s, then part of the municipality of Rio Pardo.
north: Not sure. Vaguely around the southern frontier of the municipality of Arvorezinha. Again, similar to the north border of the district of Taquari in the 1800s, then part of the municipality of Rio Pardo.

- 14: [Rio Pardo]:
Late colonization. A wooden fort was build there in 1751 to 1754, in order to ensure the new lands granted by the Madrid Treaty. The fortification had the same name of the fort in Rio Grande, fort Jesus, Maria e José.

RGO: ???
Climate: Subtropical (Cfa)
Vegetation: Forest, same as location 13.
Topography: Flatland. Even thought is river valleys, some parts are slightly hilly, but not as hilly as other locations (12 and 16, for example).
Frontier:
south: along the line of the northern frontier of Encruzilhada do Sul.
east: vaguely in the west frontier of the municipality of Venâncio Aires. Similar to the west border of the district of Taquari in the 1800s, then part of the municipality of Rio Pardo.
west: part of Jacuí river, western frontier of Paraíso do Sul municipality and the cutting through the middle of Cachoeira do Sul municipalilty.
north: around the topography lines. North of Candelária and Sinimbu.

- 15: [Santa Maria, Santa Maria da Bôca do Monte]:
Late colonization. Santa Maria is the name of the biggest city in the location. According to wikipédia, this settlement originated from a camp made by the San Idelfonso Treaty demarcation commission around 1797, thought the name's origin is not given. I don't have a better name. Santa Maria da Bôca do Monte is the XIX century name.

RGO: ???
Climate: Subtropical (Cfa)
Vegetation: Kinda hard. According to IBGE, half of the location is forest and half is grasslands. So Forest, Grassland or even Woods to symbolize the transition.
Topography: Flatland. Similar case to location 15, it is wavy terrain, but way less than other locations classified as hills.
Frontier:
south: vaguely frontier of north of Caçapava do Sul and Lavras do Sul.
east: Jacuí river, western frontier of Paraíso do Sul and Agudo municipality and the cutting through the middle of Cachoeira do Sul municipality.
west: The idea is the line of the San Idelfonso Treaty, that is defined as the watershed between the rivers that go to the Mirirm/Patos lagoon and that go to the Black and Uruguay river. I took the line of the jaguarão river, that turns north in the direction of Bagé.
north: mostly topographical division between the river valleys and the (at this point not so high) highlands. I drew along the southern frontier of Pinhal Grande, cuting through Júlio de Castilhos.

- 16: [Caçapava do Sul]:
Late colonization. According to wikipédia, the city originated from a military encampment placed where previously was a native village. Also acording to wikipédia, the name is tupi in origin, being written "ka'asababa".

RGO: You can't go wrong with cattle, but that's after the Columbian exchange. Apparently had copper in 1950s
Climate: Subtropical (Cfa)
Vegetation: Grassland. Here we enter the Pampa. A huge vegetation area that goes into Uruguay and Argentina. All basically grassland, although big bushes can be found in some regions.
Topography: Hills. Part of the Escudo Rio Grandense.
Frontier:
south: Line of San Idelfonso Treaty. From the spring of the Piratini river directly west, cutting through the municipality of Pinheiro Machado, going through the north of Candiota and Hulha Negra municipalities up to Bagé.
east: west frontiers of Pinheiro Machado and Encruzilhada do Sul municipalities.
west: Line of San Idelfonso Treaty. Watershed between the Jacuí and Uruguay basins.
north: vaguely frontier of north of Caçapava do Sul and Lavras do Sul.

- 17: [Bagé, Santa Tecla]:
Late colonization. Santa Tecla was the name of a shortly lived fort build in the 1770s. San Idelfonso treaty demarcation commission passed through it's ruins. In EUIV they used the name Santa Tecla, but it was shortly lived, 1774 to 1776 and again from 1778 to 1801, so I'm not sure it's the best name. Another problem with this name is that it comes from the jesuit ranch/outpust in this region and it seems that it was mostly north of the fort, so I also proposed this name for the location 20. Bagé is a native-derived name, at least, although the origin is unknown.

