SOUTH AMERICA 



5449 



SOUTH AMERICA 



The People. South America's 55,000,000 in- 

 habitants represent a number of races. There 

 are, first, the descendants of the native Indians, 

 who inhabited that continent when the white 

 man discovered it. The natives were divided 

 into numerous tribes, speaking different but re- 

 lated languages and having various degrees of 

 civilization. The Spaniards and the Portuguese 

 who came here married Indian women, and this 

 intermarrying produced a race of half-breeds, 

 or mestizos. By far the greater proportion of 

 the inhabitants of South America belong to this 

 race of mixed blood. Later on, negroes from 

 Africa were brought as slaves, and these by 

 intermarriage contributed yet another strain of 

 blood to the population. As a result of the in- 

 termingling of these various races there is no 

 color prejudice in South America. The race 

 problem, as between white and negro, which is 

 a cause of friction in North America, does not 

 exist in the southern continent. Of late years 

 large numbers of Italians and Spaniards have 

 come to the continent, settling particularly in 

 Argentina. A number of Germans, English- 

 men and citizens of the United States are lo- 

 cated in the large towns. The Germans are 



most numerous, at least 500,000 being colonized 

 in Brazil. 



Coast Line and Islands. With the exception 

 of the southern portion of the western coast, 

 which is indented by numerous fiords and is 

 bordered by islands, the coast line of South 

 America is remarkably regular. In this re- 

 spect South America resembles Africa, while 

 North America resembles Europe. The large 

 indentations are the Gulf of Darien on the 

 north ; the mouth of the Amazon on the north- 

 east; and Bahia, or All Saints, Bay, the Bay of 

 Rio de Janeiro, the mouth of the Rio de la 

 Plata, Blanca Bay, the Gulf of San Matias and 

 the Gulf of Saint George on the southeast. 

 The only important indentation on the Pacific 

 coast is the Gulf of Guayaquil, which indents 

 the coast of Ecuador. 



There are few islands belonging to the conti- 

 nent. Those worthy of mention are Trinidad, 

 off the northern coast; Tierra del Fuego, sepa- 

 rated from the mainland by the Strait of Ma- 

 gellan; the Falkland Islands, east of the south- 

 ern extremity of the continent, and the Gala- 

 pagos Islands, situated at the equator, west of 

 Ecuador. 



Physical Features of South America 



Plains and Mountains. Looking at a physical 

 map of the continent, one finds that there are 

 several points of resemblance between its phys- 

 ical structure and that of North America. 

 The most striking feature, as in North America, 

 is the great mountain system that extends 

 along the western coast, forming, as it were, 

 the backbone of the continent. This mountain 

 system is known as the Andean Cordillera, or 

 Andes. Next to the Himalayas in Asia it is 

 the highest mountain range in the world, and 

 its loftiest peak, Aconcagua, is about 23,080 

 feet above the sea. Between the Andes and 

 the Pacific Ocean there stretches for a distance 

 of 4,000 miles a narrow plain, which has an 

 average breadth of forty miles and a maximum 

 breadth never exceeding a hundred miles. To 

 the east of the Andes extends the great central 

 plain, as in the northern continent, and, to 

 complete the comparison, it should be noted 

 that this plain is bordered on its eastern side 

 by a series of low mountains known as the 

 Highlands of Brazil, corresponding to the Ap- 

 palachian Mountains. 



The great central plain, which occupies nearly 

 two-thirds of the continent, can be divided 

 into several distinct regions. In the south are 



the vast level plains known as the pampas of 

 Argentina. North of this extends the broad 

 plateau of Brazil, presenting alternate ridges 

 and valleys, thickly covered with forests on the 

 side next the Atlantic, and opening into steppes 

 or pastures in the interior. North of this 

 stretches the basin of the Amazon, a vast plain 

 of more than 2,000,000 square miles, possessing 

 a rich soil and humid climate. This region is 

 covered with dense forests in which there are 

 numerous wild animals, and is thinly inhabited 

 by savages, w r ho live by hunting and fishing. 

 The basin of the Amazon is separated by the 

 plateau of Guiana from the basin of the Ori- 

 noco River, which consists of extensive plains 

 called llanos. 



The Andes Mountains, especially in the re- 

 gion around the equator, contain several active 

 volcanoes which are among the highest in the 

 world. These are Chimborazo, 20,703 feet 

 high; Cotopaxi, 19,613; Antisana, 19,335; Ca- 

 yambe, 19,186; Maipo, 17,670; and Sangai, 

 17,464. This region is subject to frequent and 

 violent earthquakes. 



Rivers. South America contains the largest 

 river system in the world the Amazon which 

 drains nearly one-third of the continent. To 



