South America by Highway Trivia Quiz

Answer: Tierra del Fuego

Tierra del Fuego ("Land of Fire") is at the extreme southern tip of South America. Ushuaia (pop. 57,000 in 2010) is considered to be the most southern city in the world, lying at latitude 54-48 S. The Chilean naval base & community of Puerto Williams (pop. 2,700) is farther south at 54-56 S, but isn't considered by most to be a "city".

Answer: Atacama

The Atacama in Chile has experienced extremely low rainfall for over 3 million years. The average rainfall is just 15 millimeters per year, but some weather stations have never recorded any rainfall.

Answer: Chile

Chile's Route 7 was known as the Carretera General Augusto Pinochet. Building the road began in 1976 when Pinochet was President and dictator of Chile. The road was built to improve communication with a very remote area of Chile and to avoid having to cross into rival Argentina to reach the southern areas of Chile.

Answer: Darién Gap

Darién is a Hispanicized pronunciation of the native name for the major river in the area, now known as the Tanela River. The 100 miles of the Darién Gap is extremely difficult territory to pass, consisting of swamps in the south and steep ridges and jungle in the north. Very few land vehicles have navigated the Gap over the years. Various schemes exist to close the gap in the highway, but all are opposed by those concerned about deforestation, spread of disease, facilitating drug smuggling and destruction of native populations.

Answer: Suriname, French Guiana, Guyana

Suriname, French Guiana, Guyana are small nations on the northeast coast of South America, each sharing a land border with Brazil. Construction of the Trans-Amazonian highway began in 1972 and it runs for over 4,000 kilometers. It connects with feeders to the Pan-American Highway in Venezuela on one end, and to roads into Guyana on the other end, roads that eventually link to Suriname and French Guiana.

Answer: São Paulo

São Paulo is the only Brazilian city of the choices listed. São Paulo is the largest city in the entire Southern Hemisphere, with a population of 11 million in the city proper and 20 million including the urban area as of 2010. The urban area has the largest Gross Domestic Product in the Southern Hemisphere and the 10th largest GDP in the world.

Answer: Montevideo, Uruguay

Montevideo, Uruguay was ranked as "top Latin American city" from 2006 through 2014 for its quality of life by Mercer, a global consulting firm. Montevideo was the site of all games of the first FIFA World Cup in 1930, and Uruguay became the first winners of the World Cup.

Answer: Colombia

A portion of Colombia is the actual northernmost point of South America. The flag of Colombia is an unusual tricolor in that the topmost yellow band takes up half of the field, with the other two bands of blue and red taking 1/4 each. Ecuador has the same background to their flag, with a coat of arms superimposed. Venezuela uses the same colors in equal bands, with a coat of arms and stars added.

Answer: Venezuela

Venezuela has the world's largest oil reserves, and Venezuela was a founding member of OPEC in 1960. On November 18, 1933, American pilot & prospector Jimmie Angel flew over the falls that were later named after him; he was the first person to publicize these falls that have a height of 3,212 feet (979 m).

Answer: Paraguay

Paraguay is a landlocked country in the center of South America, sometimes referred to as Corazón de América ("Heart of America"). A significant portion of Asuncenos, as the city-dwellers are known, speak Guarani, the language of the ancient inhabitants of Paraguay. An even larger portion of the city dwellers speak Jopará, a dialect of Guarani containing many Spanish words.