RGO: All of the Pampa could have cattle after the Columbian exchange.
Climate: Subtropical (Cfa)
Vegetation: grasslands. Pampa
Topography: Flatland. Some hilliness, but not much. somewhat similar to location 14.
Frontier:
south: Today's Uruguay-Brasil borders.
east: Line of Madrid Treaty.
west: west frontier of the municipality of Dom Pedrito.
north: Line of Madrid Treaty.

- 18: [Lagoa Vermelha]:
Horrible name, but very late colonization. According to wikipédia, had a nasty influence/political fight with Vacaria(location 11), that was more than once classified as part of Lagoa Vermelha but refuse to accept it.

RGO: Some sort of food to represent the the pines from the Araucaria Forest. It was consumed by natives. Later, it was the end of the "vaquería de los pinares" in the XVIII century, so maybe cattle after the Columbian exchange, but the pines are still important today, I wouldn't like to see them replace.
Climate: Subtropical (Cfa)
Vegetation: Forest (Araucaria Forest)
Topography: Flatland or hills. generally flaty in the north, slightly less to the south.
Frontier:
south: Taquari/Antas river in the southeast, following the frontier between the highlands and the valleys, part of the Guaporé/Pulador river. Somewhat vague, designed to be mostly the natural frontier of the highlands and the valleys.
east: west frontier of the municipalities of Pinhal da Serra, Muitos Capões and Ipê. Designed to follow the changes in climate and vegetation.
west: Actually very vague. Literally just a line vaguely in the middle of provinces 18 and 22, just to dived them somewhat equally.
north: Pelotas and then Uruguay rivers (Pelotas becomes Uruguay when fused with the Canoas river)

- 19: [Soledade]:
Haven't found much history before XIV century, although it seems that the region was already populated with Spanish farms.

RGO: ???
Climate: Subtropical (Cfa)
Vegetation: Forest. Mixture of grasslands with some Araucaria forest in the northern higher part and forest in the southern lower part.
Topography: Hill. northern part is higher, southern part is lower.
Frontier:
south: Vaguely the division between the highlands and the valleys. North of Candelária and Sinimbu.
east: Vaguely the division between the highlands and the valleys. Somewhat following the old division of Taquari district when it was part of Rio Pardo municipality in the 1810s.
west: Jacuí river (it makes a north turn)
north: Jacuí river and Guaporé/Pulador river and the a line connection both springs.

- 20: [Santa Tecla, Cacequi, Dom Pedrito]:
Actually hard to name. Santa Tecla is the name of a ranch of the jesuits reduction that was in this region. It's hard to find mention of it, but I've seen in some sources. The territory is part of today municipalities of Cacequi, Rosário do Sul, São Gabriel, Lavras and Dom Pedrito, but only Cacequi and Dom Pedrito cities seem to be in the territory and they are both right next to the border. At least Cacequi is a name derived from native language. This location is rather important as it is between the line of the Madrid and San Idelfonso treaties.

RGO: All of the Pampa could have cattle after the Columbian exchange.
Climate: Subtropical (Cfa)
Vegetation: grasslands. Pampa
Topography: Flatland.
Frontier:
south: Madrid treaty line. Watershed between the rivers that go to the Mirirm/Patos lagoon and that go to the Black and Uruguay river. Near northern frontier of Bagé municipality.
east: San Idelfonso treaty line. Watershed between the Jacuí and Uruguay basins. One point really clear in the map is named "Coxilha do Pau Fincado" (is literally just a named hill), but you clearly see it's the watershed. This hill is basically in the northeast end of this location.
west: Madrid treaty line. Santa Maria river. In my theory, they considered Santa Maria River as the Ibicuí river, but is unclear.
north: south of São Vicente do Sul, following one of the tributaries of the Ibiuí river(supposedly Ibicuí mirim, but called just Ibicuí also). Connects the line of Madrid and San Idelfonso treaties.

- 21: [Santana do Livramento, Sant'Ana do Livramento]:
Late colonization. Normally written Santana, but apparently the official name is Sant'Ana (I checked the city hall website).

