How to learn the countries of South America

Once round the coast

Brazil fills the middle and the east, and touches every other country except Chile and Ecuador. So learn the rest as a ring around it, starting at the top left and going clockwise:

• The north coast. Colombia in the corner, the only one with both a Caribbean and a Pacific coast. Then Venezuela, Guyana and Suriname, from west to east.
• The south-east. After Brazil's long coast comes little Uruguay, then Argentina, which runs to the southern tip.
• The Pacific side, from the bottom up: Chile, the long thin strip; Peru; Ecuador, on the equator it is named after; and back to Colombia.

The two in the middle

Two countries have no coast: Bolivia and Paraguay. Bolivia is the larger and higher one, up against Peru and Chile. Paraguay is below it, between Argentina and Brazil.

What gets mixed up

• Paraguay and Uruguay. Uruguay is the one on the sea. Paraguay is the one shut inside.
• Guyana and Suriname. Guyana is on the left, next to Venezuela. The territory to the right of Suriname, French Guiana, is part of France and not a country, so no quiz of countries asks for it.
• Ecuador and Colombia. Ecuador is the small one below, on the Pacific.

Practise it

Take one group at a time. Play it on Name it until the names come without thinking, then switch to Find it, which asks the harder question: given only the name, where is it? What you miss comes back sooner in Review, and what you know comes back less often, so a few minutes a day is enough.

• Countries of South America: all 12.
• Capitals of South America, a good first set of capitals for the same reason.
• Next continent: North America.