Industrial and commercial South America

In the study of South America one may observe certain points of resemblance with others of difference between that continent and North America. The outline of each, we perceive,...

Colombia, nearest to the United States of the republics of South America, is recognized as one of the richest and most beautiful of the countries of that continent, containing m...

Colombia is called a very mountainous country, and the most casual visitor would not dispute the statement. Mountains are in evidence along both shores and on the way to interio...

=Bogotá=, the Capital of Colombia, is situated on a plateau or savanna, a sort of shelf over 8000 feet above the sea, on the west side of the East Cordillera. The shelf, overloo...

Foreign commerce is carried on chiefly through five ports, Buenaventura on the Pacific; on the Caribbean, Cartagena, Puerto Colombia, Santa Marta, and Riohacha. Besides these ar...

The country has such variation in altitude as well as such fertility of soil that not only does almost every sort of vegetation thrive within its borders, but it exists in most...

=Area.= Next to Colombia in position, Venezuela is also next in size. Sixth of the South American Republics in area, her territory covers about 394,000 square miles, equal to th...

The Andes coming in from Colombia cross the northwestern portion of Venezuela in two or more ranges, separating the great Orinoco Basin from the lowlands lying between this chai...

=Caracas=, the capital of the Republic, founded in 1567, is a very attractive city with a delightful climate. Only occasionally does the temperature go below 60° or above 80°. E...

=La Guaira=, the chief port of the _Centro_, and the best known of Venezuela, is rivaled by Puerto Cabello, which has a better natural harbor. La Guaira, population 18,000 inclu...

The Agricultural Zone, according to late statistics, covers the greater part of that section of the Republic which lies between the sea and the Orinoco Plains: about 100,000 squ...

The name Guiana has been applied to the entire country between the Orinoco and the Amazon. We have observed that in Venezuela the region south of the Orinoco is called the Guian...

This country, sometimes called Suriname, about the size of New York State, by the Peace of 1667 was conceded to the Netherlands, Great Britain taking New York in exchange. Situa...

South of Colombia, fortunate in its Atlantic and Pacific Coast lines, are three exclusively Pacific countries, unless we count a rearward communication, so to speak, with the At...

Ecuador, like Peru, has three longitudinal sections: the Coastal zone, the Inter Andine region, including the mountain ranges with the plateau or valleys between, and the Trans...

=Quito=, capital of Ecuador, population 100,000, altitude 9348 feet, has a world wide reputation as the city on or under the equator. It is within a quarter of a degree. Interes...

=Guayaquil.= The most important and frequently visited place in Ecuador is the coast city of Guayaquil, the chief port of entry through which communication is had with most of t...

=Cacao.= The cultivation of cacao is by far the most important industry of Ecuador, the amount exported in 1910 having nearly ten times the value of any other commodity. The shr...

More than a century ago, the distinguished scientist, Alexander von Humboldt, declared that the country of Peru would one day become the centre of the World’s colonization. It h...

The country of Peru has three distinct sections longitudinally: the Coast region, the Sierra, and the _Montaña_--the first well known and fairly settled, the second with the gre...

=Lima=, the capital of Peru, on the banks of the Rimac eight miles from the port, Callao, is a city of picturesque charm. Its population, with its suburbs 200,000, is no indicat...

From the physical character of Peru, it is evident that inland communication and traffic is of extraordinary difficulty. The countries previously mentioned and most of those to...

While for centuries Peru has been celebrated as a land of marvelous mineral riches, especially of gold and silver, nevertheless, in spite of her desert shore, her bleak table-la...

One of the two inland Republics of South America, Bolivia has an enormous area, a section of which is still unexplored in detail. Its chief towns situated on the lofty Andean pl...

=La Paz=, the de facto capital, population 107,000, is by far the largest and most important city commercially. It is the highest capital and large city in the world, also one o...

=La Paz.= Bolivia unhappily has no seaport, but lake and river ports are better than none; of these she has several. Nevertheless La Paz is the chief port of entry with the prin...

