According to the writer Nadezhda Teffi, the pampas were famous for their forests. And J. J. Rousseau, who proclaimed the famous slogan "Back to nature", is sometimes jokingly paraphrased: "Back to the pampas!" Tempting pictures of the exotic landscape are also drawn by another famous character - the literary and cinematic Ostap Bender. In his pampas, “buffaloes run…”, baobabs grow and serious passions boil between a pirate, a Creole woman and a cowboy. So, what does pampas mean? Why are they unique?
The mysterious pampas of the Southern Hemisphere
On our planet there is only one place that combines flat relief and subtropical seaside climate, thanks to which this spacious steppe territory has become attractive to the colonizers of South America. This is the so-called pampa, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean and the Andes, covered with grassy vegetation. On the map, the pampas are a solid green spot on the territory of modern states - Argentina, Uruguay and a small part of Brazil.
Origin and meaning of the word pampas
What does the word pampas mean? Dictionaries give somewhat different interpretations of its etymology. For example,the pre-revolutionary edition of A. N. Chudinov’s “Dictionary of Foreign Words” traces this toponym to the Peruvian language, in which it denotes a plain. Modern works of linguists and lexicographers are unanimous in their opinion: pampas is a Spanish word, the plural form of the noun "steppe". And in Spanish, perhaps, it appeared as a borrowing from the language of the Quechua Indians. Thus, the meaning of the word pampas is the following: this is the name of a geographical object in the subtropics of South America, a combination of areas on the plain, steppes, s alt marshes. These expanses are beautiful in their own way: for most of the year, the pampas look like virgin land covered with thick tall grass. Apparently, this is why the youth jargon rethought this space in its own way. The expression "go to the pampas" has two meanings: "get drunk, lose your head" and "get out of sight, get lost for others, leave society."
And the popular Internet resource "Electronic Pampas" contains wonderful literary works for children (of all ages!). What are pampas in this case? It is a symbol of endless space for creativity, games, adventure and fantasy!
History of the Conquest of the Pampas
Before the invasion of the Spanish colonialists in the 16th century, life in the picturesque pampas for thousands of years flowed peacefully and moderately, in harmony with nature. The local population - the Quechua Indians - fought hard against the conquerors, but, despite fierce resistance, European values nevertheless began to be planted, and the local natives were exterminated. What are pampasfor the Indians? The vast expanses of the steppes, the unique natural world, fertile lands… In the mythology of the indigenous population of South America, the pampas symbolized the infinity of life and at the same time its frailty, the insignificance of one living being before eternity.
Over the past centuries of development of the pampas, the local flora has become completely different, because for the European colonialists these steppes were another source of enrichment and future prosperity. The Spaniards brought with them not only the warlike spirit and traditions of agriculture, but also cattle, mustang horses, which had not been in South America until then. Now they also personify the spirit of the pampas: grazing herds, the edge of the Andes, grass on the slopes and a wide flat expanse … And somewhere, along a well-known path, a gaucho rider, a descendant of the Spaniards and Indians, is galloping. Modern Criollo horses are also the feral descendants of those legendary Spanish Baguales.
Nature and climate of the pampas
What pampas are, anyone who had to play and hide in tall grass as a child will understand. Only here it is endless boundless expanses covered with cereal herbaceous plants (feather grass, bearded vulture, fescue).
The territory of modern pampas covers about 750,000 square meters. km, this is slightly less than the area of Turkey. But this does not mean that the steppes in the La Plata basin are completely overgrown with herbs. Closer to the Brazilian Highlands, the climate becomes more continental, arid, mixed vegetation begins, resembling a forest-steppe with islands of evergreen shrubs andman-made forest plantations (maple, poplar).
Reserved corner
What is the pampas for modern South Americans? A significant part of the land is occupied by farmland with crops of cereals and other crops, farms and pastures for livestock (especially in the Argentine part). But the residents also care about the well-being of the reserves - after all, human activity must be restrained, otherwise, transforming the world around him, he may end up in the desert. In the hard-to-reach corners of the pampas, far from the roads, along the banks of the rivers, untouched islands of virgin nature have been preserved.
The fauna of the pampa is made up of unique representatives of the fauna of our planet - pampas deer, rodents nutria and viscacha, pampas cat, Patagonian mara, maned wolf, ostrich nandu, armadillos, scarlet ibis.
Trees do not grow in the pampas, white mesquites (caldenes) are rarely found in the foothills.
The pampas grass cortaderia has become world famous. Due to its unpretentiousness and good adaptability to environmental changes, perennials began to be used as an ornamental plant. Cortaderia bushes reach three meters in height, they are long-lived - they can grow up to 40 years and even longer.
