The South American territorial disputes are the territorial disputes and litigations that have developed in South America since the aftermath of the continent's wars of independence, which have shaped the current political geography of the region. These conflicts have been resolved both through both military and diplomatic means. The most recent conflict in the Americas of this nature was the Cenepa War in 1995, between Ecuador and Peru.
History
18th century conflicts
Guaraní War (1753–1756): Armed conflict involving the Guarani tribes of the Jesuit missions against Spanish and Portuguese troops, as a consequence of the Treaty of Madrid, which defined a demarcation line between Spanish and Portuguese colonial territory in South America. The established boundary was demarcated by the Uruguay River, with Portugal owning the territory to the east of the river and Spain to the west. With this, the seven Jesuit missions east of the Uruguay River, known as the Misiones Orientales, were to be dismantled and moved to the Spanish west side of the river. A combined force of 3,000 Spanish and Portuguese soldiers fought the Guarani in the . In the end, the Spanish–Portuguese joint army occupied the seven Missions, the Guarani were evacuated to the west of the Uruguay River, the allied army remained in the Missions for ten months, the Portuguese retreated to the Pardo River without being able to agree on the border at the headwaters of the Ibicuí River and without handing over Colonia del Sacramento to Spain.