Documents for "South American Political Geography":

• Îles du Salut or Safety Islands, small archipelago, off French Guiana in the Caribbean. The best-known of the islands is Devils Island.

• Acre state (1990 est. pop. 1,125,100), 58,915 sq mi (152,590 sq km), W Brazil, on the borders of Peru and Bolivia. Rio Branco is the capital.

• Adrogué or Almirante Brown , city (1991 pop. 449,105), Buenos Aires prov., E Argentina. It was settled in 1873 by families fleeing a yellow fever epidemic in the city of Buenos Aires.

• Alagoas [Port.,=lagoons], state (1990 pop. 2,522,150), 10,707 sq mi (27,331 sq km), NE Brazil, on the Atlantic Ocean. Maceió is the capital.

• Almirante Brown Argentina: see Adrogué.

• Amapá state (1991 pop. 373,994), 53,013 sq mi (137,304 sq km), extreme N Brazil, bounded on the N by French Guiana and the Atlantic Ocean. Macapá is the capital. Fishing is an important activity in...

• Amazonas state (1996 pop. 2,390,102), 604,032 sq mi (1,564,445 sq km), NW Brazil. The capital is Manaus.

• Ambato city (1990 pop. 124,166), capital of Tungurahua prov., central Ecuador, in a high Andean valley. A major commercial and transportation center, Ambato is noted for the variety of fruit grown in its...

• Angostura see Ciudad Bolívar.

• Antofagasta city (1992 pop. 226,749), capital of Antofagasta region, N Chile, a port on the Pacific Ocean. Antofagasta was founded by Chileans in 1870 to exploit nitrates in the Atacama Desert, then under...

• Aracaju city (1996 pop. 426,581), capital of Sergipe state, E central Brazil, a port on the Sergipe River near the Atlantic Ocean. Mainly a commercial center, Aracaju has cotton-spinning and weaving...

• Arequipa city (1993 pop. 713,206), alt. c.7,550 ft (2,300 m), capital of Arequipa dept., S Peru, on the Chili River. One of Peru's largest cities, it is the commercial center of S Peru and N Bolivia...

• Argentina officially Argentine Republic, republic (2005 est. pop. 39,538,000), 1,072,157 sq mi (2,776,889 sq km), S South America. Argentina is bordered by Chile on the west, Bolivia and Paraguay on the...

• Arica city (1992 pop. 170,064), N Chile, on the Pacific Ocean, just south of the Peruvian border and at the northern limit of the Atacama Desert. Peru ceded Arica to Chile after the War of the Pacific...

• Armenia city (1993 pop. 216,467), W central Colombia. It is located in a fertile agricultural region; coffee, silk, and sugarcane are produced. Armenia is an industrial and a transportation hub. It has a...

• Asunción city (1992 pop. 500,938), S Paraguay, capital of Paraguay, on the Paraguay River. It is the principal port and chief industrial and cultural center of Paraguay. Manufactures include footwear,...

• Avellaneda city (1991 pop. 346,620), Buenos Aires prov., E central Argentina, across the Riachuelo River from the Buenos Aires federal district. It is one of the most important industrial, commercial, and...

• Ayacucho city (1993 pop. 105,918), capital of Ayacucho dept., S central Peru. It is a commercial center in a rich mining region that produces gold, silver, and nickel. Agriculture and light industry are...

• Bacabal city (1996 pop. 90,140), Maranhão state, NE Brazil, on the Mearim River. Babassu nuts, rice, and cotton are its principal products.

• Bahía Blanca city (1991 pop. 255,145), Buenos Aires prov., SE Argentina, a port near the head of the Bahía Blanca, an inlet of the Atlantic Ocean. It is the main commercial center and principal shipping point...

• Bahia state (1991 pop. 11,867,991), 216,612 sq mi (559,921 sq km), E Brazil, on the Atlantic Ocean. Salvador (also called Bahia) is the capital.

• Bahia city, Brazil: see Salvador , Brazil.

• Barquisimeto city (1990 pop. 625,450), capital of Lara state, NW Venezuela, on the Pan-American Highway. Surrounded by good grazing country, the city is a commercial center that ships cattle, coffee, cacao, sugar, and sisal. There are industries producing foodstuffs, rope, and cement. Founded in...

• Barranquilla city (1993 pop. 990,547), capital of Atlántico dept., N Colombia, on the Magdalena River, 8 mi (12.9 km) from the Caribbean Sea. Colombia's largest port on the Caribbean, it also has shipbuilding,...

• Belém or Pará , city (1996 pop. 1,142,258), capital of Pará state, N Brazil, on the Pará River. Belém, the chief port of the vast Amazon River basin, handles the Amazonian produce (chiefly Brazil nuts, aluminum,...

