REVIEWER

Places and Landscape of the Changing World

o Relatively few islands rim the

SOUTH AMERICA continent, except in the south. These
The name America is derived from that of include the glaciated coastal
the Italian navigator Amerigo Vespucci, one archipelagoes of Argentina and Chile.
of the earliest European explorers of the New o The Falkland (Malvinas) Islands are
World. east of southern Argentina. To the
o The term “America” was originally north, the West Indies stretch from
applied to South America, until the Trinidad to Florida, but those islands
designation applied to the entire usually are associated with North
landmass. America. Of the remainder, most are
o It is the fourth-largest continent small oceanic islands off the coasts of
(extends from the Gulf of Darién in the South America, including the
northwest to the archipelago of Tierra Galapagos Islands, Ecuador, in the
del Fuego in the south. Pacific Ocean.
o It is the home of the world’s largest
river (Amazon) Region
o As well as the world’s driest place o The regions are: Argentina, Bolivia,
(Atacama Desert) Brazil, Colombia, Venezuela, Guyana,
Suriname, Uruguay, Ecuador, and
Location Paraguay.
o South America’s latitude and longitude o The languages are: Spanish,
lies between 14.6048° S, 59.0625° W. Portuguese, Guarani, English, French,
o South America is bounded by the Dutch, Quechua, Aymara,
Caribbean Sea to the northwest and Mapudungun, and other languages.
north, the Atlantic Ocean to the
northeast, east and southeast, and the Movement
Pacific Ocean to the west. o The movement in South America is
o In the northwest it is joined to North when in the mid-1900s people have
America by the Isthmus of Panama, a been moving from rural to urban areas.
land bridge narrowing to about 50 o Transport in South America is basically
miles (80 km) at one point. Drake carried out using the road mode, the
Passage, south of Cape Horn, most developed in the region. There is
separates South America from also a considerable infrastructure of
Antarctica. ports and airports. The railway and
fluvial sector, although it has potential,
Place is usually treated in a secondary way.
o South America has a total area of
about 6,878,000 square miles Human-Environment Interaction
(17,814,000 square km), or roughly o The Human Environment Interaction in
one-eighth of the land surface of Earth. South America is in 1789 at the same
o Its greatest north-south extent is about time, the mestizos and mulattos
4,700 miles, from Point Gallinas, wanted to bring change. Now Brazil
Colombia, to Cape Horn, while its gain independence.
greatest east-west extent is some o They use trees for fire wood, they
3,300 miles, from Cape Branco, Brazil, particularly use mahogany and nose
to Point Pariñas, Peru. wood for man-made furniture.
o At 22,831 feet (6,959 meters) above
sea level, Mount Aconcagua, in
Argentina, near the border with Chile,
is not only the continent’s highest point
but also the highest elevation in the
Western Hemisphere.
 REVIEWER
Places and Landscape of the Changing World

South America’s physical geography, o In Ecuador the Andes form two

environment and resources, and human parallel cordilleras, one facing the
geography can be considered separately. Pacific and the other descending
abruptly eastward toward the Amazon
basin, crowned by towering peaks.
o Between the ranges lies a series of
high basins.
o Three cordilleras run through Peru and
are known by
o Peruvians as the Eastern
Cordillera; the Central, or
Blanca (“White”), Cordillera,
named for the glaciated summit
of Mount Huascarán, the
country’s highest peak, which
rises to 22,025 feet (6,713
meters); and the Western, or
Negra (“Black”), Cordillera,
The Andes Mountains which has no snowcapped
o The ranges of the Andes Mountains, summits.
about 5,500 miles (8,900 km) long and o South of Lima, Peru, and
second only to the Himalayas in extending through western
average elevation, constitute a Bolivia, the Andes branch into
formidable and continuous barrier, with two distinct ranges. Between
many summits exceeding 20,000 feet them lies the Altiplano, a vast
(6,100 meters). complex of high plateaus
o The Venezuelan Andes—the between about 12,000 and
northernmost range of the system— 15,000 feet (3,700 and 4,600
run parallel to the Caribbean Sea meters) in elevation and as
coast in Venezuela west of Caracas, much as 125 miles (200 km)
before turning to the southwest and wide.
entering Colombia. o The Altiplano forms a maze of
o In Colombia the Andes—which trend depressions, hills, and vast
generally to the north and south—form plains without equivalent except
three distinct ranges: The Cordilleras in Tibet. Water accumulates in
Oriental, Central, and Occidental. closed basins to form marshes
o The valley of the Magdalena and lakes, the largest of which
River, between the Oriental and is Lake Titicaca on the border of
the Central ranges, Peru and Bolivia. That central
o The valley of the Cauca River, region of the Andes has been
between the Central and the dissected by several rivers, all
Occidental ranges, are huge rift of which have cut spectacular
valleys formed by faulting rather
than by erosion.
o An aerial view of the Andes in
Colombia shows, within relatively
short distances, a succession of hot
lowlands interspersed with high ranges
with snowcapped peaks.
 REVIEWER
Places and Landscape of the Changing World

