Which of the following is the highest peak of South America :

The highest peak of a continent is the single tallest mountain summit, measured by elevation above sea level, located within that continent's landmass. Continental high points are established facts from surveyed elevation data, and general-awareness questions on this topic often place a famous but lower or wrongly-located peak alongside the true continental high point to test precise recall rather than mere name familiarity.

South America's highest peak is Mt. Aconcagua, part of the Andes range in Mendoza Province, Argentina, standing at approximately 6,961 metres (22,838 feet) above sea level. This also makes it the highest peak in both the Western and Southern Hemispheres, well above every other summit on the continent.

• Mt. Cotopaxi: an active volcano in Ecuador's Andes at about 5,897 metres — nearly 1,000 metres short of Aconcagua, and not even the highest point within Ecuador itself.

• Mt. Etna: an active volcano on the island of Sicily, Italy — located in Europe, not South America at all.

• Mt. Kilimanjaro: Africa's highest peak, rising from Tanzania — on the wrong continent for this question.

Since Mt. Aconcagua is the only listed peak that both lies in South America and holds the continent's greatest elevation, it is the correct answer.