In South America as elsewhere, landforms, soil, water, climate, and culture interact to produce an arrangement of agricultural production specific to the region. South America can be divided into six general landform regions: the Andes Mountains, the plateaus of the interior of the continent, the river lowlands, the coastal lowlands, the tierra tem-plada, and the tierra fria.
Andes Mountains
The Andes Cordillera reaches from Venezuela in the north to Tierra del Fuego at the south tip of the continent. Some Andean peaks exceed 20,000 feet (6,100 meters) in height. The mountain soils are rocky and steeply graded. This makes farming difficult but not impossible. Farmers use terrace systems, building up steplike fields carved into the side of a mountain. Because of the limitations of the soils and the difficulty in farming them, the region supports only subsistence agricultural settlements. People in the highlands grow small plots of corn, barley, and especially potatoes on the high altitude soils.
Highland Growing Regions
In the central eastern region of Brazil are the Brazilian Highlands. To the north of the Amazon basin lies another plateau region called the Guiana Highlands. Both plateaus, which are not much higher than 9,000 feet (2,743 meters), are old geologic structures with relatively rough surfaces to farm. The Brazilian Highlands constitute the world's primary coffee-growing region. More than one-third of the world's coffee is grown there, along with soybeans and oranges. The Guiana Highlands, which stretch through southern Venezuela and Guyana, are covered in savannas (grasslands with trees and shrubs). People there use slash-and-burn agriculture to grow corn and rice.
River Lowlands
Some of the most remote regions in South America are its fastest-developing areas.
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Coastal Lowlands
The coastal lowlands, up to an altitude of about 2,500 feet (750 meters), encom pass an area known as the hot land.
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Tierra Templada
Just above the calienta zone lies a zone of cooler temperatures, the tierra templada, that extends to about 6,000 feet.
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Tierra Fria
A cooler climate, the tierra fria, extends from 6,000 feet (1,850 meters) to about 15,000 feet (4,570 meters).
Continue of the article: Tierra Fria
See also: SOUTH AMERICAN FLORA
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