gorges down the eastern highest summit is Mount Roraima

slopes. (9,094 feet [2,772 meters]).
o Farther to the south—along the
border between Chile and
Argentina—the Andes form a
single but lofty chain with many
of the system’s highest peaks,
including Mount Aconcagua,
which, at 22,831 feet (6,959
meters), is the highest point on
the continent and in the
Western Hemisphere; south of
Aconcagua, elevations
gradually diminish. In southern
Chile part of the cordillera Tablelands called tepuis rise behind Hacha Falls on the Carrao River, in the Guiana Highlands of

descends beneath the sea, southeastern Venezuela. ©Tony Morrison/South American Pictures

forming innumerable islands o Covering an area of about 580,000

with steep slopes. The Andes square miles (1,500,000 square km),
have been deeply carved by the Brazilian Highlands (also called the
glaciers, particularly in the
Brazilian Plateau) rise to an average
south. Ice masses still occupy
elevation of about 3,000 feet (900
some 1,900 square miles (4,900
square km), constituting a huge meters) and are crowned by numerous
ice cap with long terminal sierras (ranges). Included in that
tongues running into piedmont region is Bandeira Peak (9,482 feet
lakes or into the sea. [2,890 meters]), one of the highest
o The Andes are studded with numerous points in Brazil.
volcanoes that are part of the Circum- o The São Francisco River, draining a
Pacific volcanic chain, often called the large basin to the east, has cut deeply
Ring of Fire. Earthquakes are frequent. into the highlands.
Almost every major city has been o In the north the highlands slope
devastated at least once by gently to the sea, but in the east, they
earthquake, even along the coastal
drop abruptly, as much as 2,600 feet
plains, where clear signs of recent
(800 meters) within a few miles.
vertical movement are visible.
Skirting their southern edge, the Serra
The Plateaus do Mar has summits of more than
o To the north and east, the Guiana and 7,000 feet (2,100 meters) in elevation.
Brazilian highlands consist of ancient o The sea has partly invaded the
crystalline rocks greatly worn through lower sections of the original
prolonged erosion. coastal ranges and formed
o The Guiana Highlands are mostly Guanabara Bay, which includes
below elevations of 1,000 feet (300 the harbor of Rio de Janeiro.
meters), with small rises separated by o Nearby are such steep-sided
marshy depressions. Occasional rocky peaks as Sugar Loaf
dome-shaped granitic inselbergs (Portuguese: Pão de Açucar;
(steep-sided residual hills) some 2,000
1,296 feet [395 meters]) and
feet (600 meters) in elevation
surmount the landscape. Mount Corcovado (2,310 feet
o The southern edge rises abruptly to a [704 meters]), which rise
series of mountain chains and high dramatically from the sea.
tablelands (tepuis), in which the
 REVIEWER
Places and Landscape of the Changing World

o The basin of the Paraguay River,

between the Bolivian Andes in the
west and the Brazilian Highlands in the
east, consists of a series of alluvial
plains drained by a complex network
of rivers interspersed with marshes.
o To the east, the marshes are
called the Pantanal. They are
only a few hundred feet above
sea level.
o Annual flooding during the rainy
season (about November
through March) causes an
Rio de Janeiro, with Sugar Loaf Mountain.
Jeremy Woodhouse—Digital Vision/Getty Images

