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
History of the Jews in Uruguay History of the Jews in Uruguay The history of the Jews in Uruguay () dates back to the colonial empire. Perhaps the most important influx of Jewish population was during the 20th century, due to World War I and World War II. Uruguay's Jewish community is mainly composed of Ashkenazi. Uruguay is home to the fourth largest Jewish community in South America after Argentina, Brazil and Chile respectively. The arrival of Jews to the Banda Oriental goes back to the 16th century, when conversos began settling there. The Spanish Inquisition was not a significant force in the territory, and the