South America Location South America is located in the western hemisphere and mostly in the southern hemisphere A relatively small portion of the continent is in the northern hemisphere South America Location South America borders: The Pacific Ocean to the west The Atlantic Ocean to the north and east North America and the Caribbean Sea to the northwest South America Overview There are 12 sovereign countries in South America: Argentina Bolivia Brazil Chile Colombia Ecuador Guyana Paraguay Peru Suriname Uraguay Venezuela South America Overview In terms of land area, South America is the fourth largest continent: 1. Asia 2. Africa 3. North America 4. South America 5. Antarctica 6. Europe 7. Australia South America Overview Countries of South America by land area (world rank): Brazil (5) Argentina (8) Peru (19) Colombia (25) Bolivia (27) Venezuela (32) Chile (37) Paraguay (59) Ecuador (73) Guyana (83) Uruguay (89) Suriname (90) South America Overview South America is the worlds fifth most populous continent: 1. Asia: ~4.4 billion 2. Africa: ~ 1.2 billion 3. Europe: ~ 739,000,000 4. North America: ~ 579,000,000 5. South America: ~423,000,000 6. Australia/Oceania: ~40,000,000 7. Antarctica: no permanent residents South America Overview Countries of South America by population: 1. Brazil, 204,259,812 (5) 2. Colombia, 46,736,728 (29) 3. Argentina, 43,431,886 (32) 4. Peru, 30,444,999 (43) 5. Venezuela, 29,275,460 (44) 6. Chile, 17,508,260 (63) 7. Ecuador, 15,868,396 (67) 8. Bolivia, 10,800,882 (81) 9. Paraguay, 6,783,272 (104) 10. Uruguay, 3,341,893 (133) 11. Guyana, 735,222 (166) 12. Suriname, 579,633 (170) South America - Overview There are two non- sovereign states in South America: French Guiana, an French Guiana overseas department of France The Falkland Islands, a British overseas territory that has been disputed by Argentina Falkland Islands South America Islands Tierra del Fuego (Spanish for Land of Fire) is an archipelago off of the southernmost tip of South America, across the Strait of Magellan The islands are split between Argentina and Chile South America Rivers
The Amazon River is the largest
river by discharge of water in the world It is also either the first or second longest river in the world, depending on what is considered its true source South America Rainforests
The Amazon Rainforest is the
largest and most biodiverse tract of tropical rainforest in the world The majority of the rainforest is located within Brazil The Amazon represents over half the worlds remaining rainforests South America - Lakes
Lake Titicaca is a large, deep
lake in the Andes on the border of Peru and Bolivia It is the largest lake in South America by volume of water South America - Lakes Lake Maracaibo is a large brackish bay connected to the Gulf of Venezuela It can be considered a bay or lagoon, and some consider it a lake As a lake, it would be the largest lake in South America by surface area South America Mountain Ranges
With a length of approximately
4,300 miles, the Andes mountain range is the longest continental mountain range in the world Located along the west coast of South America, it is the tallest mountain range not in Asia South America Mountains
At 22,837 feet high, Mt.
Aconcagua is the highest mountain in South America It is also the highest mountain not located in Asia Located in the Andes mountain range in Argentina South America Physical Geography The Atacama Desert is a plateau in South America west of the Andes mountains It is the driest non-polar desert in the world South America History South America is thought to have first been inhabited by humans at least 15,000 years ago Early settlers crossed the Bering land bridge from Asia to North America, then migrated south By 2000 B.C., many agricultural communities had settled throughout the Andes region South America History The highly developed Inca civilization dominated the Andes region from 1438 to 1533 The Inca ruled between 9 and 14 million people connected by a road system Portrait of Atahualpa, the last sovereign emperor of the Inca South America History Beginning in the 1530s, the people and natural resources of South America would be exploited by conquistadors, first from Spain and then from Portugal European diseases caused widespread death among native populations South America History Conflicts between Europeans and Native Americans would continue through the 17th and 18th centuries Indigenous peoples of the Americas would Depiction of recently bought slaves in be forced to work for Brazil Europeans along with slaves brought from Africa South America History In the 1800s, the Spanish colonies would win their independence Simn Bolvar, Jos de San Martn, and Bernardo O'Higgins led independence struggles Simon Bolivar South America History Brazil would be granted independence by Portugal in 1822 During the 1800s, a struggle for power emerged among the new South American nations, and several wars were fought Brazil South America - History The Paraguayan War, also known as the War of the Triple Alliance, was fought from 1864 to 1870 between Paraguay and the alliance of Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay With 400,000 deaths, A Paraguayan cavalry unit being the war was the attacked deadliest in Latin Americas history South America History
Wars became less