RGO: All of the Pampa could have cattle after the Columbian exchange.
Climate: Subtropical (Cfa)
Vegetation: grasslands. Pampa
Topography: Flatland.
Frontier:
south: Uruguay/Brasil frontier
east: in the southeast, the western frontier of the municipality of Dom Pedrito. In the northeast, the line of the Madrid Treaty, as discussed in location 20.
west: west frontier of municipalities of Sant'Ana do Livramento, Rosário do Sul and Cacequi.
north: Ibicuí river

- 22: [Passo Fundo]:
Late Portuguese colonization, but was part of the Jesuit territory in the XVIII century, although with no proper city in the location.

RGO: Maybe some sort of food to represent the the pines from the Araucaria Forest, although it is only partially present in this location. It was consumed by natives. Contains regions that are largest producers of amethyst in the world, but it started in the XX century.
Climate: Subtropical (Cfa)
Vegetation: Forest or grasslands. Mix of grasslands and the Araucaria Forest.
Topography: hill of flatland. Although large parts are hilly fields(large hills of less than 50 meters (eyeballed)), the rivers flow in very deep and rather narrow valleys.
Frontier:
south: Jacuí river to the east. To the west, basically along the east frontier of Selbach and Colorado, west frontier of Carazinho and southern frontier of Chapada.
east: Actually very vague. Literally just a line vaguely in the middle of provinces 18 and 22, just to dived them somewhat equally.
west: San Idelfonso treaty line, along the Guarita river.
north: Uruguay river

- 23: [Cruz Alta]:
The municipality of Cruz Alta is named after a cross build by the jesuits in the late XVII century. The San Idelfonso treaty line passed through the today municipality of Cruz Alta, so this city is in the border of the location, but it seems the best name still. In the late XVIII century there was cattle roads passing through it.

RGO: ???
Climate: Subtropical (Cfa)
Vegetation: grassland. In the west of the location we just start having forest.
Topography: hills
Frontier:
south: mostly topographical division between the river valleys and the (at this point not so high) highlands. I drew along the southern frontier of Pinhal Grande, cuting through Júlio de Castilhos.
east: Jacuí river
west: San Idelfonso treaty line. Watershed between the Jacuí and Uruguay basins up to the source of Garita river.
north: Actually very vague. Literally just a line vaguely in the middle of provinces 18 and 22, just to dived them somewhat equally.

- 24: [São Miguel Arcanjo, São Miguel, São João Batista]:
This location had two late XVII century jesuit reductions, São Miguel Arcanjo and São João Batista. Today, São Miguel is the most known and has the best preserved ruins. Home to Sepé Tiaraju, a (rather dramatized) native leader in the Guerra Guaranítica (Guaraní War). São João Batista was also important, specially because it was founded by Anton Sepp von Rechegg(Antonio Sepp), a priest that is responsible for encourage the arts, specially musical production and bringing metallurgy to the region. The actual cities were in the northwest of the location.

RGO: Due to the well recorded jesuits reductions, we can make arguments to more elaborate RGO, such as Iron. However, wikipédia cite that São Miguel had cattle ranches. More trustful sources agree that the jesuits had quite a wealth in cattle and their ranches were almost half of today Rio Grande do Sul.
Climate: Subtropical (Cfa)
Vegetation: grasslands. It is the beginning of the Pampa
Topography: Flatland.
Frontier:
south: southern frontier of Capão do Cipó and Tupanciretã
east: San Idelfonso treaty line. Watershed between the Jacuí and Uruguay basins up to the source of Garita river.
west: western frontier of municipalities of São Miguel das Missões and Capão do Cipó.
north: Ijuí river

- 25: [Jaguari, São Vicente do Sul, Santiago]:
Was part of the reductions territory and ranches, but late proper colonization. São Vicente do Sul is the oldest city, created in 1876. Santiago is the second oldest, created in 1884. Jaguari is the name of a river that passes in the middle of the location and also a more recent city. I propose the name Jaguari because it passes in the geographical middle and is a native name.

