A Estancia or Estância is a Spanish and Brazilian Portuguese term describing private landholdings. In some areas these were large rural with similarities to the American term ranch.They are large farms which are spread over extensive areas often 10,000 hectares. Estancias in the southern South American grasslands, the pampas, have historically been a livestock (cattle or sheep) estate. In the early Caribbean and Mexico, holders of encomiendas acquired land in the area where they had access to Indian labor, and often the need for on-site Hispanic supervisors or labor bosses called estancieros. In Mexico, multiple estancias owned by the same individual could be termed an hacienda. The term estancia is used in various ways in Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay, southern Chile and southern Brazil. The equivalent in other Spanish American countries would be hacienda. read more…