frequent in the 1900s Guyana and Suriname would become independent in the 1900s South America Governments Following the end of World War Two in 1945, revolutionary movements and right- wing military dictatorships became common throughout South America In the 1980s, many Former Chilean dictator countries became Augusto Pinochet assumed democratic power in 1973 following a South America Governments Today, all South American countries have some form of democratic rule Allegations of corruption are still common, and many countries have faced crises that have forced their presidents to resign South America Governments Since the beginning of the 21st century, most South American countries have elected left-leaning leaders, including: Chile, Uruguay, Brazil, Argentina, Ecuador, Bolivia, Paraguay, Peru, and Venezuela South America Governments The Union of South American Nations is an organization comprising the 12 South American countries It seeks to establish economic development, free movement of people, a common defense policy, and more South America Economies From the 1930s to the 1980s, South American countries tried to replace foreign businesses and imports with domestic production Since the 1990s, South American countries have switched to free- market economies South America Economies Major economic activities in South America include agriculture, forestry, and mining South American countries rely less on the export of manufactured goods and natural resources than the world average South America Economies Brazil has the largest economy in South America and the seventh-largest economy in the world The economic gap between the rich and the poor in most South American nations is larger than in most other continents South America Economies South American countries ranked by nominal gross domestic product (world rank): 1. Brazil (7) 2. Argentina (26) 3. Colombia (41) 4. Chile (42) 5. Venezuela (48) 6. Peru (51) 7. Ecuador (61) 8. Uruguay (77) 9. Bolivia (96) 10. Paraguay (101) 11. Suriname (153) 12. Guyana (157) South America Economies South American countries ranked by nominal gross domestic product per capita (world rank): 1. Uruguay, $15,748 (45) 2. Argentina, $13,589 (51) 3. Chile, $13,341 (52) 4. Suriname, $9,306 (63) 5. Brazil, $7,996 (71) 6. Venezuela, $7,745 (73) 7. Colombia, $6,084 (81) 8. Ecuador, $6,071 (82) 9. Peru, $6,021 (85) 10. Guyana, $4,125 (101) 11. Paraguay, $4,010 (105) 12. Bolivia, $2,886 (122) South America - Economies Tourism has become an increasingly significant source of income for many South American countries Brazil hosted the 2014 FIFA World Cup and the 2016 Summer Olympics South America Cultures South American cultures have been influenced by native peoples and by historic connections with Spain, Portugal, and Africa South America Cultures Spanish and Portuguese are the most spoken languages in South America, with about 200 million speakers of each Spanish is the official language of most countries Portuguese is the official language of Brazil Several indigenous languages are also spoken South America Cultures Roman Catholicism, a Christian religion, is the dominant religion in South America Over 80% of people in Spanish- speaking countries and an estimated 65%-70% of Brazilians are Roman Catholic South America Cultures South American nations have a variety of musical styles Samba is a popular Brazilian musical genre and dance style Tango is a style of music that originated among European immigrant populations in Argentina and Uruguay Argentine Tango dancers in the streets of Buenos Aires South America Cultures Football (soccer) is the most popular sport in South America All winners of the FIFA World Cup have come from either South America or Europe The 1970 FIFA World Cup-winning Brazilian team, considered by many to be the greatest football team ever South America - Cultures Other popular sports in South America include basketball, cycling, polo, volleyball, tennis, and more Baseball is the most popular sport in Venezuela Venezuelan baseball player Miguel Cabrera South America Interesting Info
Angel Falls is the
worlds highest uninterrupted waterfall with a height of 3,212 feet and a plunge of 2,648 feet Located in Venezuela Brazil Interesting Info Iguazu Falls are waterfalls of the Iguazu River located on the border of Argentina and Brazil The name Iguazu comes from native words and means water and big South America Interesting Info The Mano del Desierto (Hand of the Desert) is a large-scale sculpture of a hand in the Atacama Desert in Chile Completed in 1992, it has become a tourist attraction South America Interesting Info The Chapada Diamantina National Park is located in the state of Bahia in Brazil It contains a 120-foot deep well known as the Enchanted Well The wells water clear enough that rocks can be seen beneath the surface South America Interesting Info Salar De Uyuni is the worlds largest salt flat It is located approximately 12,000 feet above sea level in southwest Bolivia During rainy season, the sky is reflected in water South America Interesting Info Mt. Roraima is the highest of the Pakaraima chain of tepui plateaus in South America It is bounded on all sides by cliffs rising 1,300 feet It is located on the border of Venezuela, Guyana, and Brazil
Pictured the view from the top of Mt. Roraima
South America Interesting Info Machu Picchu is believed to have been a royal estate or sacred religious site for Inca leaders The Inca built it around 1450, but abandoned it about a century later at the time of the Spanish conquest It remained unknown to the outside world until 1911