The mining industry, at present the most important in Bolivia, is likely to continue the leader for an indefinite period, although with easy communication and large population i...

The country of Chile, the seventh in size of the South American Republics, is frequently ranked with the two largest, Brazil and Argentina, owing to the enterprise of its inhabi...

The country of Chile has an extraordinary shape, very long and narrow. Unlike the other Republics of the West Coast, Chile has no trans-Andine region, as the watershed of the An...

=Santiago=, the capital, with 450,000 inhabitants, is the fourth in population of the cities of South America, the first three being Buenos Aires, Rio de Janeiro, and São Paulo....

Although Chile cannot boast of many excellent harbors, with her extended coast line her ports are naturally numerous; 59 is the official number, of which 15 are primary ports wi...

Although Chile is often compared to California, to which State it has some but not a close resemblance in length, partial dryness, earthquakes, and fruit, the specialty of Chile...

Argentina, from the south the first country on the Atlantic coast, the second largest in South America, has been called not only the most progressive on that continent but the r...

Argentina is oftenest thought of as a country of broad plains, but while a large portion of the country is of this character there are three distinct sections: the Mountains, th...

=Buenos Aires=, the metropolis of South America, the largest city on that continent, and fourth in all America, has also a wide reputation as the second Latin city in the world....

Argentina has a long sea coast, about 1300 miles, with a number of gulfs and good harbors. The ports of Buenos Aires and Ensenada, both constructed at great expense, on the wide...

The chief sources of the wealth of Argentina are familiar to everyone with any knowledge of world affairs: cattle and agriculture. Stock raising is said to comprise about 50 per...

Paraguay has been called the most romantic of all the South American countries, from the point of view of nature and history both. It is a land of “dolce far niente” so far as a...

=Highlands.= The physical features of the country are simple, the Paraguay River dividing it into sections: the Gran Chaco, to some extent unexplored in detail, and the Oriental...

=Asunción=, the population of which is variously given as 80, 90, 100, 120, and 125 thousand, is a quiet town on the Paraguay at a point where the bank rises to a considerable h...

=Quebracho.= The exploitation of quebracho is an important source of wealth. On the estimated 27,000,000 acres of forest land in the country are valuable woods of many varieties...

=Boundary.= Uruguay is nearly surrounded by water, having the Atlantic Ocean for 120 miles on the east. The river or estuary of La Plata 235 miles on the south, and the Uruguay...

=Montevideo=, the capital and chief port of Uruguay, with a population approaching 400,000, is a pleasant city, a more homelike place than Buenos Aires and preferred as a reside...

Even more than in Argentina the railways have been developed by British capital. The first concession in 1865 was for a road from Montevideo to the Rio Negro. Construction has b...

The country of Brazil, largest of the South American Republics, has also a greater area than the United States without Alaska, and is more than three-fourths the size of all Eur...

Brazil presents in physical characteristics more variety than is generally supposed. As the great Amazon Basin is in striking contrast to the immense Andean Range, the entire co...

=Rio de Janeiro=, the capital of Brazil, with a population of 1,200,000, the second city in South America and the fifth in the Western Hemisphere, is generally conceded to have...

Brazil has a considerable navy, several warships; and a merchant marine of 450,000 gross tonnage. The leading national line is the Brazilian Lloyd which with 62 ships has a serv...

Brazilian industries as we have already seen have the variety befitting a country of its enormous area. The States of Minas, Pernambuco, and São Paulo can produce almost anythin...

A leading industry of Brazil which, it has been said, may even in São Paulo supersede in importance that of coffee is live stock. Two packing houses now slaughter 300,000 cattle...

As to many it may seem presumptuous that one with no practical experience should venture to discuss foreign trade, I beg with an apology for my temerity to make a slight explana...

While the variety of conditions in South America makes any treatment of this subject necessarily superficial, a few words beyond those already said may not be out of place, sinc...