South America

With a summit elevation of 6,967.15 metres (22,858.1 feet), it is the highest mountain in the Americas, the highest outside Asia, and the highest peak in both the Western and Southern Hemispheres.

Lowest point: Laguna del Carbon, Santa Cruz, Argentina at -105 m

Major tectonic plate, 43,600,000 km2 (16,800,000 sq mi)

South America has a total area of about 6,878,000 square miles (17,814,000 square km), or roughly one-eighth of the land surface of Earth. Its greatest north-south extent is about 4,700 miles, from Point Gallinas, Colombia, to Cape Horn, while its greatest east-west extent is some 3,300 miles, from Cape Branco, Brazil, to Point Pariñas, Peru. At 22,831 feet (6,959 metres) above sea level, Mount Aconcagua, in Argentina, near the border with Chile, is not only the continent’s highest point but also the highest elevation in the Western Hemisphere. The Valdés Peninsula, on the southeastern coast of Argentina, includes the lowest point, at 131 feet (40 metres) below sea level. In relation to its area, the continent’s coastline-some 15,800 miles in length-is exceptionally short.

Peru, Colombia, Brazil

Peruvian sailors named the warm south-flowing current El Nino, referring to the Christ Child, because it was most noticeable around Christmas.

The Atacama Desert is a desert plateau on the Pacific coast of South America, stretching along a 1,600-kilometre-long (1,000-mile) strip of land in northern Chile, west of the Andes. It covers an area of 105,000 km2 (41,000 mi2), rising to 128,000 km2 (49,000 mi2) if the barren lower slopes of the Andes are included. It is regarded as the driest nonpolar place in the world and the only true desert to receive less precipitation than polar deserts.

Arica is located at the bend of South America's western coast known as the Arica Bend or Arica Elbow.

Cape Horn is the southernmost headland of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago of southern Chile.

The Colca Canyon is a canyon of the Colca River in southern Peru, located about 160 kilometres (99 mi) northwest of Arequipa.

Cotopaxi is an active stratovolcano in the Andes Mountains, located in Cotopaxi National Park in Cotopaxi Province, Ecuador.

Lake Titicaca is a large lake in the Andes mountains on the border of Bolivia and Peru.

pronunciation: [maˈðiði]) is a national park in the upper Amazon River basin in Bolivia

wildlife sanctuary since 1977. It is located in the Guajira Peninsula of Colombia

Restinga is a national park on the Isla Margarita, Nueva Esparta state, Venezuela

nasi.oˈnaw du iɡwaˈsu, - nasjoˈnaw -]) is a national park in Paraná State, Brazil

The Tayrona National Natural Park (Spanish: Parque Nacional Natural Tayrona) is a protected area in the Colombian northern Caribbean region and within the jurisdiction of the city of Santa Marta, 34 kilometres (21 mi) from the city centre.

The Pali-Aike National Park is a park located in the Magallanes Region of Patagonia in Chile.