• Belo Horizonte [Port.,=beautiful horizon], city (1996 pop. 2,091,770), capital of Minas Gerais state, E Brazil. The distribution and processing center of a rich agricultural and mining region, Belo Horizonte is...

• Berbice see Guyana.

• Boa Vista city (1996 pop. 154,166), capital of Roraima state, NW Brazil, on the Rio Branco. Its economy is based on the processing and shipment of minerals (gold, bauxite, diamonds, and gold) found in the...

• Bogotá city (1993 pop. 4,931,796), central Colombia, capital and largest city of Colombia, and capital of Cundinamarca dept. A picturesque, spacious city, Bogotá is on a high, fertile plateau (c.8,560...

• Bolivia officially Republic of Bolivia, republic (2005 est. pop. 8,858,000), 424,162 sq mi (1,098,581 sq km), W South America. One of the two inland countries of South America, Bolivia is shut in from the...

• Boyacá town, Boyacá dept., N central Colombia, near Tunja. At Boyacá on Aug. 7, 1819, revolutionary forces under Simón Bolívar won the decisive engagement that assured the independence...

• Brasília capital city and federal district of Brazil (2,264 sq mi/5,864 sq km; 1996 pop. 1,817,001), an enclave in the southwest of Goiás state. Inaugurated in 1960, it is situated in the highlands of...

• Brazil Port. Brasil, officially Federative Republic of Brazil, republic (2005 est. pop. 186,113,000), 3,286,470 sq mi (8,511,965 sq km), E South America. By far the largest of the Latin American countries, Brazil...

• Bucaramanga city (1993 pop. 410,065), capital of Santander dept., N central Colombia, in the eastern highlands of the Andes. A leading commercial city, Bucaramanga is in the center of Colombia's rich coffee...

• Buenaventura city (1993 pop. 194,727), W Colombia, a port on the Pacific Ocean. The city, located on Cascajal Island in Buenaventura Bay, is the shipping point for the coffee, cotton, and sugar of the Cauca...

• Buenos Aires city and federal district (1991 pop. 2,960,976; metropolitan area 11,255,618), the capital of Argentina, E Argentina, on the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is inhabited mostly by people of Spanish...

• Córdoba city (1991 pop. 1,197,926), capital of Córdoba prov., central Argentina, on the Río Primero. It is the second largest city in Argentina, a cultural and commercial center, and a transportation hub...

• Cúcuta city (1993 pop. 459,640), capital of Norte de Santander dept., NE Colombia, near the Venezuelan border, on the eastern cordillera of the Colombian Andes. An industrial city and transportation hub,...

• Cajamarca city (1993 pop. 123,195), capital of Cajamarca prov., N Peru. An important commercial center, Cajamarca is situated at an altitude of c.9,000 ft (2,740 m) and has a cool, dry climate. Most of the...

• Cali city (1993 pop. 1,641,498), capital of Valle del Cauca dept., W Colombia, on the Cali River. It is an industrial and commercial center of the upper Cauca valley. Coffee, cotton, sugarcane, and...

• Callao city (1993 pop. 376,165), capital of the constitutional prov. of Callao, W Peru, on Callao Bay of the Pacific Ocean. It is Peru's major seaport. The harbor is sheltered by an island and a small...

• Campina Grande city (1991 pop. 326,307), Paraíba state, NE Brazil, on the Borborema plateau. It is an important commercial and financial center and a shipping point for products from the Brazilian interior...

• Campinas city (1996 pop. 907,996), São Paulo state, S Brazil. It is a growing industrial and financial city, the processing and distribution center for a diversified agricultural region, and a major...

• Campos city (1996 pop. 391,299), Rio de Janeiro state, SE Brazil, on the Paraíba River near its mouth. It is a transportation hub and the commercial hub of a rich agricultural region producing coffee,...

• Caracas city (1990 pop. 1,824,892), Federal Dist., N Venezuela, the capital and largest city of the country, near the Caribbean Sea. Its port is La Guaira. With an elevation of c.3,100 ft (945 m), Caracas has a pleasant climate, which contributed to making it rather than Valencia the economic and political center of Spanish colonization in Venezuela. Caracas is the commercial, industrial, and cultural hub of the nation. As a result of the oil boom of the 1950s the city...

• Cartagena city (1993 pop. 616,231), capital of Bolívar dept., NW Colombia, a port on the Bay of Cartagena in the Caribbean Sea. It exports oil, coffee, and platinum. Manufactures include leather and tobacco...

• Caruaru city (1991 pop. 213,697), Pernambuco state, NE Brazil, on the Ipojuca River. It is a commercial center in an agricultural and cattle-raising area.

• Catamarca city (1991 pop. 110,489), capital of Catamarca prov., NW Argentina. It is an agricultural and mining center located in a valley that produces wine, cotton, alfalfa, cereal, and livestock. Woolen...

