Ñuflo de Chaves, also: "Ñuflo de Chávez", (1518–1568) was a Spanish

Spain

Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

 conquistador

Conquistador

Conquistadors were Spanish soldiers, explorers, and adventurers who brought much of the Americas under the control of Spain in the 15th to 16th centuries, following Europe's discovery of the New World by Christopher Columbus in 1492...

. He is best known for founding the city of Santa Cruz de la Sierra

Santa Cruz de la Sierra

Santa Cruz de la Sierra, commonly known as Santa Cruz, is the capital of the Santa Cruz department in eastern Bolivia and the largest city in the country...

 in (what is today) Bolivia

Bolivia

Bolivia officially known as Plurinational State of Bolivia , is a landlocked country in central South America. It is the poorest country in South America...

.

Ñuflo de Chaves was born and grew up in the small Spanish

Spain

Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

 village of Santa Cruz de la Sierra ("Holy Cross of the Mountains"), some 12 km south of Trujillo

Trujillo, Spain

Trujillo is a Spanish city of 9860 inhabitants , located in the province of Cáceres, in the Extremadura region. Famous for its monuments, it is a premier resort in Extremadura. It was the birthplace of Francisco Pizarro and his brothers, conquerors of Peru, as well as of Francisco de Orellana...

 in the Extremadura

Extremadura

Extremadura is an autonomous community of western Spain whose capital city is Mérida. Its component provinces are Cáceres and Badajoz. It is bordered by Portugal to the west...

 region in Spain

Spain

Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

.

He joined the military and went to South America as a conquistador.

In 1544 in Asunción

Asunción

Asunción is the capital and largest city of Paraguay.The "Ciudad de Asunción" is an autonomous capital district not part of any department. The metropolitan area, called Gran Asunción, includes the cities of San Lorenzo, Fernando de la Mora, Lambaré, Luque, Mariano Roque Alonso, Ñemby, San...

 (in today's Paraguay

Paraguay

Paraguay , officially the Republic of Paraguay , is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to the east and northeast, and Bolivia to the northwest. Paraguay lies on both banks of the Paraguay River, which runs through the center of the...

) he participated in the revolt against the Spanish governor Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca

Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca

Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca was a Spanish explorer of the New World, one of four survivors of the Narváez expedition...

. He helped Domingo Martínez de Irala

Domingo Martínez de Irala

Domingo Martínez de Irala was a Spanish Basque conquistador.He headed for the Americas in 1535 enrolled in the expedition of Pedro de Mendoza and participated in the founding of Buenos Aires...

's appointment as governor, and prepared an expedition to Charcas

Charcas

Charcas may refer to:* Charcas Province, a province in Potosí Department, Bolivia* Real Audiencia of Charcas, one of six political units of the Viceroyalty of Peru* Charcas, a historical name of Sucre, capital of Bolivia...

 (currently Sucre

Sucre

Sucre, also known historically as Charcas, La Plata and Chuquisaca is the constitutional capital of Bolivia and the capital of the department of Chuquisaca. Located in the south-central part of the country, Sucre lies at an elevation of 2750m...

). In 1557 he planned an expedition to conquer Jarayes lands, and reached today's Brazil

Brazil

Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...

ian federal state of Mato Grosso

Mato Grosso

Mato Grosso is one of the states of Brazil, the third largest in area, located in the western part of the country.Neighboring states are Rondônia, Amazonas, Pará, Tocantins, Goiás and Mato Grosso do Sul. It also borders Bolivia to the southwest...

, where he thought that he would find gold mines.

In 1561 he moved to the southern Amazon Basin

Amazon Basin

The Amazon Basin is the part of South America drained by the Amazon River and its tributaries that drains an area of about , or roughly 40 percent of South America. The basin is located in the countries of Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, and Venezuela...

 with a group of settlers, where he founded the town of Santa Cruz de la Sierra

Santa Cruz de la Sierra

Santa Cruz de la Sierra, commonly known as Santa Cruz, is the capital of the Santa Cruz department in eastern Bolivia and the largest city in the country...

, giving it the name of his hometown in Spain. Ñuflo de Chaves settled in his new town with his family, being the first European

European ethnic groups

The ethnic groups in Europe are the various ethnic groups that reside in the nations of Europe. European ethnology is the field of anthropology focusing on Europe....

 to introduce goat

Goat

The domestic goat is a subspecies of goat domesticated from the wild goat of southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a member of the Bovidae family and is closely related to the sheep as both are in the goat-antelope subfamily Caprinae. There are over three hundred distinct breeds of...

s and sheep to the region. He was killed there in a conflict with the Itatines natives in 1568. A few years later the settlement was moved to a new position 220 km further to the west because of the continuing conflicts with the natives.

Today the Province of Ñuflo de Chávez

Ñuflo de Chávez Province

Ñuflo de Chávez is one of the fifteen provinces of the Bolivian Santa Cruz Department and is situated in the northern central parts of the department. The name of the province honors the conquistador Ñuflo de Chaves who founded the city of Santa Cruz de la Sierra. Its capital is Concepción...

 in the Bolivia

Bolivia

Bolivia officially known as Plurinational State of Bolivia , is a landlocked country in central South America. It is the poorest country in South America...

n Department of Santa Cruz

Santa Cruz Department

Santa Cruz, with an area of 370,621 km², is the largest of the nine constituent departments of Bolivia. In the 2001 census, it reported a population of 2,029,471. The capital is the city of Santa Cruz de la Sierra. The state is one of the wealthiest states in Bolivia with huge reserves of...

is named in his honor.