Gran-chaco definition
A lowland plain of central South America divided among Paraguay, Bolivia, and Argentina. The arid plain is largely uninhabited.
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The northern part of the Gran Chaco is partly wooded and swampy, and as the slope eastward is very gentle and the rivers much obstructed by sand bars, floating trees and vegetation, large areas are regularly flooded during rainy seasons.
The Buenos Aires treaty of the 3rd of February 1876 fixed the frontier between Argentina and Paraguay, and assigned to Paraguay the portion of the Gran Chaco between Rio Verde and Bahia Negra; the appropriation of the portion between Rio Verde and the Pilcomayo was submitted to the arbitration of the president of the United States, who in 1878 assigned it to Paraguay.
The western section forms part of the great plain called the Gran Chaco (see Argentina), and is to a large extent unexplored.