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Fact library / Countries

Countries of South America

12 countries in South America, each with a picture to fix its place, shape or name in your memory.

The chili pepper on the coast

Chile is more than 4,000 km long but on average less than 200 km wide, running down South America's Pacific coast.

Picture it

A ridiculously long red chili pepper lies along the western edge of South America, squeezed between the snowy Andes and the Pacific. It's so thin you could drive across it before lunch, but driving its length would take days.

Memory hooks

  • Chile: a long, thin chili pepper (shape)
  • Pacific: the pepper's whole side dips in the Pacific (visual association)

Sure, I'm Dutch

Suriname is the smallest country in South America, and the only one where Dutch is the official language.

Picture it

On South America's north coast, the smallest kid in class stands up wearing wooden clogs and holding a tulip. Someone asks if he's really Dutch. "SURE, I'm!" (SURE-i-NAHM).

Memory hooks

  • Suriname: "SURE-i-nahm": "Sure, I'm Dutch!" (sound-alike)
  • Dutch: the smallest kid in wooden clogs (visual association)

Champions from the start

Uruguay hosted and won the first FIFA World Cup in 1930.

Picture it

Squeezed between giants Brazil and Argentina, a small kid in sky-blue holds up the very first World Cup trophy and shouts "YOU-ROO, GUY!" A banner behind him reads 1930.

Memory hooks

  • Uruguay: "YOU-roo-gwhy": "You-roo, guy!" (sound-alike)
  • 1930: the very first World Cup (number hook)

One of two with no coast

Paraguay and Bolivia are South America's only landlocked countries; Paraguay's capital is Asunción.

Picture it

Two kids in South America can't get to the beach: Bolivia up in the mountains, and Paraguay in the middle, holding a PARAchute ("PA-ra-gwhy") they hope will carry them to the sea. Their home town is called Asunción: "a sun" shines on them anyway.

Memory hooks

  • Paraguay: a parachute that never reaches the sea (sound-alike)
  • Asunción: "a-soon-see-ON": a sun shines over the town (sound-alike)

Say it: Asunción (a·soon·see·ON)

The capital built from scratch

Brazil moved its capital from Rio de Janeiro to the newly built city of Brasília in 1960.

Picture it

Half of South America is one giant country. In 1960 it moves its capital away from beachy Rio and into the empty highlands, where architects build a brand-new city shaped like an aeroplane: BRASÍLIA.

Memory hooks

  • Brazil: half of South America (visual association)
  • Brasília: a brand-new city shaped like an aeroplane (shape)

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Good airs and the tallest peak

Argentina, home to Aconcagua, the highest mountain outside Asia, has its capital at Buenos Aires.

Picture it

A long country tapers south towards Antarctica, with the Andes on its western edge. On the border, the mountain ACONCAGUA towers over every peak outside Asia. At the coast, people breathe the GOOD AIRS: BUENOS AIRES.

Memory hooks

  • Argentina: a long country tapering towards Antarctica (visual association)
  • Buenos Aires: "good airs" (chunking)

The lost city above the lime

Peru, home to the Inca city of Machu Picchu, has its capital at Lima on the Pacific coast.

Picture it

High in the Andes, the lost Inca city of Machu Picchu clings to a mountaintop. Far below on the Pacific coast, someone squeezes a LIME over a plate of ceviche: LIMA. A llama PEERS ("PER-u") down at them.

Memory hooks

  • Peru: a llama peering down (sound-alike)
  • Lima: a lime over ceviche (sound-alike)

The giant mirror

Bolivia, a landlocked Andean country named after Simón Bolívar, contains the Salar de Uyuni, the world's largest salt flat.

Picture it

In a landlocked country high in the Andes, the ground turns into a huge white mirror: the SALAR DE UYUNI, the biggest salt flat in the world. A man named BOLÍVAR ("Bo-LIV-ia") skates across it, shouting "YOU-YOU-KNEE!"

Memory hooks

  • Bolivia: Bolívar skating across the salt (narrative)
  • Salar de Uyuni: "You-you-knee!" (sound-alike)

Named after the line

Ecuador is named after the equator, which crosses it, and it owns the Galápagos Islands in the Pacific.

Picture it

A small country on South America's Pacific coast is named after the EQUATOR, which runs right through it. Far out to sea, giant tortoises crawl over its GALÁPAGOS Islands.

Memory hooks

  • Ecuador: named after the equator (sound-alike)
  • Galápagos Islands: giant tortoises far out to sea (visual association)

Two oceans at the top

Colombia is the only South American country with coastlines on both the Pacific and the Caribbean, and its capital is Bogotá.

Picture it

At the northwest corner of South America, COLUMBUS ("Co-LUM-bia") dips one foot in the Pacific and the other in the Caribbean, the only South American country that can. High in the Andes, he finds his friend BOGOTÁ in a BOG.

Memory hooks

  • Colombia: Columbus with a foot in each ocean (narrative)
  • Bogotá: a friend stuck in a bog (sound-alike)

Little Venice and the angel's waterfall

Venezuela, whose name means "little Venice", is home to Angel Falls, the world's highest uninterrupted waterfall, and its capital is Caracas.

Picture it

Explorers sailing the Caribbean coast see houses on stilts over the water and laugh: "a little Venice!" Inland, an ANGEL pours water off a flat-topped mountain in the world's highest waterfall, while a car alarm goes "CA-RA-CAS" in the capital.

Memory hooks

  • Venezuela: houses on stilts: a little Venice (narrative)
  • Caracas: a car alarm going "CA-RA-CAS" (sound-alike)

English spoken in the jungle

Guyana is the only South American country with English as its official language, and its capital is Georgetown.

Picture it

On South America's north coast, deep in the rainforest, a parrot squawks "Good morning, GUY!" in English, the only country on the continent where it's the official language. King GEORGE waves from the capital, Georgetown.

Memory hooks

  • Guyana: a parrot saying "Good morning, GUY!" (sound-alike)
  • Georgetown: King George waving from town (narrative)