South America, at (17,819,000 sq km), is the fourth largest continent in the world.
La Paz, Bolivia is the highest capital city in the world.
Brazil, at 8,456,510 sq km, (3,265,059 sq miles), is the fifth largest country in
the world. Argentina, at 2,736,690 sq km, (1,056,636 sq miles) is the eighth largest.
Two of the five longest rivers in the world are in South America: the
Amazon at 4,087 miles and the Parana at 3,032 miles. The Amazon is visible
from space.
For sheer volume of water, the Amazon is the
Greatest River.
The Amazon river basin is the largest contiguous tropical rainforest in the world.
The Amazon and its tributaries form an area called Amazonia.
The Andes
are the longest mountain range in the world, extending
more than 4000 miles through seven countries down the western portion of South America.
The second highest mountain in the world is Cerro Aconcagua (22,835 ft) in Argentina.
The highest waterfall in the world is Angel Falls, Venezuela where water
falls 3,281 feet from the top to the base in a series of steps.
Buenos Airesis the second largest city with with 11.96 million inhabitants
living within the city limits. With those outside the city limits, it
has 12.91 million inhabitants, making it the fourteenth largest city.
São Paulo, Brazil with 18.5 million inhabitants is the fifth largest city in
the world and the largest in South America.
Population Density
Lake Titicaca is the highest navigable lake in the world.
Buenaventura, Colombia with 267" rain per year is the wettest inhabited place on
earth. Other sources say Quibido, Colombia, the rainiest place in South America, receives more than
350 inches (890 centimeters) of rain.
The third, fourth and fifth inhabited places with the least recorded rainfall are
Arica Desert, Chile 0.04", Ica, Peru 0.1" and Antofagasta, Chile 0.2".
The Atacama desert of Chile with 54,000 sq. miles is the largest cool,
coastal desert. The oasis at San Pedro de Atacama
has supported life for thousands of years.
Driest Place.
The Argentine Patagonian desert with 260,000 sq. miles is the second largest
cold winter desert.
Suriname has the tenth lowest density population of 7.0 people per square mile.
Chile had the world's greatest recorded earthquake in 1960.
Greatest Earthquake
Iguazu Falls are shared by two countries:
Argentina and Brazil.
The only still growing glacier is Perito Moreno. Read more about the
Glaciers of Argentina
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