Location: Southern South America, bordering the South Atlantic Ocean,
between Chile and Uruguay

Language: Spanish (official), English, Italian, German, French

Currency: 1 peso = 100 centavos

Population: 36,737,664

Natural Hazards: San Miguel de Tucuman and Mendoza areas in the Andes subject to earthquakes; pamperos are violent windstorms that can strike the Pampas and northeast; heavy flooding

Import: motor vehicles, motor vehicle parts, organic
chemicals, telecommunications equipment, plastics

Export: cereals, feed, motor vehicles, crude petroleum, steel
manufactures

Industries: food processing, motor vehicles, consumer durables, textiles,chemicals and petrochemicals, printing, metallurgy, steel

Transportation:
Railways:
total: 37,830 km
broad gauge: 23,992 km 1.676-m gauge (167 km electrified)
standard gauge: 2,765 km 1.435-m gauge
narrow gauge: 11,073 km 1.000-m gauge (26 km electrified)

Highways:
total: 208,350 km
paved: 47,550 km (including 567 km of expressways)
unpaved: 160,800 km (1998 est.)

Waterways: 11,000 km navigable

Ports & Harbors: Bahia Blanca, Buenos Aires, Comodoro Rivadavia, Concepcion del Uruguay, La Plata, Mar del Plata, Necochea, Rio Gallegos,
Rosario, Santa Fe, Ushuaia

Location: Central South America, southwest of Brazil

Language: Spanish (official), Quechua (official), Aymara (official)

Currency: 1 boliviano ($B) = 100 centavos

Population: 7,982,850

Natural Hazards: cold, thin air of high plateau is obstacle to efficient fuel combustion, as well as to physical activity by those unaccustomed to it from birth; flooding in the northeast (March-April)

Import: capital goods 48%, chemicals 11%, petroleum 5%,
food 5% (1993 est.)

Export: metals 34%, natural gas 9.4%, soybeans 8.4%,
jewelry 11%, wood 6.9%

Industries: mining, smelting, petroleum, food and beverages, tobacco, handicrafts, clothing

Transportation:
Railways:
total: 3,691 km (single track)
narrow gauge: 3,652 km 1.000-m gauge; 39 km 0.760-m gauge (13 km
electrified) (1995)

Highways:
total: 52,216 km
paved: 2,872 km (including 27 km of expressways)
unpaved: 49,344 km (1995 est.)

Waterways: 10,000 km of commercially navigable waterways

Ports & Harbors: none; however, Bolivia has free port privileges in the maritime ports of Argentina, Brazil, Chile, and Paraguay

Location: Eastern South America, bordering the Atlantic Ocean

Language: Portuguese (official), Spanish, English, French

Currency: 1 real (R$) = 100 centavos

Population: 171,853,126

Natural Hazards: recurring droughts in northeast; floods and occasional frost in south

Import: crude oil, capital goods, chemical products,
foodstuffs, coal

Export: iron ore, soybean bran, orange juice, footwear,
coffee, motor vehicle parts

Industries: textiles, shoes, chemicals, cement, lumber, iron ore, tin, steel, aircraft, motor vehicles and parts, other machinery and equipment

Transportation:
Railways:
total: 28,862 km (1,187 km electrified)
broad gauge: 4,123 km 1.600-m gauge
narrow gauge: 24,390 km 1.000-m gauge; 13 km 0.760-m gauge
dual gauge: 336 km 1.000-m and 1.600-m gauges (three rails)

Highways:
total: 1.98 million km
paved: 184,140 km
unpaved: 1,795,860 km (1996 est.)

Waterways: 50,000 km navigable

Ports & Harbors: Belem, Fortaleza, Ilheus, Imbituba, Manaus, Paranagua, Porto Alegre, Recife, Rio de Janeiro, Rio Grande, Salvador, Santos, Vitoria

Location: Southern South America, bordering the South Atlantic Ocean and South Pacific Ocean, between Argentina and Peru

Language: Spanish

Currency: 1 Chilean peso (Ch$) = 100 centavos

Population: 14,973,843

Natural Hazards: severe earthquakes; active volcanism; tsunamis

Import: capital goods 25.2%, spare parts 24.8%, raw
materials 15.4%, petroleum 10%, foodstuffs 5.7% (1994)

Export: copper 37%, other metals and minerals 8.2%,
wood products 7.1%, fish and fishmeal 9.8%, fruits 8.4% (1994)

Industries: copper, other minerals, foodstuffs, fish processing, iron and steel, wood and wood products, transport equipment, cement, textiles

Transportation:
Railways:
total: 6,782 km
broad gauge: 3,743 km 1.676-m gauge (1,653 km electrified)
narrow gauge: 116 km 1.067-m gauge; 2,923 km 1.000-m gauge (40 km
electrified) (1995)

Highways:
total: 79,800 km
paved: 11,012 km
unpaved: 68,788 km (1996 est.)

Waterways: 725 km

Ports & Harbors: Antofagasta, Arica, Chanaral, Coquimbo, Iquique, Puerto Montt, Punta Arenas, San Antonio, San Vicente, Talcahuano, Valparaiso

Location: Northern South America, bordering the Caribbean Sea, between Panama and Venezuela, and bordering the North Pacific Ocean, between Ecuador and Panama

Language: Spanish

Currency: 1 Colombian peso (Col$) = 100 centavos

Population: 39,309,422

Natural Hazards: highlands subject to volcanic eruptions; occasional earthquakes; periodic droughts

Import: industrial equipment, transportation equipment,
consumer goods, chemicals, paper products, fuels

Export: petroleum, coffee, coal, gold, bananas, cut flowers

Industries: textiles, food processing, oil, clothing and footwear, beverages, chemicals, cement; gold, coal, emeralds

Transportation:
Railways:
total: 3,380 km
standard gauge: 150 km 1.435-m gauge (connects Cerrejon coal mines to
maritime port at Bahia de Portete)
narrow gauge: 3,230 km 0.914-m gauge (1,830 km in use) (1995)

Highways:
total: 115,564 km
paved: 13,868 km
unpaved: 101,696 km (1997 est.)

Waterways: 14,300 km, navigable by river boats

Ports & Harbors: Bahia de Portete, Barranquilla, Buenaventura, Cartagena,
Leticia, Puerto Bolivar, San Andres, Santa Marta, Tumaco, Turbo