Key Stage 2 geography · Locational knowledge

KS2 South America: countries, cities and features

In Key Stage 2, children learn to locate the countries of South America on maps and globes and to describe what they are like, from the Amazon rainforest and the Andes mountains to the continent’s big cities. The curriculum asks for a focus on environmental regions and on the world’s most significant physical and human features. Schools choose which countries to study in detail, so the examples below are typical rather than compulsory.

South America: countries and features, explained

South America is a continent of twelve independent countries: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Uruguay and Venezuela. French Guiana is part of France, and the Falkland Islands are a British Overseas Territory. Brazil is by far the largest country in the continent in both area and population. The curriculum says only that pupils should locate countries in North and South America, so schools decide how many to learn and how deeply to study them. Many choose one or two countries as a case study, often Brazil.

The Andes are the longest mountain range on land, running down the whole west side of the continent from Venezuela and Colombia in the north to Chile and Argentina in the south. Many of the highest peaks are volcanoes. Across much of the north is the Amazon, the world’s largest tropical rainforest, which is crossed by the Amazon River. This river carries more water than any other. Other features that children often meet are the Atacama Desert in Chile, one of the driest places on Earth, the grassy plains of Argentina, Patagonia in the far south, and Angel Falls in Venezuela, one of the highest waterfalls in the world.

Environmental regions change as you travel. The Equator crosses the north of the continent, through Ecuador, Colombia and Brazil, so those areas are hot all year. The Amazon basin is warm and wet, with rainforest. The Andes are cold at height, even close to the Equator. Parts of Chile and Peru are desert, while the south is cooler and windy. Children link this to the idea of climate zones and vegetation belts, and to the way altitude changes the weather as well as latitude.

Human geography includes language, cities and how land is used. Spanish is spoken in most countries and Portuguese in Brazil. Dutch is the official language of Suriname and English of Guyana. Capital cities include Brasília, Buenos Aires, Lima, Bogotá, Santiago and Quito. Brasília was built as a new capital in the 1950s, opening in 1960. São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro are Brazil’s best-known cities, though neither is the capital. Many people live in cities along the coasts, while the rainforest interior has far fewer people.

Throughout, children practise using atlases, globes and digital mapping to find places and describe them. They may compare South America with North America, or with the UK, noticing the differences in size, climate and population. Looking at how people use the rainforest, from farming to protecting it, is a common project, though the curriculum does not require any particular case study.

Words your child will hear

Andes: The long mountain range along the western edge of South America.
Amazon rainforest: The largest tropical rainforest in the world, mostly in Brazil.
Equator: The imaginary line around the middle of the Earth, which crosses northern South America.
Basin: The area of land drained by a river and its tributaries.
Altitude: How high a place is above sea level.
Desert: A region that gets very little rain, like the Atacama.
Capital city: The city where a country’s government sits, such as Lima for Peru.

What the National Curriculum says

The programme of study for Key Stage 2 says:

Pupils should be taught to locate the world’s countries, using maps to focus on Europe (including the location of Russia) and North and South America, concentrating on their environmental regions, key physical and human characteristics, countries, and major cities
Pupils should be taught to use maps, atlases, globes and digital/computer mapping to locate countries and describe features studied
This will include the location and characteristics of a range of the world’s most significant human and physical features.

Objectives from the National Curriculum in England, © Crown copyright, used under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

Try it: describing a country from an atlas

Use an atlas to describe where Peru is and what its landscape is like.

Find Peru in the atlas index and turn to the map of South America. It lies on the west coast, facing the Pacific Ocean.
Name the neighbours using compass directions. Ecuador and Colombia are to the north, Brazil is to the east, Bolivia to the south-east and Chile to the south.
Describe the three main landscapes from west to east. A narrow, dry coastal strip, much of it desert, comes first. Then the high Andes Mountains run north to south through the middle, and in the east the land drops into the hot, wet Amazon rainforest.
Add human features. The capital, Lima, is on the coast. Many people live in cities near the Pacific and in valleys in the mountains, while the rainforest area is much more sparsely populated.
Link to a bigger feature. Rivers that rise in the Peruvian Andes flow east and join to form the Amazon River, which crosses the continent to the Atlantic Ocean.

Peru is on the west coast of South America. It borders Ecuador, Colombia, Brazil, Bolivia and Chile. It has a dry coastal desert, the Andes in the middle and Amazon rainforest in the east. The capital, Lima, is on the coast.

Common mistakes and how to help

Believing the whole continent is hot rainforest

Pictures of South America in books and films usually show jungle and parrots, so children assume that is what the continent looks like everywhere.

What helps: Look at a map of environmental regions. Find the desert in Chile, the snow-capped Andes and the cool, windy south, and ask why they differ.

Thinking people in Brazil speak Spanish

Most of the countries around Brazil speak Spanish, so it seems natural to assume Brazil does too.

What helps: Explain that Brazil was ruled by Portugal for hundreds of years, while most of the rest of the continent was ruled by Spain. Mention Guyana and Suriname as other exceptions.

Thinking Rio de Janeiro or São Paulo is the capital of Brazil

They are the best-known and biggest cities, so they are the names children hear most often.

What helps: Find Brasília on a map and explain that it was built to be the capital and sits inland. Play a matching game of countries and capitals.

Placing Mexico and Central America in South America

Children hear “Latin America” or see Spanish spoken in both places and merge the continents in their minds.

What helps: Locate the narrow strip between the two continents on a globe. South America begins at the border between Panama and Colombia.

How to help at home

Spot the Equator. On a globe, find the Equator and name the three South American countries it crosses. Then compare the climate on the line with the climate further south.
Food detectives. Look at the labels in the kitchen. Bananas, coffee and Brazil nuts often come from South American countries such as Ecuador, Colombia, Brazil or Bolivia. Find the country on a map and think about why that climate suits the crop.
Build a cross-section. Draw a slice across Peru from the Pacific coast to the Amazon, showing the coastal desert, the Andes and the rainforest. Label each part and add one fact about it.
Capital city pairs. Write countries and capitals on separate cards and play pairs. Start with five that your child knows, such as Brazil and Brasília, and add one new pair each week.

Builds on

Leads on to

Key Stage 3: Africa: regions, countries and cities
Key Stage 3: Russia: the world’s largest country
Key Stage 3: Asia, including China and India
Key Stage 3: The Middle East: location and landscapes