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The Land Glaciares National Park, on the southwestern edge of Patagonia. (Right) Iguazú Falls, located at the point where Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay meet, is made up of about 275 different cataracts that stretch over more than 2 miles (3.2 km). 1 The geography and climate of South America vary greatly. (Opposite) The massive Perito Moreno Glacier in Los

SOUTHAMERICA IS the fourth largest of the world’s seven continents, with an area of nearly 7 million square miles (almost 18 million square kilometers). Measuring from north to south it is the longest continent, stretching 4,600 miles (7,403 km). Its northern tip, La Guajira Peninsula in Colombia, is locat- ed about 600 miles (966 km) above the equator. The southernmost point at Chile’s Cape Horn is less than 400 miles (644 km) from Antarctica. No other continent is closer to the South Pole. Geographically, South America can be divided into several distinct regions, including mountains, grassy plains, marshlands, and river basins. The Andes, which run almost the entire length of the continent near the western coast, are second only to the Himalayas as the world’s tallest moun- tain chain. Several peaks rise over 20,000 feet (6,100 meters). The altiplano, a high tableland at the heart of the Andes, is dry and bare. Another formation, much lower and much more forested, is the Guiana Highlands in the north-

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