Modern Business Geography 
is a mineral port. Nitrates are their chief exports, although copper, 
tin, silver, and gold also are exported. 
35. How do the mineral ports rank in size in Table 6 (page 335)? 
There are numerous small mineral ports instead of one large one, 
because the minerals come from a long stretch of the Andes and are 
sent to the coast by the nearest route. Moreover, no one port has 
a harbor that much excels the others, and all have poor anchorages. 
Iquique is the most important of the mineral ports, since the land 
behind it contains the best of the nitrate deposits. It is the greatest 
nitrate port in the world. More than a score of boats are usually to 
be seen riding at anchor in the outer harbor, waiting to take on a 
cargo of the precious nitrate. Inmore advanced countries this mineral 
is used for fertilizing the soil. It is used also for making explosives. 
36. In the latitude of the mineral ports the prevailing winds blow from the 
east and strike the high wall of the Andes. What has the direction of 
the winds to do with the fact that the people of the mineral ports are 
dependent for food on supplies shipped from other cities farther south 
or farther north? 
Does it seem likely that the nitrate ports will become great cities, like 
Rio de Janeiro and Buenos Aires? Give reasons for your opinion. 
The cocoa ports. As we go northward from the mineral ports we 
come to the cocoa ports of South America. A good share of the world’s 
supply of cocoa comes from Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela, and 
Brazil; hence their ports are the cocoa ports. Guayaquil is the 
most important, but La Guaira also carries on a lively trade in the 
cacao bean from which we get our cocoa and chocolate. 
38. Why are these ports so small? 
39. How does cocoa compare with tea or coffee in importance as a product? 
The sugar ports. Nature seems to have grouped the ports of 
South America appropriately, since the sugar ports come near the 
cocoa ports. Those which chiefly export sugar are Georgetown, 
Pernambuco, and Bahia. The plantations near Georgetown are par- 
ticularly successful in raising sugar cane, partly because the British 
government has induced many people to go there from India. 
The Hindus, though not rapid workers, labor as steadily in South 
America as in their former homes. Western Europe takes this 
South American sugar surplus; little of it comes to us. 
40. Why does not the South American sugar come to the United States? 
41. What sort of climate favors the cultivation of sugar and cocoa? 
42. How does the climate help explain the small size of the ports?