The Eastern Highlands
The Eastern Highlands are scattered highlands that extend along the east coast of South America. They rise sharply along the coast and slope gently towards the Central Lowlands.
South America has three major highlands – the Guiana Highlands, the Brazilian Highlands and the Patagonian Plateau.
• The Guiana Highlands are located in the northern parts of the Central Lowlands. They lie in between the Amazon and Orinoco Rivers. The Guiana Highlands are spread across the Southern Venezuela, French Guiana, Guyana, northern Brazil and a portion of south-eastern Colombia. These are residual mountains, covered by dense forests.
• The Brazilian Highlands lie in the central parts of the Central Lowlands. These are located south of the Amazon River and run south-westwards along the Atlantic coast. The Brazilian Highlands are also
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It is situated in the Bolivian Altiplano Mountains and has a surface area of 1,000 km2.
Other important lakes of South America include Laguna Guatavita, Lake Chungara, Lake Llanquihue and Canaima Lagoon.
Activity
Participate in a group activity to prepare a comparative study on the North and South America.
Case Study: Life in the Amazon River Basin
Rainforests in the Amazon River basin are home to millions of species of plants and animals. They are also home to indigenous tribes that have lived here for many thousands of years.
There are a number of distinct ethnic groups in Amazon River basin, as each have their own distinctive language and culture. Many of such groups have now disappeared, for example, the Caribs, from Lesser Antilles in the Caribbean. However, the remaining ones live scattered in the Amazon rainforests.
The number of indigenous people living in the Amazon Basin is poorly quantified. It is estimated that around 20 million people live in eight Amazon countries. There are also un-contacted tribes that still live in forests of Brazil and
Major places like Peru Ecuador. And Bolivia have major industries such as food processing, mining, wood products, textiles, petroleum, and more. Their major agricultural products would be cacao, balsa wood, shrimp, cotton, sugarcane, and more. (Doc B)Some more major places in South America in South America like Chile and Argentina make most of the country's gross domestic product (GDP) and employ over half of the population. They produce grains, fruits such as grapes, and beef cattle, (Doc C) South Americas history many interesting types of civilizations like Aztec of around A.D. 1200- A.D 1521. (Doc 1) South America has some amazing features but also has a downside. From the 1950’s to now more people live in urban areas rather than rural areas unlike 1950 with most of the population living in rural areas. (Doc D) Today in Brazil, one of the largest economies in the world, there is a very large gap between the rich and the poor. Government is trying to build a bridge between the gap but this is hard knowing that 2% of the population are higher class. (Doc E) Around the Amazon River there is forest. But deforestation is making all this go away based on a survey taken in 2000-2005, Most of it is caused by Cattle Ranches. About 35% is taken up by small-scale, subsistence agriculture, The rest taken up by fires, urbanization construction, logging and large scale commercial agriculture. (Doc
First of all, one of South America’s greatest geological features is the Andes Mountains. The Andes are a major mountain range in Venezuela. The Andes mountain range is the longest mountain range in the world. To be specific, the mountain range is 4,500 miles long and 500 miles wide (Andes). The Andes stretch along the west coast of South America passing through several countries including Venezuela, Columbia, Ecuador, Peru Bolivia, Chile and Argentina. The Andes’ average elevation is 13,000 feet. One might not think this but in some places in the Andes Mountains there is snow and even glaciers. Mount Aconcagua, in Argentina, is the highest elevation of the Andes, at 22,841 feet above sea level. The Himalaya Mountains are the only other mountains that are taller than ...
Northeast Brazil has limited vegetation as it is the driest part of the country. While most of the country experiences hot temperatures in general, some regions do experience mild to cool winters however never cold enough for snow. Brazil is home to the famous Amazon rainforest which is home to many exotic plants and animals. Some challenges to agriculture growth and animal life is deforestation as well as acid rain.
In the northeast the sierra slopes downward to a vast, flat tropical jungle, the selvas, extending to the Brazilian border and forming part of the Amazon Basin. The mountain attains a maximum width of about 965 km (about 600 mi) in the north and constitutes some 60 percent of the Peruvian land area; it is covered with thick tropical forests in the west and with dense tropical vegetation in the center and east.