• Caxias do Sul city (1991 pop. 290,925), Rio Grande do Sul state, S Brazil. It is an important metallurgical center and has the most extensive vineyards in Brazil. There is little agriculture because of the...

• Cayenne city and district (1990 pop. 41,659), capital of French Guiana , on Cayenne island at the mouth of the Cayenne River. The city has a shallow harbor, and deep-draft ships must anchor some distance out. Timber, rum, essence of rosewood, and gold are exported...

• Ceará state (1996 pop. 6,803,567), 57,149 sq mi (148,015 sq km), c.377,460 sq mi (145,700 sq km), NE Brazil, on the Atlantic Ocean. Fortaleza (sometimes called Ceará) is the capital. Formerly one of Brazil's poorest states, Ceará underwent massive reform in the late 1980s and 1990s, trimming government, attacking social problems,...

• Cerro de Pasco city (1991 pop. 30,000), capital of Pasco dept., central Peru. At an altitude of 13,973 ft (4,259 m), it is one of the highest cities in the world. Cerro de Pasco is noted for its silver mines,...

• Chiclayo city (1993 pop. 240,050), capital of Lambayeque dept., NW Peru. On the coastal desert between the Andes and the Pacific, Chiclayo may go years at a time with no rainfall. However, by utilizing...

• Chile officially Republic of Chile, republic (2005 est. pop. 15,981,000), 292,256 sq mi (756,945 sq km), S South America, west of the continental divide of the Andes Mts. Chile is bordered by Peru on...

• Chillán city (1990 est. pop. 145,972), Bío-Bío region, S central Chile. It was formerly the capital of Ñuble prov. Located in Chile's central valley, the city is a leading agricultural and commercial...

• Chiloé island (3,241 sq mi/8,394 sq km), a part of Los Lagos region, off S Chile. It is separated from the mainland by the Corcovado and Ancud gulfs and the Chacao Channel; the waters around the island...

• Chimbote city (1993 pop. 268,979), capital Santa prov., Ancash dept., W Peru. A seaport on the Pacific Ocean at the mouth of the Santa River, Chimbote exports fish products, rice, cotton, sugar, minerals,...

• Chincha see Ica.

• Chone town (1990 pop. 41,437), W Ecuador. Cacao, ivory nuts, and panama hats are shipped through Chone.

• Chuquicamata town (1992 pop. 12,722), Antofagasta region, N Chile, on the western slopes of the Andes. At an elevation of 10,435 ft (3,181 m), Chuquicamata has one of the world's largest copper mines. The...

• Ciudad Bolívar city (1990 pop. 225,340), capital of Bolívar state, E Venezuela, an inland port on the Orinoco River. It is the commercial center of the eastern llanos, the Orinoco basin, and the Guiana Highlands. Wood products and leather are produced, and hides, cattle, and gold are exported. The city was founded in 1764 and called Angostura. The congress of Angostura (1819) made Simon Bolívar president of Venezuela and later in the same year decreed the formation of the republic of Gran Colombia, also with Bolívar as president. The city was renamed after him in 1846. The Angostura...

• Ciudad Guayana formerly Santo Tomé de Guayana, city (1990 pop. 453,047), Bolívar state, Venezuela, at the confluence of the Caroní and Orinoco rivers in the Guiana Highlands. Founded in 1961 and administered by the state economic planning...

• Cochabamba city (1992 pop. 407,825), alt. c.8,400 ft (2,560 m), capital of Cochabamba dept., W central Bolivia, the third largest city in Bolivia. It is a commercial center in an agricultural region that...

• Colatina city (1996 pop. 103,621), Espiritu Santo state, E central Brazil, on the Doce River. The state's chief agricultural center, Colatina is one of Brazil's leading coffee producers; lumber is also...

• Colombia officially Republic of Colombia, republic (2005 est. pop. 42,954,000), 439,735 sq mi (1,138,914 sq km), NW South America. Bogotá is the capital and largest city. The only South American country with both a Caribbean and a Pacific coastline, Colombia is bounded on the northwest by Panama, on the northeast by Venezuela, on the...

• Colonia del Sacramento city (1996 pop. 21,744), capital of Colonia dept., S Uruguay, on the Río de la Plata. It is a resort city, a port, and the trade center for a rich agricultural region. The city, founded by the...

• Comodoro Rivadavia city (1991 pop. 124,151), Chubut prov., S Argentina, on the Gulf of San Jorge, an inlet of the Atlantic Ocean. The major center of oil production in Argentina, it is connected by a 1,100-mi...

• Concepción city (1990 est. pop. 306,464), capital of Bío-Bío region, S central Chile, near the mouth of the Bío-Bío River. It is an industrial and commercial center and Chile's third largest city. Its port,...

