South American Countries by Size Quiz

Brazil occupies just under half (nearly 48%) of the South American land mass. It shares borders with nine sovereign countries as well as French Guiana, which is an overseas department and region of France. It boasts the second longest river in the world, the Amazon, and has a mostly tropical climate.

Eighth largest country in the world, Argentina is less than half the size of Brazil. It occupies the southern part of the continent with the narrow strip of Chile bounding its west side. Aconcagua (the hint given) is the highest mountain in Argentina and in the world outside of Asia at just under 7,000 m (23,000 ft), although it is ranked about 189th (or 2nd if measuring by topographic prominence) after counting the Asian mountains.

Peru comes next on the list with the Nazca hint being a reference to the large geoglyphs found in the soil of the Nazca Desert in southern Peru. Peru's habitats cover arid plains, the Andes mountains, and a section of the Amazon basin rainforest. It is a megadiverse country, one of 17 countries (five of which are in South America) having the majority of Earth's species. To qualify as megadiverse, such countries must have over 5,000 endemic plant species and border marine ecosystems.

Colombia is located at the top of the continent and includes some Pacific and Caribbean islands. It is where the Central American subregion of North America connects to the South American continent. The emerald hint is a nod to Colombia being the source of 70-90% of the world's emeralds, including the most desirable ones. Extra fine quality emeralds can cost much more than diamonds of the same size.

Bolivia is a land-locked country incorporating an Andean region to the west and tropical lowlands to the north and east. Today's Bolivia is about half the size it was at independence in 1825, having lost territory to all its bordering neighbours - Brazil (1867 and 1903), Argentina (1893), Chile (1904) and Paraguay (1938).

It lost control of its coastal territory to Chile in the War of the Pacific (1879-1884) and gave up claims to the land while negotiating rail and port access under the 1904 Treaty of Peace and Friendship.

At the top of the continent and bordering Colombia to its west, Venezuela is officially known as the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. This name reflects the influence of the 19th century Venezuelan military officer Simón Bolívar in the region. The country Bolivia also takes its name from him.

The Angel Falls (the hint given), the world's tallest uninterrupted waterfall, is found in the Canaima National Park of south-eastern Venezuela.

Chile is a narrow strip of country at the western edge of the Southern Cone of South America. It lies between the Andes mountains and the Pacific Ocean and is the world's southernmost country. The Atacama Desert (the hint) is a desert plateau in northern Chile which extends 1,600 km (1,000 mi). The Atacama Desert is one of the best places in the world for astronomical observatories.

Paraguay is a land-locked country in central South America. It has access to the Atlantic Ocean by the Paraná-Paraguay-Uruguay Waterway, along with Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil and Uruguay. Yerba mate (the hint) is a plant species from the holly genus which was first cultivated and consumed by indigenous Guarani and Tupi communities in Paraguay. The leaves are used to make a caffeine-rich herbal beverage called mate. It is also now harvested in northern Argentina, Uruguay and southern Brazil.

Ecuador is the Spanish word for 'equator', after which the country of Ecuador takes its name. The country's capital Quito is more or less on the equator and is either the world's highest capital or the second highest, depending on which Bolivian capital city is used (Sucre is higher than La Paz).

The Galápagos Islands (the hint), lying about 1,000 km (620 mi) to the west, form part of the country.

On the Atlantic coast of South America, Guyana is one of the least densely populated countries in the world. During the most recent colonial period, it was known as British Guiana. Independence was gained in 1966 and within months Guyana lost an island to military action by its western neighbour Venezuela.

In 2017, over 40% of the population lived below the poverty line. Oil was found in 2015 and, although abject poverty still exists, by 2023 Guyana had the fourth-highest GDP per capita in the Americas after the US, Canada and the Bahamas.

Uruguay can boast having the world's southernmost capital, Montevideo. The capital sits on the north bank of the Rio de la Plata near the mouth of the river, which forms the country's southern boundary. Around two million of the country's 3.5 million population lives in the capital, according to a 2023 census. Association football is the most popular sport and Uruguay won the inaugural FIFA World Cup in 1930. In 1950 it beat Brazil in the final when their populations were 54 million (Brazil) and 2 million (Uruguay).

Suriname, the smallest sovereign country in South America, is on the Atlantic coast with Paramaribo (the hint) as its capital. Paramaribo's population was about 237,000 in 2026. A former Dutch colony, the country gained its independence in 1975. About 95% of the country was covered in rainforest in 2022, second in the world after its eastern neighbour French Guiana.

Its western neighbour Guyana was third on this list.