The Northeast Region of Brazil includes nine of the country's 23 states: Alagoas, Bahia, Ceará, Maranhão, Pernambuco, Paraíba, Piauí, Rio
Geographical location- basically, tropical rainforest is roughly taking place within the latitude 28 degrees north or south of the equator, concentrated in South America at the same time, scattered in Africa and south Asia. The Peninsula de osa in Costa Rica , which is located in the middle America, bordering both the Caribbean Sea and the North Pacific Ocean, between Nicaragua and Panama. It is a country with tropical climate in four seasons; it is usually hot and humid, which nurture beautiful
Brazil is located in Eastern South America, bordering the Atlantic Ocean. It is slightly smaller than the U.S., with bordering countries Argentina, Bolivia, Columbia, French Guyana, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Uruguay, and Venezuela. It has many natural resources, including bauxite, gold, iron ore, manganese, nickel, phosphates, platinum, tin, uranium, petroleum, hydropower, and timber. The climate is tropical in the north, but temperate in the south. The terrain consists of mostly flat to rolling lowlands, with some plains, hills, mountains, and a narrow coastal belt. In recent years, environmentalists have become increasingly concerned over the future of the Amazon region, where human life has threatened the world's largest intact rain forest. Brasilia is the capital and main source of modern industry.
Uruguay's terrain varies for the different areas of the small country. In the southern areas of Uruguay the land consists of grassy plains, and the marshlands along the country's Atlantic coast. In the northern areas of Uruguay, not to mention the northwest area, there is a low plateau called the Cuchilla de Haedo.
In South America lies the largest and most wondrous rainforest in the world, the Amazon Rainforest. This 1.4 billion acre forest represents over half of the planet's remaining rainforests, and comprises the largest and most bio-diverse tract of rainforest in the world. Ten percent of all known species on the planet are found in this rain forest, most of which have yet to be discovered. For the past century, the Amazon has been gradually decreasing in size due to agricultural expansion, ranching, infrastructure projects, energy exploration and illegal logging. In its current state, the Amazon is losing land equal to the size of the state of Delaware every year.
What is a tropical rain forest? A tropical rainforest is an ecosystem that is anywhere near the equator. These areas are located between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn. A tropical rainforests experience high average temperatures and high amounts of rain fall. Tropical rainforests are divided into three parts. The uppermost part is the canopy. This is the layer with the tallest tress. Trees in this climate can reach up to 240 feet (blueplanetbiomes.com). The next layer is the lower canopy. This layer is made up of the smaller tress. The last layer is the forest floor. This is made up of all the plants and bushes. You can find tropical rainforests in many parts of the world like Asia, Australia, Africa, South America, Central America, Mexico and also on the Pacific, Caribbean, and Indian Ocean islands.
The people indigenous to Brazil and South America are an extremely noteworthy group. The Brazilian population originally derives from four ethnic sources. From the beginning, the country has been a mixture of many "races" of people. Of these, are the native Indians, the colonizing Portuguese, the enslaved African blacks, and the various immigrant groups from Europe and Asia. Many of the indigenous tribes are quarreling with Brazil's officials and businesses. Rainforests are depleting at a rapid rate and, as they are a home to many indigenous tribes, is causing great turmoil. Although the Constitution of 1988 claims to recognize the indians' "original land rights to the lands they
The Amazon Rainforest is the world's largest tropical rainforest that we have today on our planet. It covers a wide range expanding almost entirely across from East to West of South America. It is most famous for its broad biodiversity and includes the famous Amazon River that is home to rare and diverse species. Today, the Amazon Rainforest is under threat of complete deforestation and has greatly lost more than half of its tropical rainforest due to cattle ranching, soy bean farming, sugar cane plantations, palm oil and biofuel agriculture. The indigenous people are doing their best to fight against the government to protect their land and conserve the rainforest but without capital finance, it is seeming to be an impossible project.