• Concepción del Uruguay city (1991 pop. 55,942), Entre Ríos prov., NE Argentina, a port on the Uruguay River. It produces tea, dairy products, frozen meat, and cider. It ships the grain and beef of the surrounding region...

• Concordia city (1991 pop. 116,491), Entre Ríos prov., NE Argentina, a port on the Uruguay River. One of the chief towns in the Argentine Mesopotamia, it exports fruits and cereals and is the distribution...

• Copiapó city (1990 est. pop. 79,268), capital of Atacama region, N central Chile, on the Copiapó River. An industrial city at the southern edge of the Atacama Desert, Copiapó has industries that ship and...

• Coquimbo city (1990 est. pop. 80,961), N central Chile. On a beautiful sheltered bay of the Pacific, it is the port for La Serena. Exports are chiefly agricultural produce and minerals. In 1922, Coquimbo was severely damaged by a tsunami following an earthquake. Coquimbo is located on a major rail line and the Pan-American...

• Coro Venezuela: see Santa Ana de Coro.

• Coronel city (1990 est. pop. 74,090), S central Chile, a port on the Pacific Ocean. It is a major coaling station and a shipping point for lumber and the coal from nearby mines. In a naval engagement off...

• Corrientes city (1991 pop. 257,766), capital of Corrientes prov., NE Argentina, a port on the Paraná River. It is the commercial center of a rich pastoral and agricultural region. The city exports the timber...

• Corumbá city (1996 pop. 87,832), Mato Grosso do Sul state, SW Brazil, on the Paraguay River. A river port and a junction point on the railroad to Bolivia, it is a trade center for a large pastoral region...

• Cuenca city (1990 pop. 194,981), alt. c.8,000 ft (2,440 m), capital of Azuay prov., S central Ecuador. Founded in 1557, Cuenca is in one of the richest agricultural basins of the Ecuadorian Andes and is...

• Cuiabá city (1996 pop. 443,101), capital of Mato Grosso state, SW Brazil, at the head of navigation on the Cuiabá River. Founded in the gold rush of the early 18th cent., it has been the state capital...

• Cumaná city (1990 pop. 212,432), capital of Sucre state, NE Venezuela, on the Manzanares River near its mouth on the Gulf of Cariaco, an inlet on the Caribbean Sea. Exports include coffee, tobacco,...

• Curicó city (1990 est. pop. 77,632), capital of Curicó prov., central Chile, near the Mataquito River. Founded in 1743, Curicó is the metropolis of a flourishing agricultural region noted for livestock...

• Curitiba city (1996 pop. 1,465,698), capital of Paraná state, SE Brazil. It was founded in 1654 but was of little significance until the late 19th and early 20th cent., when immigrants (chiefly Germans,...

• Cusco Peru: see Cuzco.

• Cuzco or Cusco , city (1993 pop. 97,466), alt. 11,207 ft (3,416 m), capital of Cuzco dept., S Peru, at the confluence of the Huatanay and Tullamayo rivers. Its population is predominantly native. It is a...

• Devils Island Fr. Île du Diable, the smallest and southernmost of the Îles du Salut, in the Caribbean Sea off French Guiana. A penal colony founded in 1852, it was used largely for political prisoners, the most celebrated of whom...

• Duque de Caxias city (1996 pop. 712,370), Rio de Janeiro state, SE Brazil, on Guanabara Bay. It is a commercial and industrial suburb of the city of Rio de Janeiro. Its industries include oil refining.

• Ecuador [Span., = equator], officially Republic of Ecuador, republic (2005 est. pop. 13,364,000), 109,483 sq mi (283,561 sq km), W South America. Ecuador is bounded on the north by Colombia, on the south...

• El Alto city (2001 pop. 649,958), La Paz dept., W Bolivia. A burgeoning suburb of La Paz, El Alto is on a plateau overlooking the capital from the west. Although predominantly poor and residential, the...

• Encarnación city (1992 pop. 56,261), capital of Itapúa dept., SE Paraguay, a port on the Paraná River. It is the commercial center for a rich agricultural region. Industries in the city produce textiles, food...

• Entre Ríos province (1991 pop. 1,022,865), 29,428 sq mi (76,219 sq km), E Argentina. Paraná is the capital.

• Espírito Santo state (1996 pop. 2,786,126), 15,200 sq mi (39,368 sq km), E Brazil, on the Atlantic Ocean. Vitória is the capital.

• Falkland Islands Span. Islas Malvinas, officially Colony of the Falkland Islands, group of islands (2005 est. pop. 3,000), 4,618 sq mi (11,961 sq km), S Atlantic, c.300 mi (480 km) E of the Strait of Magellan. The islands are...

• Feira de Santana city (1991 pop. 340,621), Bahia state, E Brazil, between the Jacuípe and Pojuca rivers. It is a distribution center for the products of Bahia's interior and is one of the state's leading producers...

