Upon the bright, alluring map of South America, the Europe-neglected Guianas are a disgraceful little smudge. *3900 mi. the Nile, 4000 mi., is longest. More Must-Reads from TIME.

Map of South America showing the change in the number of days of simultaneous heat, dryness, and fire risk between the periods 1971–2000 and 2001–2022. This is Fig 1a from the published paper.

The Pampas grasslands, spanning southern Brazil, Uruguay, and northeastern Argentina, are home to a wildcat so rare that researchers consider it the most endangered of its kind in the Americas, ...

The problem: to identify eight of 13 countries (including British, Dutch and French Guiana) on a blank map of South America. Average score: 35%. The country most often located correctly: Brazil.