South America Fun Facts

• Colombia supplies 90% of the world production of Emeralds.


• The Driest place on earth is the Atacama Desert, in Argentina. It's a place with virtually no vegetation; in some parts of Atacama Desert, it has never rained!


• Highest peak of South America, Aconcagua, is also in Argentina. It is 22,834 feet high.


• Venezuela is home to the highest uninterrupted waterfall, Salto Del Angel, at 979 meters.


• Argentina. - largest Spanish-speaking country of South America


• Sao Paulo, Brazil is the 2nd largest city in the world, with a population of almost 18 million!


• Many of the most important discoveries of dinosaur fossils in the last 30 years were made in South America.


• Brazil has many famous actresses, some of them are: Gloria Pires, Fernanda Montenegro, Florionda Bolkan, Sonia Braga, Regina Duarte, Vera Fischer, Xuxa, and Bruna Lombardi.


• “Evita” a film by British director Alan William Parker was inspired in the life of Maria Eva Duarte de Peron, who was first lady of Argentina in the past century.


• Gabriel Jose Garcia Marquez is one of the best writers in South America. He was born on March 6, 1928, in Aracataca, Magdalena,Colombia.Gabriel Garcia Marquez won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1982.


• UNESCO has declared Noel Kempff Mercado National Park (Bolivia), Rapa Nui National Park (Chile), Malpelo Fauna and Flora Sanctuary (Colombia), Galapagos Islands (Ecuador), Central Suriname Nature Reserve (Suriname) and Jesuit Missions of La Santisima Trinidad de Parana and Jesus de Tavarange (Paraguay) World Heritages Sites.


• The Colombian people have two idols: Shakira (singer) and Carlos Vives (singer)…


• Brazil takes up 47.8% of South America.


• South America is unusual in that it is both highly urbanized and poor.


• The Andes are a tall mountain range that lines the western portion of South America.


• The Amazon River carries rain and snowfall from the Andes Mountains to the Atlantic Ocean.


• In 1493, Pope Alexander VI drew a line that split South America between Spain and Portugal.


• Simon Bolivar was a Venezuelan revolutionary leader known as "the Liberator." Bolivar fought the Spanish to win the independence of Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia.Simon Bolivar.


• Colombia is a mountainous nation known for it’s coffee and citrus exports. Unfortunately, the Colombian government has been unable to stop the flow of illegal drugs from their nation.


• Oil is a major source of wealth in Venezuela.


• Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana are small tropical nations along the north coast of South America.  Rainforest comprise a great deal of the sparsely populated lands of the nations.


• Charles Darwin formed his theories about evolution Charles Darwinwhile sailing in the Galapagos Islands.


• Bolivia is located high in the Andes mountains. American visitors to Bolivia often find it hard to breath due to the lack of oxygen at high altitude.


• Paraguay is a poor, landlocked Andean nation.


• Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro are the largest cities in Brazil, but the capital is the smaller city of Brasilia located deep in the highlands of central Brazil.


• Carnival is a four-day Brazilian festival that comes before Lent.


• Argentina has become a "melting pot" nation. More people have immigrated to Argentina from Europe than any other Latin American nation.


• Tierra del Fuego is an archipelago (or a group of islands) at the southern tip of South America.


• Copacabana has the most “best rate” possibilities. There are exchange businesses on every street, take a consensus and the best rate.