• Fernando de Noronha group of 21 islands, c.10 sq mi (26 sq km), in the Atlantic Ocean, c.225 mi (360 km) off the northeast coast of Brazil. A federal territory of Brazil from 1942 to 1988, when it was reannexed to...

• Florianópolis city (1996 pop. 268,551), capital of Santa Catarina state, SE Brazil, on Santa Catarina Island. An administrative and cultural center and a port city, it is linked with the mainland by a huge...

• Formosa province (1991 pop. 404,367), 27,825 sq mi (72,067 sq km), N Argentina. The city of Formosa is the capital.

• Fortaleza city (1996 pop. 1,967,365), capital of Ceará state, NE Brazil, a port on the Atlantic Ocean. The city, which is bisected by the Paejú River, is often called Ceará by foreigners. Fortaleza is a...

• Fray Bentos city (1996 pop. 22,577), capital of Río Negro dept., SW Uruguay, a port on the Uruguay River. It was founded in 1859 as Independencia and renamed for an 18th-century religious hermit of the...

• French Guiana Fr. La Guyane française, officially Department of Guiana, French overseas department (2005 est. pop. 195,000), 35,135 sq mi (91,000 sq km), NE South America, on the Atlantic Ocean. Part of...

• Fuego, Tierra del see Tierra del Fuego.

• Georgetown city (1985 est. pop. 75,000), capital and largest city of Guyana, on the Atlantic Ocean at the mouth of the Demerara River. It was known as Stabroek when the Dutch controlled the region and was...

• Girardot city (1993 pop. 81,380), central Colombia, on the Bogotá and Magdalena rivers. Girardot is a commercial center and a transportation hub; it has an airport. Coffee and leather goods are the...

• Goiás state (1996 pop. 4,501,538), 211,941 sq mi (548,927 sq km), central Brazil. Goiânia is the capital. The economy of Goiás is largely agricultural. Its population has increased dramatically...

• Goiânia city (1996 pop. 998,520), capital of Goiás state, S central Brazil. A modern planned city, it was built to replace the old city of Goiás as state capital and was inaugurated as such in 1937. It is...

• Governador Valadares city (1996 pop. 231,077), Minas Gerais state, SE Brazil, on the Doce River. Beans, rice, sugarcane, and coffee are raised, and cattle are bred. Food processing, lumbering, and the mining of mica...

• Guanabara former state, SE Brazil, on the Atlantic Ocean; since 1974, part of the state of Rio de Janeiro. Guanabara Bay, a deep inlet of the Atlantic Ocean, is noted for its beauty. The site of the city...

• Guayana Venezuela: see Ciudad Guayana.

• Guayaquil city (1990 pop. 1,508,444), capital of Guayas prov., W Ecuador, on the Guayas River near its mouth on the Gulf of Guayaquil, an inlet of the Pacific Ocean. The chief port and largest city of...

• Guiana region, NE South America. It faces the Atlantic Ocean on the north and east and is enclosed on the west and south within a vast semicircle formed by the linked river systems of the Orinoco, the...

• Guyana officially Co-operative Republic of Guyana, republic (2005 est. pop. 765,000), 83,000 sq mi (214,969 sq km), NE South America. It is bordered on the N by the Atlantic Ocean, on the E by Suriname,...

• Huancayo city (1993 pop. 97,391), alt. 10,731 ft (3,721 m), capital of Huancayn prov. and Junín dept., S central Peru. One of Peru's major commercial and agricultural centers, it markets and ships the...

• Huaráz or Huarás , city (1993 pop. 44,037), capital of Huaráz prov. and Ancash dept., W central Peru. It is in a high valley at an altitude of 9,931 ft (3,027 m), and has a population that is mainly of indigenous...

• Ibagué city (1993 pop. 340,191), alt. 4,300 ft (1,311 m), capital of Tolima dept., W central Colombia. It is a major commercial center for the Magdalena and Cauca valleys. Coffee, flour, and sugar are...

• Ica city (1993 pop. 108,724), capital of Ica dept., SW Peru, on the Pan-American Highway. It is a commercial center for the cotton, wool, and wine produced in the region. There are several summer...

• Ilhéus city (1991 pop. 223,750), Bahia state, E Brazil, a port on Ilhéus Bay, an inlet of the Atlantic Ocean. Founded in the mid-16th cent., it became the world's chief cacao port during the early 20th...

• Iquique city (1990 est. pop. 148,500), capital of Iquique prov., N Chile. A port on the Pacific, it exports nitrates and ore from the Atacama Desert. The city, founded in the 16th cent., was taken (1879)...

• Iquitos city (1993 pop. 252,312), capital of Loreto dept., NE Peru, on the Amazon River, c.2,300 mi (3,700 km) from the Amazon's mouth. It is the farthest inland port of any considerable size in the...

