Rivers and Lakes

Except in Venezuela, where all rivers flow to the Atlantic Ocean, the Andes form the divide between Atlantic and Pacific drainage. Hundreds of large rivers flow eastward to the Atlantic. Most are either headstreams or tributaries of the great Orinoco, Amazon, and Paraná systems. No large rivers flow westward to the Pacific.

There are few lakes, other than glacial ones in southern Chile. Lake Titicaca, on the Altiplano between Peru and Bolivia, is South America's largest freshwater lake. It is also the highest navigable lake in the world. The only other large lake is Lake Poopó, also on the Altiplano.