South American History
Five thousand years of a continent's history — from the Norte Chico civilization on the Peruvian coast to the modern South American republics. Inca rise and fall, Spanish and Portuguese arrival, Bolívar's wars of independence, the 19th- and 20th-century revolutions, and the present day.
What's in this category
South American History spans the deepest indigenous past to the present: the Norte Chico civilization (one of the oldest in the Americas), the Chavín and Nazca cultures, the Tiwanaku and Wari empires, the rise and Pachacuti-era expansion of the Inca Empire, the Spanish and Portuguese arrival, three centuries of colonial rule, the 19th-century wars of independence led by Bolívar and San Martín, the formation of the modern republics, military coups and re-democratisations of the 20th century, and on into the 21st.
What it's not: not a Mexico/Central-America category — those events live in their own future category. South American History covers the continent south of the Darién Gap: roughly today's Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay, Chile, Argentina, and the Guianas.
Sample events
- Norte Chico Civilization Emerges — 3000 BCE
- Chavín Culture Begins — 900 BCE
- Nazca Lines Created — 100 CE
- Tiwanaku Empire Peak — 600 CE
- Inca Empire Founded — 1200
- Pachacuti Transforms Inca Empire — 1438
- Chimú Conquered by Incas — 1470
- Bolivian Crisis — 2019 (most recent)
+ 92 more events spanning five thousand years. New events added through corrections and ongoing verification.
Now available
South American History is live as a Premium category — it released 2026-05-20, and German History flipped permanently free for everyone alongside it.
This was the first release in our biweekly cadence: every two weeks, a new Premium category drops AND an existing Premium category flips permanently free. The full catalog grows for everyone; subscribers always have something exclusive.
How to play this category
Live now. Premium category. Explorer and Historian subscribers play ad-free; free players can unlock for 1 hour with a single rewarded ad — no purchase needed.
Pair South American History with European History or Ancient Civilizations for a transatlantic multi-era game.
Related categories
- Ancient Civilizations — the deeper pre-Columbian context (Olmec, Maya, others)
- European History — the Iberian powers that crossed the Atlantic
- German History — the paired free-flip on 2026-05-20