25 random but interesting facts about Latin America you probably didn’t know

1. Angel Falls in Venezuela is one of the largest waterfalls in the world with a height of almost 1 kilometre.
2. Colombia produces more than 90% of the world’s emeralds.
3. Mexico is sinking by around 10 inches every year.
4. Bolivia was the first country to get rid of McDonalds.
5. Latin America is the most urbanized continent in the world with almost 80% of its citizens living in cities.
6. Mambo, salsa, cha-cha-cha, rumba and tango dances all come from Latin America.
7. It has the shortest coastline, compared to its size, of any continent.
8. The official name of for Mexico is the United Mexican States.
9. The oldest university in North America is the National University of Mexico.
10. Costa Rica translated to ‘rich coast’.
11. The Amazon spans eight countries – Ecuador, Peru, Colombia, Peru, Bolivia, Brazil, Venezuela and Guyana.
12. Rio de Janeiro carnival is the world’s largest street festival.
13. 20% of the world’s oxygen is created from the Amazon jungle.
14. There are 77 uncontacted tribes living in the Amazon Jungle.
15. There are over 20 million inhabitants in Sao Paulo making it one of the world’s largest cities.
16. The highest mountain in South America is Argentina’s Aconcagua and stands at over 6,961metres high.
17. The world’s most southerly city is located at the tip of Argentina and is called Ushuaia. It has around 55,000 inhabitants.
18. Lake Titicaca is the largest lake in South America and straddles both Peru and Bolivia.
19. Costa Rica has been ranked as the happiest country in the world.
20. Asia is Latin America’s second largest trading partner after the United States.
21. Ecuador was the first country in the world to give nature constitutional rights and can be defended in court.
22. After the Antarctic, the Atacama Desert in the north of Chile is considered the world’s driest.
23. Bolivia was the first country to have a ski resort with a rope tow.
24. Darwin came up with his theory of evolution while visiting the Galapagos Islands.
25. The Uyuni in Bolivia is the world’s largest salt flats.

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