What is the most valuable thing you can imagine? Gold? Oil? Diamonds?
In the 19th century, one of the world’s most valuable natural resources was something much less glamorous.
Bird poop. It is better known as guano, but is basically the accumulated droppings of seabirds and bats.
Before modern fertilizers, guano was incredibly valuable. It contains large amounts of nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus, which plants need to grow. And when farmers began using large quantities of guano, they discovered that it could dramatically increase agricultural production.
When something becomes extremely valuable, competition often follows. Countries fought for access to guano. Governments became heavily dependent on the money it generated. International disputes broke out over resource-rich territory. And guano played a role in wars that changed the borders of South America.
How did bird droppings become so valuable? Why did countries fight over it? How did a natural resource that once generated enormous wealth eventually become almost irrelevant?
Today, let’s look at the strange history of guano!
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