Mapping Lecture 1

South America

The Con(nent Generally Includes:

• Twelve sovereign states: Argen(na, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana,
Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Uruguay, and Venezuela.
• Two dependent territories: the Falkland Islands and South Georgia and the South
Sandwich Islands.
• One internal territory: French Guiana.
 • Equator Passes Through: Ecuador, Colombia, Brazil [ECB - east to west]
• Tropic of Capricorn: Passes through Chile, Argen(na, Paraguay, Brazil [CAP-B]
• All countries except 2 are on sea-coast: Bolivia, Paraguay
• Bolivia is surrounded by Chile, Peru, Brazil, Paraguay, Argen(na.
• Paraguay is surrounded by Bolivia, Brazil, Argen(na.
• French Guinea: Part of France. It has launching pad of EU for space missions.
• Easy to launch Geosynchronous satellite, Coriolis is absent as it is close to equator and it
has sea to East so if a mission fails it will cause less damage to life and property.
• Surinam: Has large Indian Diaspora

BRAZIL
• BRAZIL The largest country in the con(nent
• Neighbours of Brazil: All the countries except Chile, Ecuador, Trinidad and Tobago.
• Coffee Triangle: Rio De Janerio, Santos, Sao Paolo (Also famous for meat packaging).
• Manos: Gold deposits
• Natal: Sugarcane
• Belem: Manganese deposits

ARGENTINA
• Wheat Triangle: Buenos Aires, Mendoza, Rosario
• Maize Triangle: Buenos Aires, Mendoza, Bahia Blanca
• Strait of Magellan: Old trading route but no more used due to Panama Canal.
• Rio De La Plata Estuary
CHILE
• Valparaiso: Famous for wines.
• Arica: Driest part of Earth(Part of Atacama Desert).
• Iquique: Rich in copper.

PHYSICAL – SOUTH AMERICA

Grasslands:
• Tropical grasslands – Llanos, Selvas, Ca(ngas,
Mato Grasso, Campos,
• Temperate grasslands – Pampas, Gran Chaco,
Entre Rios
Plateau – Highlands
• Guiana Highlands: Located in Venezuela.
• World’s Highest Fall: Angel’s fall on Caroni River is
located here.
• Mato Grasso: Located in Venezuela
• Plateau of Borborema: Located in Brazil
• Bolivian Plateau: Shared among Bolivia, Chile, and Peru.
• Lake Ti(caca world’s highest navigable water body
lies here

Mountains – Andes
• Longest Mountain range in World.
• Passes thru Chile , Argen(na , Bolivia , Ecuador , Peru ,
Colombia and Venezuela.
• Highest Peak: Mt. Aconcagua is the highest peak of
Andes (7021m)
• Only pass in Andes: Uspallata Pass
• Two important ranges in Andes: Ojos Del Salado,
Aconcagua.
• NOTE: Peru Chile Trench: Longest trench in the
world.(# Not deepest)
• Ojos Del – highest ac(ve volcano.
Rivers of South America
Amazon River
• Size: It is the largest river by discharge volume of
water in the world
• Features:
• Basin Size: The largest drainage basin in the world.
• It flows through: Peru, Colombia, and Brazil.
• Selvas – Evergreen Forest found in Amazon Basin

Orinoco river
• Size: Fourth largest river in the world by
discharge volume of water.
• Significance Features:
• Angel Waterfall: The world’s highest waterfall
Angel (979 m) is situated on river Churun
which is a tributary of river Caroni which is
further a tributary of river Orinoco.
• It Flows Through: Colombia and Venezuela.
• Llanos – Grassland associated in orinoco

Parana River
• Running Through: Brazil, Paraguay, and Argen(na.
• Size: It is second in length only to the Amazon
among River South American rivers.
• Course/Empty Into: It merges with the Paraguay
River and then farther downstream with the
Uruguay River to form the Río de la Plata and
emp(es into the Atlan(c Ocean.
Important lakes and Islands of South America

Lake TiIcaca
• Size: It is the largest lake in South America by
surface area and volume. Specific Features:
• It is the world’s "highest navigable lake” at an
al(tude of 12,507 k.
• Loca(on: It is located within the boundaries of
two countries; the western part lies in Peru
while the eastern part is located in Bolivia.