immense swamp to form. The

o In the far south, Patagonia
extensive plains west of the
constitutes a series of vast tablelands river, called the Gran Chaco,
that rise, terracelike, from the Atlantic generally are arid.
to the Andes and are covered with o Pampas of Argentina, covering
rounded pebbles and crumbling
almost 300,000 square miles (777,000
sandstones.
square km), consist of a thick
o Geologically recent volcanic
accumulation of loose sediments
eruptions have spread sheets of brought down from the Andes.
basaltic lava over large parts of o Those deposits, some 1,000
southern Patagonia and have
feet (300 meters) deep at
dotted the sedimentary plateaus
Buenos Aires and even deeper
with volcanic cones.
in other places, have completely
buried the ancient features of
the land.
The Lowlands o The landscape seems perfectly
o The Orinoco River basin is nearly level, although it actually rises
coextensive with the Llanos. It lies imperceptibly toward the west—
between the Venezuelan Andes and from near sea level at Buenos
the Guiana Highlands and is covered Aires to 2,320 feet (707 meters)
with alluvia brought down by the at Mendoza.
Andean torrents. o Some ranges, such as Córdoba
o The Amazonian depression, the and San Luis, are conspicuous
largest river basin in the world, forms features on the otherwise flat
an enormous region, bounded by the plains.
Andes to the west, the Guiana o Pampas of Argentina, covering
Highlands to the north, and the almost 300,000 square miles (777,000
Brazilian Highlands to the south. The square km), consist of a thick
river port of Iquitos, Peru, which is accumulation of loose sediments
about 2,500 miles (4,000 km) from the brought down from the Andes.
Atlantic Ocean, is at an elevation of
River Basins
only 384 feet (117 meters), while
Manaus, Brazil, far downstream in the o South America has three important
heart of the basin, has an elevation of river basins: The Amazon, Orinoco,
144 feet (44 meters). and Paraguay/Paraná.
 REVIEWER
Places and Landscape of the Changing World

 The Orinoco River basin covers an

 The Amazon River basin has an area area of about 948,000 square
of almost 7 million square kilometers kilometers (366,000 square miles) and
(2.7 million square miles), making it encompasses approximately 80
the largest watershed in the world. The percent of Venezuela and 25 percent
basin, which covers most of northern of Colombia.
South America, is fed by tributaries  A vast savanna or grassland region,
from the glaciers of the Andes. Every known as the Llanos, is the primary
second, the Amazon River empties biome of the Orinoco River basin.
209,000 cubic meters (7,381,000 cubic  The Llanos is primarily made up of
feet) of freshwater into the Atlantic grasses. Swamp grasses, sedges,
Ocean. and bunchgrass are found in wet, low-
 The Amazon River is the life force of lying areas. Carpet grass is found in
the equally vast Amazon rain forest, the higher and drier elevations.
which makes up about half of the rain  Like most grassland biomes, the
forest of the entire planet. Llanos is the perfect habitat for
 This tropical biome has as many as many bird species, including the
100 different tree species on a single scarlet ibis, bellbird, and umbrellabird.
acre, including the rubber tree, silk Important river species include the
cotton tree, and Brazil nut tree. Other piranha, electric eel, and the Orinoco
important plant species include palms, crocodile, which can reach a length of
ferns, and ropelike vines known as more than 6 meters (20 feet).
lianas that network throughout the rain
forest’s dense canopy.
 The diversity of animal life in the  The Paraguay/Paraná River basin
Amazon rain forest is unsurpassed in covers almost 2.8 million square
the rest of the world. The rain forest is kilometers (1,081,000 square miles),
perfectly suited for arboreal, or tree- which is much of southeastern Brazil
living, animals. and Bolivia, Paraguay, and northern
 More than 2 million species of Argentina. The Paraná River includes
insects are native to the region, Iguazu Falls, a massive series of
including hundreds of spiders and waterfalls that extend for 2.7
butterflies. Primates are abundant— kilometers (1.7 miles).
howler monkeys, spider monkeys, and  Along with the Uruguay River, the
capuchin monkeys—along with sloths, Paraná River empties into the Rio de
snakes, and iguanas. Thousands of la Plata estuary between Argentina
native birds include brightly colored and Uruguay. The Rio de la Plata is
macaws, parrots, toucans, and the most populated region of both
parakeets. countries. The capital cities of Buenos
Aires, Argentina, and Montevideo,
Uruguay, practically face each other
 The Orinoco River flows north of the across the estuary.
Amazon. The Orinoco flows in a giant  The Paraguay/Paraná River basin
arc for more than 2,736 kilometers supplies water to the plain’s biome,
(1,700 miles), originating in the Guiana or Pampas, of South America. The
Highlands of northern Brazil and Pampas have rich, fertile soil and
discharging in the Atlantic Ocean in predictable rainfall patterns. They are
Venezuela.
 REVIEWER
Places and Landscape of the Changing World