• Itabuna city (1991 pop. 185,277), Bahia state, E Brazil, on the Itabuna River. A cacao-producing center, it also has a well-developed cattle industry and a chemical factory.

• Jequié Brazil: see Jiquié.

• Jipijapa city (1990 pop. 32,225), W Ecuador, on the equatorial lowlands. A few miles inland from the Pacific, Jipijapa is famous for the manufacture of high-grade Panama hats, made from the jipijapa plant...

• Jiquié or Jequié , city (1991 pop. 144,772), Bahia state, E Brazil, on the Contas River. It is an asbestos-mining center; iron deposits are nearby. Tobacco, cacao, sugar, coffee, and livestock are shipped from the...

• João Pessoa city (1991 pop. 497,600), capital of Paraíba state, NE Brazil, at the confluence of the Sanhauá and Paraíba do Norte rivers. Cotton, sugar, and minerals are exported through its port, Cabedelo...

• Juan Fernández group of small islands, S Pacific, c.400 mi (640 km) W of Valparaiso, Chile. They belong to Chile and are administered as a part of Valparaiso prov. The two principal islands are Isla Robinson...

• Juiz de Fora city (1996 pop. 423,913), Minas Gerais state, SE Brazil. It is an industrial and commercial city with more than half of the labor force engaged in textile production. Foodstuffs and plastics are...

• Jujuy city (1991 pop. 182,663), capital of Jujuy prov., NW Argentina, on the Bermejo River. In the scenic foothill region of the E Andes, it is the center of an agricultural, mining, and cattle-raising...

• Junín city (1991 pop. 70,138), Buenos Aires prov., E Argentina, on the Salado River. It is a busy commercial center for an agricultural and livestock area. There are important railroad repair shops. Its...

• Junín city (1993 pop. 16,183), W central Peru, in the Andes. In the vicinity on Aug. 6, 1824, Simón Bolívar , aided by Antonio José de Sucre , defeated the Spanish general José...

• Jundiaí city (1996 pop. 293,237), São Paulo state, S Brazil, on the Jundiaí River. It is an agricultural and industrial center. Among its products are textiles, ceramics, furniture, wines, foodstuffs,...

• La Guaira city (1990 pop. 23,831), capital of Vargas state, N Venezuela, on the Caribbean Sea NW of Caracas. It is the principal international port of Venezuela; cacao, coffee, and tobacco are the chief...

• La Paz city (1992 pop. 713,378), W Bolivia, administrative capital (since 1898) and largest city of Bolivia. The legal capital is Sucre. La Paz, the highest capital in the world, lies at an altitude of c.12,000 ft (3,660 m) and is crowded into a long, narrow valley cut by the La Paz River. The site, where there was an Inca village,...

• La Plata city (1991 pop. 640,344), capital of Buenos Aires prov., E central Argentina, 5 mi (8.1 km) inland from Ensenada, its port on the Río de la Plata. La Plata's chief function is that of provincial...

• La Serena city (1990 est. pop. 105,600), capital of Coquimbo region, N central Chile, on the Elqui River. A commercial and agricultural center in a region of orchards and vineyards, it is a popular resort...

• Lanús city (1991 pop. 466,755), Buenos Aires prov., E Argentina. An administrative center in the Greater Buenos Aires area, it is named for Anacarsis Lanús, a local landowner, merchant, and politician...

• Latacunga city (1990 pop. 39,882), capital of Cotopaxi prov., N central Ecuador. A town of the ancient Incas, it is in a high mountain basin between the E and W Andean cordilleras. It lies within an...

• Latin America the Spanish-speaking, Portuguese-speaking, and French-speaking countries (except Canada) of North America, South America, Central America, and the West Indies. The 20 republics are Argentina,...

• Leticia town (1993 pop. 17,758), capital of Amazonas commissary, SE Colombia, on the upper Amazon. The Leticia region, a narrow strip of land extending S of the Putumayo River to the Amazon, was disputed,...

• Lima city (1990 metropolitan area est. pop. 6,400,000), W Peru, capital and largest city of Peru. Its port is Callao. The Lima urban area is Peru's economic center and the site of oil-refining and diversified manufacturing industries. The city was founded on Jan. 18, 1535, by Francisco Pizarro and is the second...

• Loja city (1990 pop. 94,305), capital of Loja prov., S Ecuador, on the Zamora River, at the terminus of the Ecuadorian section of the Pan-American Highway. It is a commercial center for the...

• Lota city (1992 pop. 50,123), S central Chile, a port on the Gulf of Arauco, an inlet of the Pacific Ocean. Founded in the 17th cent., the city grew rapidly after coal was discovered in the region...

• Mérida city (1990 pop. 170,902), capital of Mérida state, W Venezuela. The highest city in Venezuela, Mérida has fishing and a variety of light manufacturing, in addition to such popular tourist...

