Map s America

7/31/2019 Map s America

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South America ranks fourth in area (after Asia, Africa, and North America) and fifth in population (after Asia, Africa,

Europe, and North America)

The Darin Gap is a large swath of undeveloped swampland and forest separating Panama's Darin Province in Central

America from Colombia in South America

The Panama Canal is a 82-kilometre (51 mi) ship canal in Panama that connects the Atlantic Ocean (via the Caribbean Se

and the Pacific Ocean. The canal cuts across the Isthmus of Panama and is a key conduit for international maritime trade

Work on the canal, which began in 1880, was completed in 1914

South America is home to the world's highest waterfall, Angel Falls in Venezuela

; the largest waterfall (by volume), the Amazon River;

the longest mountain range, the Andes (whose highest mountain is Aconcagua at 6,962 m [22,841 ft]); the driest place o

earth, the Atacama Desert;[12][13][14]

the largest rainforest, the Amazon Rainforest;

the highest capital city, La Paz, Bolivia;

the highest commercially navigable lake in the world, Lake Titicaca;

and, excluding research stations in Antarctica, the world's southernmost permanently inhabited community, Puerto Tor

Chile.

The South American nations that border the Caribbean Sea including Colombia, Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname, and

French Guiana are also known as Caribbean South America.


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With the exception of narrow coastal plains on the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, there are three main topographic feature

the Andes, a central lowland, and the extensive Brazilian and Guiana Highlands in the east

The Andes are a Cenozoic mountain range formed (and still forming) by the continuing convergence of the American and

Pacific tectonic plates. In their northern and central reaches the Andes are quite wide and contain extensive plateau suc

as the Altiplano and a number of major valleys such as the Rio Magdalena. These contain three of the world's highestcapitals: Bogot, Quito and highest of all, La Paz, Bolivia. The southern Andes have been eroded by the Patagonian Ice

Sheet and are much lower and narrower. There are a number of large glaciers in the northern part, but from latitude 19

to 28S the climate is so arid that no permanent ice can form even on the highest peaks. Permafrost, however, is

widespread in this section of the Altiplano and continuous above 5,600 metres (18,373 ft)

East of the Andes is a large lowland drained by a small number of rivers, including the two largest in the world by drainag

area - the Amazon River and the more southerly Paran River. The other major river of this central lowland is the Orinoc

River, which has a natural channel linking it with the Amazon.[1] Most of this central lowland is sparsely populated

because the soils are heavily leached, but in the south is the very fertile pampas of Argentina - one of the world's major

food-producing regions where wheat and beef cattle are pre-eminent. The natural vegetation of the northern lowlands a

either savanna in the northern llanos and southern campos, or tropical rainforest throughout most of the Amazon basin

Efforts to develop agriculture, outside of fertile floodplains of rivers descending from the Andes, have been largely failur

because of the soils. Cattle have long been raised in the llanos of northern Colombia and Venezuela, but petroleum is no

the dominant industry in the northern lowlands, making Venezuela the richest country in the continenEast of the Andes

a large lowland drained by a small number of rivers, including the two largest in the world by drainage area - the Amazon

River and the more southerly Paran River. The other major river of this central lowland is the Orinoco River, which has a

natural channel linking it with the Amazon.[1] Most of this central lowland is sparsely populated because the soils are

heavily leached, but in the south is the very fertile pampas of Argentina - one of the world's major food-producing regio

where wheat and beef cattle are pre-eminent. The natural vegetation of the northern lowlands are either savanna in the

northern llanos and southern campos, or tropical rainforest throughout most of the Amazon basin. Efforts to developagriculture, outside of fertile floodplains of rivers descending from the Andes, have been largely failures because of the

soils. Cattle have long been raised in the llanos of northern Colombia and Venezuela, but petroleum is now the dominan

industry in the northern lowlands, making Venezuela the richest country in the continent

The Llanos is a vast tropical grassland plain situated to the east of the Andes in Colombia and Venezuela, in northwestern

South America. It is an ecoregion of the Flooded grasslands and savannas Biome.

The Llanos' main river is the Orinoco, which forms part of the border between Colombia and Venezuela and is the major

river system of VenezuelaThe climate change of the Llanos is extreme. During the rainy season from May to October, pa

of the Llanos can flood up to a meter. This turns the woodlands and grassland into a temporary wetland, The climate

change of the Llanos is extreme. During the rainy season from May to October, parts of the Llanos can flood up to a met

This turns the woodlands and grassland into a temporary wetland,

Upwelling occurs off Peru year-round but off Chile only during the spring and summer, because of the displacement of t

subtropical center of high pressure during the summer. Periodically, the upwelling that drives the systems productivity i

disrupted by the El Nio-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) event. When this occurs, fish abundance and distribution are

significantly affected, often leading to stock crashes and cascading social and economic impacts.


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The Humboldt has a considerable cooling influence on the climate of Chile, the climate of Peru and the climate of Ecuad

It is also largely responsible for the aridity that prevails in northern Chile and coastal areas of Peru and southern Ecuador

Marine air is cooled by the current and thus is not conducive to generating precipitation (although clouds and fog are

produced).

the world famous Iguazu Falls to the south

the Paran flows southward and forms a natural boundary between Paraguay and Brazil until the confluence with the

Iguazu River. Shortly upstream from this confluence, however, the river is dammed by the impressive Itaipu Dam, the

second largest hydroelectric power station in the world (after the Three Gorges Dam in the People's Republic of China),

and creating a massive, shallow reservoir behind it.


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Map s America

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