the most important grazing and located on coasts, formed when

cropland areas on the continent. longshore drifts sealed the exits to the
sea.
o Bodies of water such as Lake
Maracaibo in Venezuela and Dos
Patos Lagoon in southern Brazil, both
Lakes
located on coasts, formed when
o Most of South America’s important longshore drifts sealed the exits to the
lakes are confined to the Andes or sea.
their foothills. Because of the chain’s Marshes and swamps
complex topography, water has
accumulated in closed basins to form o Vast marshes are found in poorly
natural reservoirs. drained depressions in many parts
o Among permanent Andean lakes, the of the continent. One of the widest
largest is Lake Titicaca, which lies at marshy areas is the Pantanal, in the
an elevation of some 12,500 feet middle course of the Paraguay River; it
(3,810 meters) between Peru and is subject to flooding in December,
Bolivia. The lake is 120 miles (190 km) reaching its highest watermark in
long and up to 50 miles (80 km) wide, June, when it becomes an immense
although it was much more extensive swamp.
in the past. o Swamps of another type occur in the
o Lake Junín in central Peru; Lake rainforests, mostly in the Amazon
Sarococha, also in Peru, between basin and in northwestern Colombia.
Puno and Arequipa; and Lake Poopó o In some places the ground is
in Bolivia also rank among the larger inundated throughout the year,
Andean lakes. They exhibit uniform whereas in other areas swampy
physical conditions throughout the conditions occur only at the time of the
year, in terms of temperature and annual flood, as is the case with the
percentage of dissolved gases. In annually flooded plains known as
addition, they remain ice-free up to an várzeas.
elevation of about 16,000 feet (4,900 o Finally, wide, marshy areas border the
meters), and, as a result, the climate of mouths of the Orinoco and Amazon
their shores is temperate. rivers, and mangrove swamps of
o Piedmont lakes are found in various types are found along the
Patagonia where, in the wake of lower river valleys and coasts from
melting glaciers, lakes formed southern Ecuador northward, less
downslope in natural basins. Among continuously along the Caribbean
those are Lakes Buenos Aires, coast, and south along the Atlantic
Argentino, and Nahuel Huapí. Their coast to southeastern Brazil.
eastern parts, which stretch to the end o Fertile soils, therefore, extend over
of the Argentine plateau, generally only about 10 percent of the surface of
have gently sloping banks bordered by South America. The most important of
low mountains, while their western those are brunizems (deep, dark-
parts form a series of narrow, godlike colored prairie soils, developed from
arms that lie between steep slopes. wind-deposited loess), chestnut soils,
o Bodies of water such as Lake and ferruginous tropical soils.
Maracaibo in Venezuela and Dos o On the low coastal ranges, in the
Patos Lagoon in southern Brazil, both foothills of the western Andes, and on
 REVIEWER
Places and Landscape of the Changing World

the nearby plains and terraces of o Soil erosion has ravaged a

Colombia and Ecuador, the soils large part of the continent.
consist mainly of red-yellow According to some estimates, in
latosols, podzols, and alluvial soils. several countries’ half or more
o Soils in southern Brazil and of the presently arable land has
Uruguay consist of brunizems, been severely damaged or
reddish prairie soils, and planosols. ruined by poor land
The Argentine Pampas, the largest management.
fertile area on the continent, is o In the Andes, land that once
uniformly covered with the so-called produced high yields of wheat is
pampean loess, which is calcareous, now abandoned. Mountain
rich in minerals, and mixed with forests are still cleared for cattle
volcanic sediment. Less rich soils are grazing and cultivation, which
found in the uplands of northeastern greatly accelerates erosion and
and central Brazil, consisting mainly of ruins the soil of the region for
sandy regosols in the north and red years thereafter. Soil damage
latosols in the south. has been less severe in areas
o The agricultural development of of relatively flat terrain.
South America closely reflects the Campaigns for soil conservation
distribution of soils according to their or restoration have been
fertility. implemented in most countries.
o It is mostly confined to the eastern
mid-latitude plains, in which is
Climate
concentrated the production of cereal
grains and cattle grazing; to the o South America extends over a wide
subtropical and temperate parts of the latitudinal range, thus encompassing a
Andes, from Colombia to Chile, where
grazing takes place and a variety of
crops are cultivated; and to eastern
and southeastern Brazil, where coffee,
cacao, soybeans, and sugarcane are
grown, while the interior plateaus are
devoted to cattle grazing.

