Place the City - South America Quiz

The capital of the Pernambuco state of Brazil, Recife is one of the easternmost major cities in South America's largest nation, and found on the Atlantic coast, it's known for the numerous waterways that cut through the city center. Recife is built upon three islands, and surrounding those islands you'll find coastal rainforests and sugar plantations.

A massive population center, a large part of its growth and economic success comes from being at the ideal spot for a port, one of the largest shipping locations on South America's eastern coast.

Sitting on a narrow strip of land where the waters of Lake Maracaibo flow out to the Caribbean, the city of Maracaibo is one of Venezuela's largest cities (historically second to Caracas, the nation's capital). Settled in the early sixteenth century by the Germans, it was quickly overtaken by Spanish colonizers; before all of them arrived, it was (at least periodically) a settlement for indigenous peoples of the region. Because of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta mountains in Colombia to the west, Maracaibo is typically one of South America's hottest and driest major cities.

Built as a colony on the mouth of the Magdalena River back in the early nineteenth century, Barranquilla grew out of convenience, being used a convenient access point for the deeper regions of Colombia for hundreds of years prior. Though it is a coastal city, sitting next to the Caribbean, the area around Barranquilla is extremely hilly and generally hot all year round.

A massive influx of immigration in the years following World War II boosted Barranquilla's population enough to make it one of the most populated cities in Colombia but it has since been surpassed by others due to extreme growth in inland destinations like Cali and Medellín.

The 'White City' of Peru, Arequipa may not be as well known as Lima (the capital) and Cuzco (the historical gateway to Machu Picchu) but it is one of the most populated cities of this diverse nation. Due to its southernly location in Peru, Arequipa is well-positioned as an economic hub with close connections to Chile to the south, Bolivia to the east and, technically, Brazil to the north, although much of Brazil at that spot leads to a minimal amount of on-land routes through the states of Acre and Amazonas.

The entire city is found more than two kilometres above sea level.

Although it is as Spanish-speaking as the rest of Chile, Puerto Montt was originally established by German immigrants in the mid-nineteenth century, growing to become an important fishing town nestled in a sheltered bay with easy access to the Pacific. Part of the northern reaches of Chilean Patagonia, it's a destination with easy access to a picturesque landscape that includes Llanquihue Lake and Osorno Volcano.

The Argentine city of Mendoza is found near the nation's western border with Chile-- in fact, its closer to Santiago than it is to Buenos Aires. Found slightly east of the Andes Mountains, it's most known for being a major wine destination, but it also grants access for visitors looking to get in touch with the great outdoors, being one of the closest cities to South America's highest mountain, Aconcagua.

Besides its geography, Mendoza has a rich history with roots of both an indigenous nature and with regards to Spanish settlement in the sixteenth century.

Found on Uruguay's Atlantic coastline, Punta del Este is perhaps the nation's biggest tourist destination known for its luxe accommodations, casinos and nightlife, and beautiful beaches. Found just over one hundred kilometres east from the Uruguayan capital of Montevideo, it's known for mild weather year-round.

Interestingly, as part of the Maldonado region, Punta del Este shares its department with some of the nation's highest peaks, found further inland and to the north, in the Sierra Carapé range.

One of Bolivia's two capital cities (along with La Paz), Sucre is one of the world's highest national capitals (beaten only by Quito) as it sits in the Andes at an elevation of nearly 3,000 metres above sea level. Much of Sucre's old city components are UNESCO-protected, being notable examples of well-preserved Spanish colonial architecture.

Originally settled by the Incans, it came into prominence, historically, as a silver mining village. Conveniently, it also marks the geographical border between the Amazon basin to the northeast and the Río de la Plata basin to the southeast.

Another capital, Cayenne is the largest city of French Guiana and, considering that the near-entirety of South America speaks Spanish and Portuguese, it's considered the largest French-speaking destination on the continent. Technically, French Guiana is an overseas region of France (despite being more than seven thousand kilometres away), having been settled by French colonists in the early seventeenth century. They weren't the first to visit though; the Spanish arrived first and thought it was too hot to remain there.

Speaking of being too hot, Cayenne, of course, is also the name of a type of pepper. It's hard to say what was named first-- the pepper, the city, or the river running through it.

Considered the Garden City of Ecuador, Ambato is a central location for this South American nation and one of the toughest to get to because of its location, nestled deep into the high mountains of the Cordillera Real. Only one hundred fifty kilometres south of Quito, it's generally had a history of being a key industrial centre for the nation though, due to its position in a geological hotspot, it's been prone to problematic earthquakes and volcanic events in modern times.