RGO: ???
Climate: Subtropical (Cfa)
Vegetation: grasslands. It is the beginning of the Pampa, but has a strip of forest in the middle and is grassland in the north and south.
Topography: Flatland.
Frontier:
south: south of São Vicente do Sul, following one of the tributaries of the Ibiuí river(supposedly Ibicuí mirim, but called just Ibicuí also). Connects the line of Madrid and San Idelfonso treaties.
east: San Idelfonso treaty line. Watershed between the Jacuí and Uruguay basins up to the source of Garita river.
west: western frontier of Santiago and eastern frontier of São francisco de Assis.
north: southern frontier of Capão do Cipó and Tupanciretã

- 26: [Alegrete, Uruguaiana]:
Late colonization. Alegrete is from the early XIX century, Uruguaiana was founded in the late 1840s.

RGO: All of the Pampa could have cattle after the Columbian exchange.
Climate: Subtropical (Cfa)
Vegetation: grasslands. Pampa
Topography: Flatland.
Frontier:
south: Quarai river. Today frontier of Brasil and Uruguay.
east: southern and eastern frontier of Quaraí and Alegrete.
west: Uruguai river. Today frontier of Brasil and Argentina.
north: northern frontier of Alegrete.

- 27: [Santo Angelo, Santo Ângelo Custódio]:
Last of the late XVII century reductions. The city is located in the very southern border of the location. This location could be separated into two. Was resettled in the 1830s.

RGO: ???
Climate: Subtropical (Cfa)
Vegetation: forest.
Topography: flatland, although an argument of hill is possible
Frontier:
south: Ijuí river.
east: San Idelfonso treaty line. Watershed between the Jacuí and Uruguay basins up to the source of Garita river and then following the Garita river up until the Uruguai river.
west: Uruguai river. Today frontier of Brasil and Argentina.
north: Uruguai river. Today frontier of Brasil and Argentina.

- 28: [São Lourenço, São Lourenço Mártir, São Luiz Gonzaga]:
Two of the late XVII century jesuit reductions. São Lourenço Mártir was apparently one of the biggest reductions, although São Luiz Gonzaga still exist today.

RGO: All of the Pampa could have cattle after the Columbian exchange.
Climate: Subtropical (Cfa)
Vegetation: grasslands. It is the beginning of the Pampa
Topography: Flatland.
Frontier:
south: Southern frontier of Bossoroca
east: western frontier of municipalities of São Miguel das Missões and Capão do Cipó.
west: western frontier of São Luiz Gonzaga and Bossoroca.
north: Ijuí river.

- 29: [São Nicolau]:
One of the late XVII century reductions.

RGO: All of the Pampa could have cattle after the Columbian exchange.
Climate: Subtropical (Cfa)
Vegetation: grasslands. It is the beginning of the Pampa
Topography: Flatland.
Frontier:
south: following the southern border of Santo Antônio das Missões, cutting through the municipality of São Borja.
east: western frontier of São Luiz Gonzaga and Bossoroca.
west: Uruguai river. Today frontier of Brasil and Argentina.
north: Ijuí river.

- 30: [São Borja]:
One of the late XVII century reductions. According to wikipedia, it's the only to be continuously settled since it's foundation in 1687, being the second oldest continuous settlement in all of Banda Oriental(Rio Grande do Sul and Uruguay).

RGO: All of the Pampa could have cattle after the Columbian exchange.
Climate: Subtropical (Cfa)
Vegetation: grasslands. Pampa
Topography: Flatland.
Frontier:
south: Ibicuí river.
east: western frontier of Santiago and eastern frontier of São francisco de Assis.
west: Uruguai river. Today frontier of Brasil and Argentina.
north: following the southern border of Bossoroca and Santo Antônio das Missões, cutting through the municipality of São Borja
 

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1.4 - Languages: I think Tupi-Guarani at least shoud be split into, well... Tupi and Guarani. It's a very broad group of languages which are not generally mutually intelligible. I couldn't tell you much beyond that, alas, so perhaps the more linguistically-minded have better suggestions.
Just a small note, from what I understand Tupi and Guarani themselves are actually fairly closely related and partially mutually intelligible even today. As you said yourself, the Guarani are recent arrivals to their homeland, so perhaps their language had only recently begun to diverge from Tupi.

It's the wider Tupian family that is very broad and whose members are distantly related to one another, and the cultures on the map that are Tupian but don't belong to the Tupi-Guarani branch are relatively small and few. I am admittedly not an expert though.
 
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