Lake Maracaibo
• Loca(on: It is a large brackish (dal bay in Zulia,
Venezuela and an inlet of Caribbean Sea.
• Connected To: Gulf of Venezuela by Tablazo Strait.
• Large reserves of crude oil.
• Weather phenomenon known as Catatumbo
lightning at Lake Maracaibo regularly produces more
lightning than any other place on the planet.
Falkland Island
• Loca(on: An archipelago in the South Atlan(c Ocean.
• Sovereign Control: As a Bri(sh overseas territory, it has internal self governance and
United takes Kingdom responsibility for their defence and foreign affairs.
• It is a disputed territory between Argen(na and UK.

Galapagos Island
• An archipelago of volcanic islands
distributed on either side of
equator in the Pacific Ocean.
• Sovereign Control: Part of
Republic of Ecuador.

Deserts of South America

Patagonian Desert
• Largest desert by area located in Argen(na.
• Located primarily in Argen(na and is bounded by
the Andes, to its west, and the Atlan(c Ocean to its
east.

Atacama Desert
• Located in Chile.
• Features:
• Driest nonpolar desert in the world.
• Only true desert to receive less precipita(on
than the polar deserts.
• The largest fog desert in the world.

Sechura Desert
• Coastal desert located south of the Piura Region of
Peru along the Pacific Ocean coast and inland to the
foothills of the Andes Mountains

Monte Desert
• Loca(on: Lying en(rely within Argen(na
La Guajira Desert
• Loca(on: It is a desert located in northern Colombia and Venezuela

MISCELLANEOUS
• Lithium Triangle: The Lithium Triangle is a region of the Andes rich in lithium reserves
around the borders of Argen(na, Bolivia and Chile.
• Trans-Andean Railway Line: Between Chile and Argen(na.
• Southern Most Tip: Cape Horn.

NORTH AMERICA
• Size: 3rd largest con(nent in the world
and lies totally in Northern
Hemisphere.
• Tropic of Cancer: Passes through
Mexico and Bahamas.
• Arc(c Circle: Passes through USA
(Alaska), Canada, Greenland
(Denmark).
• Capital Ci(es
• Canada – Ooawa
• USA – Washington DC
• Mexico – Mexico City
• Boundaries
• 49th Parallel – Boundary
between USA (mainland) and
Canada
• Mexico is surrounded by USA,
Belize, Guatemala
• USA: Has 50 states out of which Alaska is the biggest state.
• Canada: has the largest coastline in the world.
Rivers of North America

Yukon River
• Source: It flows from Alaska.
• Significance: Placer gold
found there.

Mc. kenzie River

• Drains Into: Beaufort Sea
• Significant Feature: It is the
largest river flowing into the
Arc(c from North America.
St Lawrence river
• Origin-Des(na(on: It flows from Lake Ontario in a
roughly north-easterly direc(on into the Gulf of St.
Lawrence.
• Significance:
• It is part of interna(onal boundary between Canada
and United States.
• Important for iron transporta(on.

Mississippi River
• Significance: It is the second longest river
and chief river of the second-largest
drainage system on the North American
con(nent.
• Form of Delta: Bird Foot Delta.

Colorado River
• Forms the Grand Canyon
• Source-Sink: Star(ng in the central Rocky Mountains of
Colorado in Grand Lake, Colorado.
• through the Grand Canyon before reaching Lake Mead
on the Arizona–Nevada border.

Grande River
• Natural boundary between USA and Mexico.
• It keeps changing its course resul(ng into boundary
disputes between both the na(ons
Important lakes of North America

• Lake Superior: Largest freshwater lake in the world

• Lake Michigan: En(rely in USA.
• Others: Lake Superior, Lake Huron, Lake Erie, Lake Ontario are shared by both USA and
Canada.