Urbanization of Latin America began in the latter part of the twentieth century, and it is no better evidenced than in this Brazilian city. While other areas were following the European model for urbanism, Sao Paulo specifically prescribed to the American model - building upward. The megacity boasts a population of 18 million people and is a city of immigrants that built it neighborhood by neighborhood. Today, the city is over 3,000 square miles big and stretches more than 50 miles end to end.
Controlled by Argentina and Brazil to the north and northwest, and Spanish colonies along the Rio de la Plata, Uruguay declared its independence in 1810 (though it didn't truly achieve it until 1828). Unfortunately, as soon as the country gained its freedom, it lapsed into a civil war between early liberals and conservatives that lasted until the early 1850s...
Hernan Cortes and Francisco Pizarro were quite parallel in their conquest and settlement of Latin America, though their lives had differed up until that point. Both born in the late 1400s, Cortes was a student studying law that left university for the promises of the New World, and Pizarro was a soldier and explorer. Yet, they would both lead the conquests and cause the fall of the Aztec and Inca empires, respectively.