Geography of South America world by drainage area—the Amazon River and the more southerly Paraná River. The other major river of this central lowland is the Orinoco River, which has a natural channel linking it with the Amazon. Most of this central lowland is sparsely populated because the soils are heavily leached, but in the south is the very fertile pampas of Argentina—one of the world's major food-producing regions where wheat and beef cattle are pre-eminent. The natural vegetation of the northern lowlands are either savanna in the northern "llanos" and southern "campos", or tropical rainforest throughout most of the Amazon basin. Efforts to
Americans in Uruguay Americans in Uruguay Americans in Uruguay are mostly persons born in the United States and living in Uruguay. There are as well some Uruguayan-born persons of American descent. What is now known as Uruguay has maintained intense relations with the United States since colonial times. In 1811, a Spanish translation of Thomas Paine's most important works circulated in Montevideo, including the Declaration of Independence, the Articles of Confederation, the U.S. Constitution, and the constitutions of five U.S. states, and this was inspirational to Uruguayan national hero José Gervasio Artigas, who embraced Paine's ideas. Many of Artigas's writings drew directly from