Coffee Plantation
Coffee growing on the middle slopes of the Cordillera Central near Chinchiná, Colombia.

o Victor Engelbart
 REVIEWER
Places and Landscape of the Changing World

great variety of climates. South Pacific coast of Colombia, in the

America’s broadest extent is in the Amazon basin, on the coast of
equatorial zone, so that tropical the Guianas, and on part of the
conditions prevail over more than half coast of Brazil.
of the continent. Elevation, particularly o Heavy rainfall, well-distributed
in the Andes, is another important throughout the year, averages
climatic control. about 100 inches (2,500 mm)
annually in Belém (Brazil),
South America: major climate regions
about 110 inches (2,800 mm) in
South America's vast interior is Iquitos (Peru), and 70 inches
dominated by tropical rainforest and (1,800 mm) in Manaus (Brazil).
grassland climates. Arid regions occur o The Chocó region of
primarily along the continent's western coast. Colombia—one of the wettest
South America's long and narrow southern areas in the world—receives in
reaches are a mix of several climate types. excess of 400 inches (10,200
mm), and it rains more than 300
Factors influencing climate
days per year.
Three principal factors control the o In the Amazon region, rains do
features of South America’s climate. not fall evenly over the basin.
 The southern part
o The first and most important of them
receives most of its
are the subtropical high-pressure air
rainfall during the
masses over the South Atlantic and
Southern Hemisphere
South Pacific oceans and their
summer (October to
seasonal shifts in position, which
April),
determine both large-scale patterns of
 The northern part has its
wind circulation and the location of the
rainy season during the
rain-bearing intertropical convergence
Northern Hemisphere
zone (ITCZ).
summer (May to
o The second is the presence of cold
September).
ocean currents along the continent’s  The “dry” season is
western side, which affect both air neither lengthy nor
temperatures and precipitation along noticeable; humidity is
the Pacific coast; on the Atlantic coast, always high.
warm currents are predominant.
o The third is the orographic barrier of o The tropical wet-dry, or
the Andes produces a vast rain savanna (grassy parkland), type
shadow over much of the southern tier is characterized by high
of the continent. temperatures (all monthly
Climatic regions means above 64 °F, or 18 °C)
but receives less precipitation
o South America can be divided into four and experiences a prolonged
major climatic regions tropical, dry season.
temperate, arid, and cold.  That type of climate is
Tropical climates found on the fringes of
the tropical-rainy belt, in
o The tropical rainy, or the Orinoco basin, on the
rainforest, type occurs on the Brazilian Highlands, and
 REVIEWER
Places and Landscape of the Changing World

