South America is bounded on the east by the Andes mountains, running from Tiera del Fuego at the southern tip, on to the northern edge of the continent. These mountains, separating the western dry winds from the eastern wet winds, turns the slip of land east of them to desert and the vast expanse of lowland in the east to wet tropical forest or tropical prairie. The primary language of the continent is Spanish, excepting Brazil, which is Portuguese speaking.

Within Brazil lies the Amazon basin, much of which is flooded during the wet season. The soil of the area is poor for ranching or farming, and once cleared of it's natural forest cover turns hard and harsh in a few years.

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Original content copyright 1995-2007 Robert B. Hole, Jr. All Rights Reserved