190 articles
La Plata
La Plata, Argentina: provincial capital founded 19 November 1882 on the Lomas de la Ensenada site after Buenos Aires federalization; planned grid with diagonals by Pedro Benoit's engineering department; gold medal, Paris 1889.
La Rinconada, Peru
La Rinconada, a gold-mining settlement in Ananea, Puno, Peru, at about 5,100 m, the world's highest permanent settlement; informal mining, cachorreo labor, mercury pollution, and minimal state services distinguish it.
La Serena, Chile
La Serena is a city in northern Chile, capital of the Coquimbo Region and of the province of Elqui. Founded in 1544 on the Elqui River, it is the second oldest city in Chile after Santiago.
Laferrere
Gregorio de Laferrere (Laferrere) is a city in La Matanza partido, Buenos Aires Province, Argentina, founded 4 May 1911 by writer Gregorio de Laferrere, Pedro Luro, and Honorio Luque; its most populous locality, on the Belgrano Sur rail line.
Lanús
Lanús is a partido of Buenos Aires Province in Greater Buenos Aires, Argentina, founded 29 September 1944, with 48 km², 462,051 inhabitants (2022 census), six localities, historic railway workshops at Remedios de Escalada, and the Universidad Nacional de Lanús.
Latacunga
Latacunga, capital of Cotopaxi province, Ecuador, Andean city at about 2,750 m near Cotopaxi volcano; 2022 canton population 217,261; known for lahar risk, floriculture, and the Mama Negra festival.
Lima
Lima, founded 18 January 1535 by Francisco Pizarro as Ciudad de los Reyes, is Peru's capital and largest city, former capital of the Viceroyalty of Peru, a UNESCO World Heritage historic center of about 10 million people in a desert seismic zone.
Linhares
Linhares, Espírito Santo, Brazil: municipality on the Rio Doce, founded 1809 and named for the Conde de Linhares, created 1833, restored 1943; known as the city of lakes, with Lagoa Juparanã and about 185,621 residents (2026 estimate).
Loja, Loja
Loja is the capital city of Loja province in southern Ecuador, founded 8 December 1548 by Alonso de Mercadillo. Known as Ecuador's musical and cultural capital, a UNESCO Learning City since 2022, with about 175,000 residents and the SITU transit system.
Los Ángeles, Chile
Los Ángeles, Chile: commune and capital of Biobío Province, founded 1739 as Villa de Nuestra Señora de Los Ángeles by Manso de Velasco; 219,441 inhabitants (2024 census); agricultural, forestry, and service center on the Isla de la Laja.
Los Teques
Los Teques, capital of Venezuela's Miranda state and Guaicaipuro municipality, founded as a parish in 1777, state capital since 13 February 1927; a 1,169 m Cordillera de la Costa city and Caracas bedroom community with a metro link and tropical savanna climate.
Macaé
Macaé, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: municipality of 246,391 (2022) known as the National Capital of Energy, onshore base of the Campos Basin oil industry, Petrobras hub since the late 1970s, major oil-royalty recipient.
Machala
Machala, Ecuador: capital of El Oro province and canton since 25 June 1824 (Gran Colombia). Known as the Banana Capital of the World; exports bananas via Puerto Bolívar; 561,251 canton residents.
Maipú
Maipú is a commune of Chile in southwestern Santiago, Región Metropolitana; second most populous commune after Puente Alto with 503,635 residents (2024 census), site of the 1818 Battle of Maipú.
Manizales
Manizales, capital of Colombia's Caldas department, founded 1849 by Antioqueño colonists at 2,150 m in the Coffee-Growers Axis; UNESCO Learning City (2019) and Creative City of Gastronomy (2025), known for coffee, steep terrain, and disaster risk management.
Manta, Ecuador
Manta is a port city on the Pacific coast of Ecuador in Manabí province, the country's second largest port and its principal tuna fishing port.
Mar del Plata
Mar del Plata (La Feliz) is an Atlantic coastal city in Buenos Aires Province, Argentina, 404 km from Buenos Aires; founded 1874 by Patricio Peralta Ramos, it is the country's main fishing port and leading beach resort.
Maracaibo
Maracaibo, capital of Zulia state and Venezuela's second-largest city, a lakefront oil port founded as Nueva Zamora in 1574, crossed by the 8.7 km General Rafael Urdaneta Bridge (1962), marked by informal barrios and Lake Maracaibo pollution.
Maracay
Maracay (San José de Maracay), capital of Aragua state, Venezuela, in the Lake Valencia depression at 436 m. Founded as a parish in 1701; industrialized under dictator Juan Vicente Gómez, 1912–1928.
Maturín
Maturín (Sultana del Guarapiche), capital of Monagas state, northeastern Venezuela; founded 1760 by Fray Lucas de Zaragoza. Oil-service hub with PDVSA Oriente headquarters, about 453,000 residents, José Tadeo Monagas airport, and Estadio Monumental.
Medellín
Medellín, capital of Colombia's Antioquia Department and the country's second-largest city, sits at 1,479 m in the Aburrá Valley with a 24 °C average. Known for its 1675 founding, integrated Metro and Metrocable cable cars (2004), and urban transformation reducing violence and poverty.
Mendoza, Argentina
Mendoza, Argentina: capital of Mendoza Province in Cuyo, founded 1561; fourth-largest metro (1.3 million), Andean oasis city famed for acequias, urban forest, Malbec wine, and the Metrotranvía.
Mérida, Mérida
Mérida, Mérida (Santiago de los Caballeros de Mérida) is the Andean capital of Mérida state, Venezuela, founded 1558 by Juan Rodríguez Suárez at about 1,600 m elevation; home of Universidad de Los Andes, Teleférico, and a temperate highland climate.
Merlo, Buenos Aires
Merlo, Buenos Aires: head city of the Partido de Merlo in western Greater Buenos Aires, founded 1755 as Villa San Antonio del Camino by Francisco de Merlo; 580,806 partido inhabitants (2022 census).
Mompox
Mompox, formally Santa Cruz de Mompox, is a colonial river port on the Magdalena River in Colombia's Bolívar Department, founded in the late 1530s and made a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1995.
Montevideo
Montevideo, capital of Uruguay on the Río de la Plata, founded 1724-1730, Mercosur's administrative seat, about 1.3 million people on 528 km2, main port, and top-ranked Latin American city for quality of living.
Neiva, Huila
Neiva, Huila: capital of Colombia's Huila department, founded 24 May 1612 on the Magdalena River; 357,392 inhabitants, 442 m altitude, commercial hub hosting the June Festival Folclórico and Reinado Nacional del Bambuco.
Neuquén
Neuquén: capital city of Neuquén Province, Argentina, at the Neuquén-Limay river confluence; founded 12 September 1904 when the territorial capital moved from Chos Malal; 727,000 residents (2022) and center of the Vaca Muerta shale boom.
Nossa Senhora do Socorro
Nossa Senhora do Socorro, Sergipe municipality in the Aracaju metropolitan region, Brazil's Northeast; second most populous city of Sergipe (192,330 in 2022 census, 205,611 estimated 2026), dormitory city of Aracaju, 155.018 km², IBGE code 2804805.
Ocaña, Norte de Santander
Ocaña is a city and municipality in the Colombian department of Norte de Santander, founded in 1570 and known for hosting the Gran Convención of 1828.