9781422286463

10

South America: Facts and Figures

east of the continent, which rise to 9,000 feet (2,745 meters). There are also short mountain ranges in southern Brazil. As famous as the Andes is the lush Amazon River basin, which has more than 2 million square miles (over 5 million sq km) of water drained by the Amazon River and its more than 1,000 tributaries. The Amazon River itself is 3,900 miles (6,276 km) in length, second only to the Nile, but its volume of water is by far the largest. Almost one-fifth of all the flowing water in the world is carried by the Amazon. Another important drainage system includes the Paraná, Paraguay, and Uruguay Rivers complex, which empties out into the broad Río de la Plata, an estuary on the Atlantic coast that separates Argentina and Uruguay. Other large rivers include the São Francisco in Brazil, which stretches approxi- mately 1,800 miles (2,897 km), and the Orinoco in Venezuela, 1,340 miles (2,156 km) in length; Angel Falls, the world’s highest waterfall at 3,230 feet (985 meters), is also located here.

Words to Understand in This Chapter

biodiversity— an abundance of many kinds of living things. canopy— in a forest, the uppermost layer formed by branches of trees. deforestation— the cutting down of forests for lumber or to clear land for farming. ecosystem— the community of plants and animals along with their natural environment. endemic— said of a species that exists only in a particular area. fjords— a Norwegian word that refers to narrow sea inlets bounded by cliffs. Southern Cone— the narrow region in the lower third of South America. tableland— a large plain at high altitude.