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Diego de Almagro
Diego de Almagro , c.1475-1538, Spanish conquistador, a leader in the conquest of Peru. A partner of Francisco Pizarro , he took part in the first (1524) and second (1526-28) expeditions and in the bloody subjugation of the Incas after 1532. He aided (1534) Benalcázar in thwarting Pedro de...
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Francisco Pizarro
Francisco Pizarro , c.1476-1541, Spanish conquistador, conqueror of Peru. Born in Trujillo, he was an illegitimate son of a Spanish gentleman and as a child was an illiterate swineherd. Pizzaro accompanied Ojeda to Colombia in 1510 and was with Balboa when he discovered the Pacific. Hearing of the f...
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Cristóbal Vaca de Castro
Cristóbal Vaca de Castro , fl. 1540-45, Spanish colonial administrator in Peru. A judge of the royal audiencia at Valladolid, he was chosen by Charles V to restore order between the Pizarro and the Almagro factions. He was a man of integrity, sagacity, and courage. Arriving in 1541 and learni...
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Atacama Desert
Atacama Desert , arid region, c.600 mi (970 km) long, N Chile, extending south from the border of Peru. The desert itself, c.2,000 ft (610 m) above sea level, is a series of dry salt basins flanked on the W by the Pacific coastal range, averaging c.2,500 ft (760 m) high, and on the E by the Andes. T...
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Pedro de Valdivia
Pedro de Valdivia , c.1500-1554, Spanish conquistador, conqueror of Chile. One of Francisco Pizarro's best officers in the conquest of Peru, educated, energetic, somewhat less cruel and avaricious than his fellow conquerors, Valdivia obtained permission from Pizarro to subdue Chile. In Jan., 1540, h...
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Chile
Chile , officially Republic of Chile, republic (2005 est. pop. 15,981,000), 292,256 sq mi (756,945 sq km), S South America, west of the continental divide of the Andes Mts. Chile is bordered by Peru on the north, Bolivia on the northeast, Argentina on the east, and the Pacific Ocean on the west and ...
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Peru
Peru , Span. Perú , officially Republic of Peru, republic (2005 est. pop. 27,926,000), 496,220 sq mi (1,285,210 sq km), W South America. It borders on the Pacific Ocean in the west, on Ecuador and Colombia in the north, on Brazil and Bolivia in the east, and on Chile in the south. Lima is ...
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