Gaucho (ˈɡautʃolang) or
gaúcho (ɡaˈuʃulang) is a term commonly used to describe residents of the South American
pampas,
Gran Chaco, or
Patagonian
grasslands, found principally in parts of
Southern Brazil,
Argentina,
Uruguay,
Paraguay, eastern and southern
Bolivia and
Southern Chile. In Brazil,
gaúcho is also the main gentilic of the people from the state of
Rio Grande do Sul.
Gaucho is a loose equivalent of the North American "cowboy" (
vaquero, in Spanish). Like the North American word cowboy, the Chilean
huaso, the Cuban
guajiro, the
Venezuelan or
Colombian
llanero or the Mexican
charro, the term often connotes the 19th century more than the present day; then
gauchos made up the majority of the rural population, herding cattle on the vast
estancias, and practicing hunting as their main economic activities.
There are several conflicting hypotheses concerning the origin of the term. It may derive from the
Mapuche cauchu ("vagabond") or from the
Quechua huachu ("orphan"), which gives also a different word in
American Spanish,
guacho and
Brazilian Portuguese gaúcho. The first recorded uses of the term date from around the time of
Argentine independence in 1816.