• Macapá city (1996 pop. 214,197), capital of Amapá state, extreme N Brazil, on the Amazon River. Mining is central to its economy. It exports tin iron, gold, and manganese, as well as lumber, oil, animal...

• Maceió city (1991 pop. 629,041), capital of Alagoas state, E Brazil, on a narrow strip of land between a lagoon and the Atlantic Ocean. Its port is at Jaraguá. Industries include sugar refining,...

• Macuto city (1990 pop. 13,937), Vargas state, N central Venezuela. Macuto is a popular beach resort near Caracas and adjoining La Guaira.

• Magallanes Chile: see Punta Arenas.

• Malvinas see Falkland Islands.

• Manaus city (1996 pop. 1,158,265), capital of Amazonas state, NW Brazil, on the Rio Negro. It is the chief commercial and cultural center of the upper Amazon region and an important river port, with...

• Manizales city (1993 pop. 303,136), alt. 7,063 ft (2,153 m), capital of Caldas dept., W central Colombia, on the slopes of the Cordillera Central. It is a commercial and agricultural center in a region that...

• Mar del Plata city (1991 pop. 519,707), E central Argentina, on the Atlantic Ocean. It is one of the most popular seaside resorts in South America. Fishing and fish processing are also important industries. The...

• Maracaibo city (1990 pop. 1,249,670), capital of Zulia state, NW Venezuela, at the outlet of Lake Maracaibo. It is Venezuela's second largest city, a commercial and industrial center, and the oil capital of...

• Maracay city (1990 pop. 354,196), capital of Aragua state, N Venezuela, at the eastern end of Lake Valencia. It is a commercial, agricultural, and industrial city. Its products include sugar, rubber,...

• Marajó island, c.150 mi (240 km) long and c.100 mi (160 km) wide, N Brazil, at the mouth of the Amazon River. It divides the river into the Amazon proper and the Pará. Cattle are raised on the extensive...

• Maranhão state (1996 pop. 5,218,442), 126,897 sq mi (328,663 sq km), NE Brazil, on the Atlantic Ocean. The capital is São Luís (also known as Maranhão). Agriculture and livestock remain central to the economy of the region, which has been the site of major agricultural and industrial colonization projects since the 1970s...

• Margarita island, 444 sq mi (1,150 sq km), in the Caribbean Sea off the coast of Venezuela. With many smaller islands it constitutes the Venezuelan state of Nueva Esparta (1990 pop. 263,748). La Asunción is...

• Maringá city (1996 pop. 268,878), Paraná state, SE Brazil. It is an agricultural center whose chief products are coffee, corn, beans, rice, wheat, and sugarcane. Coffee processing is the main industry...

• Mato Grosso [Port.,=thick forest], state (1996 pop. 2,227,983), 348,038 sq mi (901,420 sq km), central and W Brazil. The capital is Cuiabá.

• Medellín city (1993 pop. 1,551,160), capital of Antioquia dept., W central Colombia. It is the country's chief manufacturing center. Textiles, steel, food products, automobiles, chemicals, and coffee are...

• Mendoza city (1991 pop. 773,559), capital of Mendoza prov., W Argentina. With a backdrop of snowcapped mountains, Mendoza is surrounded by a fertile oasis, known as the "Garden of the Andes," irrigated by the Mendoza River. It is an agricultural market and the center of a rich wine-producing region, largely settled by Italian immigrants. Food processing and petrochemicals are also...

• Mercedes city (1996 pop. 39,139), capital of Soriano dept., SW Uruguay, a port on the Río Negro. An agricultural and livestock center, the city has a shipyard and several fine beaches and resorts. Tourism...

• Merlo city (1991 pop. 390,031), Buenos Aires prov., E Argentina. An administrative, trade, and agricultural center of the Greater Buenos Aires area, it was founded in 1730 by Francisco de Merlo y...

• Minas Gerais [Port.,=various mines], state (1996 pop. 16,660,691), 226,707 sq mi (587,171 sq km), E Brazil. The capital is Belo Horizonte. Minas Gerais continues to produce more than half of Brazil's mineral wealth. Gold was discovered at the end of the 17th cent. and was mined extensively. The state has long led the country in...

• Mogi das Cruzes city (1996 pop. 314,947), São Paulo state, SE Brazil, on the Tietê River. It is an industrial center and an agricultural distribution point for São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro states. Among its...

• Mollendo town (1993 pop. 26,724), S Peru, a port on the Pacific Ocean. Mollendo exports wool and has industries producing cement, textiles, canned fish, and cheese. It is also a popular beach resort.

• Montes Claros city (1996 pop. 271,324), Minas Gerais state, E central Brazil. Cattle breeding is the chief economic activity, and agriculture is important. Montes Claros has a large cloth industry dating from...

