Major Landforms of South America

The Amazon Basin: The Amazon Basin, home to sixty percent of the planet’s remaining tropical rainforests, is an immense region nearly the size of the continental United States. The Amazon´s incredible biodiversity is well-known, and new research confirms the critical role it plays in regulating the climate not only of South America, but also of parts of North America as well.

Increasingly, the Amazon Basin is being targeted for large dam projects. More than 60 large dams are being planned for the Brazilian Amazon, and neighboring countries Peru, Bolivia and Colombia are planning dams of their own. If built, these projects would dramatically affect the Amazon’s fragile web of aquatic and terrestrial life, as well as displacing tens of thousands of indigenous and river bank communities.


The Andes: The Andes Mountains are located in South America, running north to south along the western coast of the continent. The latitude is 10° N. to 57° S. The longitude is 70° W. to 80° E.

The Andes Mountains are the longest and one of the highest mountain ranges in the world. They are located in South America and stretch 4,500 miles from north to south, along the west coast of the continent.

The climate is not the same throughout the biome because there are places nearer to the equator than others. The Andes are separated into three natural regions: the southern, central, and northern regions. In the northern region, it is hotter because it is closest to the equator. There are rain forests in this region, due to the more humid, rainy climate. In the southern region, the mountains are nearer to the Antarctic and it is much colder. It is not very populated in the southern area.

The Atacama Desert: The Atacama desert is found along the coast of Chile, South America - right next to the Pacific Ocean - the biggest body of water in the world. Much of the desert extends up into the Andes mountains and is very high in elevation. Unlike more familiar deserts, like the Sahara desert in Africa and the Mojave in California, the Atacama is actually a pretty cold place, with average daily temperatures ranging between 0°C and 25°C.


The Brazilian Highlands: The largest area of hills and mountains in eastern South America is in Brazil. The Brazilian Highlands extend from near the mouth of the Amazon River to central Uruguay and include parts of eastern Paraguay and east

The Guiana Highlands: Guiana Highlands, plateau and low-mountain region of South America located north of the Amazon and south of the Orinoco River. Comprising a heavily forested plateau, they cover the southern half of Venezuela, all of the Guianas except for the low Atlantic coastal plain, the northern part of Brazil, and a portion of southeastern Colombia. They are geologically similar to the Brazilian Highlands, from which they are separated by the eastern part of the Amazon lowland


The Llanos: Llanos, wide grasslands stretching across northern South America and occupying western Venezuela and northeastern Colombia. The Llanos have an area of approximately 220,000 square miles, delimited by the Andes Mountains to the north and west, the Guaviare River and the Amazon River basin to the south, and the lower Orinoco River and the Guiana Highlands to the east.

The Pampas: The Pampas of South America are a grassland biome. They are flat, fertile plains that covers an area of 300,000 sq. miles, from the Atlantic Ocean to the Andes Mountains. It is found primarily in Argentina and extends into Uruguay. The word Pampas comes from the Guarani Indian word for level plain.
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Patagonia: Is a region located in Argentina and Chile, extends from the Río Colorado south to the tip of the continent. From the dramatic peaks of the Andes and the grinding ice fields of Glaciers National Park to the arid steppes of the east, Patagonia is South America's frontier—harsh, unspoiled, raw.
Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan was the first European to discover the region when he arrived in 1520. Subsequent explorers called the area's Tehuelche Indian inhabitants Patagones, from which the region's name evolved. Today, Patagonia is a sparsely populated area rich in natural resources and wildlife, including herons, condors, pumas, tortoises, and guanacos. Sheep herding, oil, mining, agriculture, and tourism make up Patagonia's economy.


SOUTH AMERICA
Capitals and Countries:
colombia:  bogotá
ecuador: quito
venezuela: caracas
guyana: georgetown
surinam: paramaribo
guayana francesa: cayena
brasil: brasilia
perú: lima
bolivia: la paz-sucre
paraguay: asunción
uruguay: montevideo
chile: santiago de chile
argentina: buenos aires
Sources used to write the post:

http://www.internationalrivers.org/latin-america/amazon-basin









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