in part of western o The presence of glaciers is the

Ecuador. result of snowy winters and
 Temperatures are still cool, cloudy summers during
high and annual which ice does not completely
variations small, but daily melt. Rainfall is abundant—
temperature extremes about 100 inches (2,500 mm) in
are greater, typically Valdivia, Chile, and probably
ranging from a low of 65 twice that figure on the western
°F (18 °C) to a high of 95 slopes of the mountains—and
°F (35 °C). the southernmost west coast is
one of the wettest regions in
South America.
o A short distance inland,
however, after passing into the
lee of the Andes, rainfall
Temperate climates decreases considerably (20
inches [500 mm] at Ushuaia,
o The temperate climates have a Argentina).
greater range of temperatures o Thus, in Patagonia an
than the tropical climates and unusual situation exists
may include extreme climatic in which those variations
variations. in rainfall result in more-
o Those climates, characterized significant differences in
by lower winter temperatures, climate from west to east
are south of the Tropic of than from north to south.
Capricorn (in Paraguay, parts of o Warm and cold deserts and
Bolivia, Brazil, Argentina, and certain coastal and interior
Chile) and in the mid-level regions are classified as arid
elevations of the Andes. On the climates.
Atlantic side, temperatures in o Patagonia and northwestern
the warmest month average 77 Argentina constitute the largest
°F (25 °C), but cold-month of the interior arid regions.
averages vary from 63 °F (17 Rainfall is low, only about 4
°C) in the north (Asunción, inches (100 mm) in San Juan in
Paraguay) to 50 °F (10 °C) in the north and about 7 inches
Buenos Aires. In southern (180 mm) farther south in
Chile, winter temperatures are Neuquén.
lower but not as low as the o The annual range in
latitudes would indicate. average monthly
o The southern islands and temperatures in
channels have a relatively Patagonia—the greatest
uniform cool climate throughout in South America—is
the year, and winters are much more than 36 °F (20 °C),
less severe than in Labrador the result of warm
(Canada), for example, which is summers and cold
at a comparable latitude and winters.
maritime location in the o The Atacama Desert, a narrow
Northern Hemisphere. strip along the Pacific coast
 REVIEWER
Places and Landscape of the Changing World

between latitudes 5° and 31° S, scarce and droughts are

is a coastal desert. prolonged.
o The cold seas associated with o Finally, the belt that forms in
the Peru Current and the northeastern Brazil, between
proximity of the high Andes the Parnaíba and São
produce an inversion of normal Francisco rivers, is classified as
atmospheric temperatures, as an interior warm arid zone.
air in contact with the water o The interior highlands act as a
cools more rapidly than the wedge separating the sea winds
upper strata of air. from the northeast and those
o The result is a nearly from the southeast, which carry
continuous layer of their moisture beyond the
stratus clouds about region.
1,200 feet (370 meters)
thick, lying at elevations
varying between about
1,000 and 3,000 feet
(300 and 900 meters),
that prevents air near the
ground from being
warmed. Temperatures,
consequently, are o Average annual rainfall is less
relatively low: Lima has than 4 inches (100 mm), and
an average annual the dry season may last as long
temperature of 64 °F (18 as seven months. The worst
°C), ranging from about feature of the area’s climate is
72 °F (22 °C) in February the irregularity of the rainfall, as
to about 59 °F (15 °C) in a result of which severe
August. droughts plague the region.
o The coast of Peru thus is Atacama Desert
The Valley of the Moon, with Licancábur volcano in the background, Atacama Desert, Chile.
the cloudiest—and one Jeremy Woodhouse—Digital Vision/Getty Images

of the driest—deserts in Cold climates

the world, with no
sunshine for at least six o Areas where average annual
months of the year. temperatures are less than 50
o It almost never rains, °F (10 °C) are characterized as
except under abnormal cold climates.
circumstances, but o Those occur in the
condensation of fog southernmost parts of Argentina
(called garúa by the and Chile and in the high Andes
Peruvians) provides a above about 11,500 feet (3,500
limited amount of metres). Mean temperatures
moisture. are relatively low throughout the
o A warm coastal desert year, but daily variations are
extends from wide.
northeastern Colombia to o There is a marked difference in
Venezuela, covering a humidity between the northern
zone where rainfall is
 REVIEWER
Places and Landscape of the Changing World

and southern parts of the upper

Andean zone.
o In Colombia and Ecuador, the
climate at such elevations is
cool and damp.
o Temperatures, always
low, may on the average
vary daily from 54 °F (12
°C) during the daytime to
28 °F (−2 °C) at night.
o Precipitation generally is
high and well distributed
throughout much of the
year, although most of
the Ecuadorian Andes
have a dry period from
June to August.
o Clouds and mist are
dense in much of the
region, and sunlight
penetrates only for short
periods.
o From central Peru to
Bolivia and Chile,
temperatures are still
lower. Near Lake
Titicaca, the average
annual temperature is
only about 34 to 36 °F (1
to 2 °C); November is the
warmest month, with an
average temperature of
41 °F (5 °C), while the
coldest month, July, has
an average of 28 °F (−2
°C).