Lesson 61:
Political Features of SouthAmerica
South America ismade up of 12 independent countries and one French territory.More than 389
million people live on this continent. About one-half of the nearly sevenmillion squaremiles consists
of Brazil.Withmore than 196million people, Brazil also has about one-half of the continent’s people
livingwithin its borders. The smallest country in size and population is Suriname (476,000 people).
ACTIVITY:
Let’s play an “I am” game inwhich clues are provided about the countries of SouthAmerica. Use your
Atlas Buddy (AB)
on page xii to label the names of these SouthAmerican countries and their capi-
tals on themap on the next page. I am:
0
1. a long country in the shape of a thick shoestring.My west coast is
thePacificOcean.My capital is calledSantiago.
0
2. a country bordered to the north by theCaribbeanSea. I have sever-
al smaller countries located tomy east.My capital city is Caracas.
0
3. a country that is one of two landlocked countries located in the cen-
ter of SouthAmerica. I have two capital cities. La Paz is for making
laws and running the government (legislative).Sucre is for interpret-
ing the laws (judicial).
0
4. the largest country in South America. The mighty Amazon River
flows throughmost of me.My capital city is Brasilia.
0
5. a country attached to the isthmus of Central America.TheCaribbean
Sea is located to my north and the Pacific Ocean is located to my
west.My capital city is Bogota.
0
6. a country that is bordered on the north by Brazil and on the east
along theAtlantic coast.My capital city isMontevideo.
0
7. a small country on the west coast. Two countries border me to the north, east, and south. My
capital isQuito.
0
8. a part of a country with another country’s name in it.The AtlanticOcean bordersme to the north.
My capital is named after a hot pepper calledCayenne.
0
9. a country located to the east of the shoestring country in southern South America.My capital city
is Buenos Aires.
10. a country located innorthernSouthAmerica. If you look to your northwest along the coast, youwill
see theCaribbeanSea. Look to your northeast and youwill see theAtlanticOcean.My capital city
isGeorgetown.
11. a country located to the east of country number 10. If you look to the north along the coast, you
will see theAtlanticOcean.My capital city is Paramaribo.
12. a country in western SouthAmerica whose coastline runs northwest and southeast along the
PacificOcean.My capital is spelled the same as a bean, but pronounced differently.
13. another country that is landlocked in south central SouthAmerica.My capital city is Asuncion.
COPYRIGHT
115
PENNSVALLEY
South America
Brazil makes up about
one-half of South
America.
