If you look at a map of South America Brazil and Peru are right next to each other. Brazil takes up more than half of the continent in area and controls most of the east Coast. Peru, which lies on the West Coast, is much smaller but still large compared to many of the countries in Europe. Overseas shipping from one country to the next can be done in a number of different ways.



The Amazon River connects the cities of Brazil along the coast to the villages and farms that are located in the interior. If you follow the path of the Amazon it seems to flow in a direct line into Peru, but it is not the preferred route of transport due to the number of hazards involved in the trip. The Amazon goes through tropical rain forests that are filled with snakes, alligators and deadly spiders and insects that can be harmful to human beings. Malaria is a constant threat due to the large mosquito populations and the river itself presents hazards such as low bottoms and rapids that can slow down or even destroy a boat.

The preferred route for overseas shipping is overseas. Coast to coast might seem the long way but ships are able to move much faster over open water than they are in the murky rivers of the interior. The Amazon, the Tocantins, and Francisco Rivers are used to transport manufactured goods and agricultural products to the coastal cities where they are loaded onto an overseas shipping vessel for transport. North of Rio de Janeiro, these ships go up the coast and through the Panama Canal. Going South, they head past Argentina and around Cape Horn to sail up the West Coast top Chile and Peru. This passage was first discovered by Sir Francis Drake back in the 16th Century and for many years was the only overseas shipping route from East to West.

The Panama Canal was built in the late 19th Century and has made overseas shipping in South America faster and more efficient, particularly for the northern portions of the continent. It also enables overseas shipping companies from Los Angeles and the West Coast of the United States to ship cargoes to Brazil without going around the horn. Lima, the capitol city of Peru, has also benefited from the building of the Panama Canal as they can now import form the East Coast of the United States for much less. Many of the textile manufacturing plants and the port cities that import from Europe are located on the East Coast so Peru has gained an advantage in the overseas shipping industry as a distributor to the West Coast of South America.

Brazil, Venezuela, Columbia, Ecuador and Peru have all become more prosperous since the opening of the Panama Canal. It was built initially to help aid the United States with their overseas shipping problems. Going all the way around the tip of Cape Horn was once the only way to transport from New York to Los Angeles. Today that has changed and the change has helped the nations of South America as much as if not more than the United States.