• Montevideo city (1996 pop. 1,330,405), S Uruguay, capital and largest city of Uruguay, on the Río de La Plata. It is one of the major ports of South America and the governmental, financial, and commercial...

• Morón city (1991 pop. 641,541), Buenos Aires prov., E Argentina. It is a district administrative center in the Greater Buenos Aires area. Settled in the early 16th cent., Morón became an outpost on the...

• Moreno city (1991 pop. 287,188), Buenos Aires prov., E Argentina. It is a residential and district administrative center in the Greater Buenos Aires area. The district was the scene of several major...

• Natal city (1991 pop. 606,887), capital of Rio Grande do Norte state, NE Brazil, just above the mouth of the Potengi River. A modern city that has retained its colonial flavor and is beautifully...

• Niterói city (1996 pop. 450,124), Rio de Janeiro prov., SE Brazil, on Guanabara Bay opposite the city of Rio de Janeiro. It is a residential suburb of Rio, and many of its citizens commute to work across...

• Olinda city (1991 pop. 341,394), Pernambuco state, E Brazil, on the Atlantic Ocean. Founded in 1537, it was captured by the Dutch in the 1630s and burned to the ground. The rebuilt city served as a...

• Oruro city (1992 pop. 183,422), capital of Oruro dept., W Bolivia. It is Bolivia's railroad center. Oruro's economy is based on exploitation of the region's tin, tungsten, and copper. Because of the...

• Osorno city (1990 est. pop. 117,400), Los Lagos region, S central Chile, in the heart of the lake district. Osorno is chiefly an agricultural processing and distribution center. Founded in 1558, it was...

• Ouro Prêto [Port.,=black gold], city (1996 pop. 61,606), Minas Gerais state, E Brazil. Founded as Vila Rica in the gold rush near the end of the 17th cent., it became a prosperous 18th-century mining town, a...

• Pôrto Alegre city (1991 pop. 1,263,403), capital of Rio Grande do Sul state, SE Brazil, on the Guaíba River. One of the chief industrial and commercial centers of Brazil, it is also a major river port,...

• Pôrto Velho city (1996 pop. 287,534), capital of Rondônia state, NW Brazil, on the Madeira River. It is a rail terminus and the last point of navigation on the river. The city's economy is based on the...

• Palmira city (1993 pop. 196,213), W Colombia, an agricultural center and second largest city in Valle de Cauca department. Palmira is known as the "agricultural capital of Colombia." The city gave its name...

• Pará state (1996 pop. 5,552,783), 474,896 sq mi (1,229,981 sq km), N Brazil, in the lower Amazon River basin bordering on the Guianas and the Atlantic Ocean. Belém is the capital. The hot, humid region is drained by the Amazon and its numerous tributaries. The state includes the island of Marajó as well as several other islands of the Amazon delta. Mostly covered with rain forest, Pará has not been extensively developed, and the chief means of transportation is by river steamer. Nuts,...

• Pará city: see Belém.

• Paraíba state (1991 pop. 3,201,114), 21,765 sq mi (56,371 sq km), NE Brazil, on the Atlantic Ocean. The capital is João Pessoa. The state extends inland from the Atlantic to the semiarid plateau of the interior (the sertão ). The economy is largely agricultural; although cattle-breeding remains the principal activity, more and more pastures have been given over to cultivation, with cotton and sugarcane as the chief...

• Paraguay officially Republic of Paraguay, republic (2005 est. pop. 6,348,000), 157,047 sq mi (406,752 sq km), S central South America. Paraguay is enclosed by Bolivia on the north and west, Brazil on the...

• Paramaribo city (1996 pop. 222,843), capital of Suriname, on the Suriname River, c.10 mi (16 km) from the Atlantic Ocean. It exports bauxite, sugarcane, rice, cacao, coffee, rum, and tropical woods...

• Paraná state (1996 pop. 8,985,981), 77,048 sq mi (199,554 sq km), S Brazil, on the borders of Paraguay and Argentina and the Atlantic Ocean. The capital is Curitiba. After coffee, the principal crops are...

• Paraná city (1991 pop. 211,966), capital of Entre Ríos prov., NE Argentina, a port on the Paraná River. It is the center of a grain and cattle district; there is an agricultural school nearby. Founded in...

• Paranaguá city (1991 pop. 88,163), Paraná state, SE Brazil, on the Atlantic Ocean. It is the port for Curitiba , to which it is linked by rail and highway. Founded c.1600, the city has fine port facilities and has become increasingly important with the shift of coffee cultivation S from São Paulo state. A...

• Pasto city (1993 pop. 261,368), alt. 8,510 ft (2,594 m), capital of Nariño dept., SW Colombia. It is a distribution and processing center for the agricultural and mineral products of the surrounding...