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South America
The Land
South America, the fourth largest continent, contains the world’s highest waterfall, AngelFalls; the largest river (by volume), the Amazon River; the longest mountain range, the Andes;the driest desert, Atacama; the largest rain forest, the Amazon rain forest; the highest capitalcity, La Paz, Bolivia; and the world’s southernmost city, Ushuaia, Argentina.In the high reaches of the Andes Mountains, along the border between Bolivia and Peru,liesoneofthehighestregionsinhabitedbypeopleanywhereintheworld.Hereinthealtiplanofarmers raise sheep, llamas, and alpacas, as they have for thousands of years. But unlike mostfarmlands, the altiplano is surrounded by jagged mountains, volcanic peaks that drop steeplydown to deserts in some places, to rain forests in others, and on the western side, to the deeptrench of the Pacific Ocean. South America is home to some of the planet’s largest volcanoes,and in the far south along the coast of Chile, large ice sheets are commonplace.TheAmazonRiverBasinisroughlythesizeoftheforty-eightcontiguousUnitedStatesandcoverssome40percentoftheSouthAmericancontinent.Reflectingenvironmentalconditionsas well as past human influence, the Amazon is made up of ecosystems and vegetation typesthat include rain forests, seasonal forests, deciduous forests, flooded forests, and savannas.The Eastern Highlands of South America belong to the older geologic period (almost of the same time as that of North America’s Appalachian Mountains). The northern section of theEasternHighlands isknown as GuianaHighlands,which consistsofavast plateau markedby deep gorges and tropical rain forests, and is home to Angel Falls. The southern section isknown as the Brazilian Highlands and includes several mountain ranges.49
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S O U T H A M E R I C A
Venezuela’s rugged Llanos are one of the world’s richest tropical grasslands. This large,very fertile plain is located in central and southern Venezuela and eastern and central Colom-bia. Itisdrained bytheOrinoco River and itsmanytributaries.This mostlyflat,grassycountryis teeming with wildlife, including more than 100 species of mammals and over 300 speciesof birds. Here, a catfish known as the
lau-lau
weighs up to 330 pounds and is considered aculinary delicacy.
Pampas
is a word of Quechua origin that means “a plain without trees.” This flat land is Argentina’s agricultural heartland, home of the gaucho (cowboy) and is famed for its manycattle ranches.Patagonia is the area between the Andes Mountains and the Atlantic Ocean. It stretchessouth from the Rio Negro River in southern Argentina to Tierra del Fuego and the Strait of Magellan and is one of the less populated regions in the world. Its mostly rugged, barren landis not suitable for extensive farming, but is compatible with sheep raising.
History
Inthesixteenthcentury,SpanishexplorersintheAmericasencounteredtwogreatcivilizations,one in Mesoamerica (the territory controlled by the Aztecs and the Mayas at the time of the conquest) and the other in South America (the territory in the central Andean regionunder Inca rule). The people of these regions accounted for many tribes and nations, withachievements that included art, cities, and strong foundations of economic, political, andsocial organization.The Inca empire, with its capital at Cuzco (in modern-day Peru), covered a large portionof South America in the fifteenth and the first quarter of the sixteenth century. The empirestretchednearly2,500milesdownthewestcoastofSouthAmerica,andcoveredcoastaldesert,high mountains, and low-lying jungle. It covered most of modern-day Peru, part of Ecuador,and Bolivia, northwest Argentina, and the greater part of Chile. To control such a hugearea, the Incas built roads, including both mountainous and coastal routes. This road system was key to farming success since it allowed distribution of foodstuffs over long distances. Agriculture was an important part of Incan life and farmers used sophisticated methods of cultivation. By the time of the Spanish conquest, the ancient Americans were some of thegreatest plant cultivators in the world. Maize from Mesoamerica and potatoes from the Andes were some of their contributions to the European diet. To get the highest yield from theircrops, the Incas used terracing and irrigation methods on hillsides in the highlands. Buildingterracesmeantthattheycouldusemorelandforcultivation,anditalsohelpedtoresisterosionof the land by wind and rain.
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South America
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